Substitute Teacher Wednesday

Hi Ladies!

On the last Wednesday of each month, the lovely Wes of HoneyBrownSugar.com will be standing in for me- sort of like a Substitute Teacher! We hope that this endeavor will diversify both sites, and provide readers with a variety of reliable and reader-friendly articles. Besides being gorgeous, this curly icon has been providing much needed hair product reviews, advice, and styling techniques since February of last year. Not only is she a hair guru, she branches out and helps you maintain your sexy from head to toe! Her kind spirit shines through in her writing style, and her recurring posts such as Friday’s Dessert, and Tuesday’s Trouble, illustrates her creativity! Thanks Wes for all you do! Now, onto today’s lesson:

Straight Hair Can Be Healthy Too!!

Written for Curly Nikki by Wes of Honeybrownsugar.com

If you’re familiar with my blog, Honey Brown Sugar, then you know that I’ve been doing a LOT with my hair lately. From new products to new styles, I needed a break. A much NEEDED break. I know I said I wasn’t going to straighten my hair as often as I used to, but this is the only way I can give my hair a break (for about two weeks).

Although I had pledged to stay far away from my beloved flat iron, I reneged on that promise. My initial thought was to roller set my hair but I was heading out for the night and time was of the essence. So, with little time and plenty of knowledge I decided to flat iron my hair in the most healthiest way possible.

1. I washed with Mizani’s Thermasmooth shampoo, then detangled and conditioned with Elasta QP’s DPR-11 Remoisturizing conditioner (I think this may have been a little to heavy for my straight hair. Works best when my hair is in its naturally curly state).

2. After rinsing, I then applied just a dime-sized amount of Mizani’s Thermastrength Style serum and blow dried in small sections (using Mizani’s Thermasmooth Smooth Guard Smoothing serum, about a pea sized amount for each section), starting at the back.

3. After blow drying each section, I checked for even-ness and clipped some ends. My recent trip to Devachan had my ends a little uneven (their procedure involves trimming the ends of each and every curl, one at a time)- I did a little clean up there and then grabbed my trusty Megastar flat iron (thanks to the great people at Misikko!).

4. I flat iron in the same manner as blow drying; I begin at the back and proceed upwards, working in small sections. I usually use the highest heat setting but this time I opted for 350 degrees (instead of 420).

I usually use the entire Thermasmooth system from Mizani but I just decided to do things a little differently this time. I know that times are tough right now (Mizani products are a little on the pricey side)- if you’re looking for a substitute I highly recommend FHI’s Heat Hot Sauce. The most important part of flat ironing/straightening your hair is to always use a heat protectant! A deep conditioner isn’t always necessary however, it should be done on a consistent basis if you’re a repeat flat iron-er.

Hope this helps curlies!!