I typically straighten my hair once per year, but I have actually gone as long as a year and a half. When I do straighten, I want to do it the safest way possible and I want it to last a solid week. No use in using all that heat on my hair if I’m just going to go back curly in a few days. If you’re scared of heat damage (and the big question: will my curls come back?) then you will want to follow these tried-and-true tips for straightening safely.
I wash my hair and then deeply condition it with my go-to deep conditioning concoction, which includes honey and olive oil. I want to ensure that my hair has ample moisture before I zap it with the heat.
Air Dry
After my hair is wash and conditioned, I wait for it to air dry at least 80% of the way. This reduces the risk of damaging my hair because of the moisture and heat combination.
Blow Dry
My next step is blow-drying. I separate my hair into four sections, detangle each section, spray with a heat protectant, and then blow out each section with a blow-dryer that has a comb attachment (wide tooth). For me, it’s a little hard to blow out my hair with the blow-dryer in one hand and a brush in the other. If I run into any snags along the way, I simply stop and detangle with a regular comb and then proceed again.
Flat Iron
My final step is to actually straighten my hair using a heat protectant and hair serum. I like using Instyler because it has a brush that allows for more of a sleek straightening result, for me at least.
To straighten, I separate my hair into four sections and begin on the back. I take small sections of hair, spray with heat protecting spray, and then apply Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum on each piece.
In order to avoid too much heat I try to avoid styling with a curling iron. I’ll put my hair in large twists to create goddess waves. If I want it a little more on the curly side, I will braid it instead and take it out in the morning.
Revert to Curly Hair
When I’m ready to revert back to curly hair, I will deep condition on dry hair and let it sit overnight (the night before I wash). I want to put moisture back in my hair and revert my curls. In the morning, I will wash and deep condition as I would do normally with naturally curly hair. Then, I will usually try to give my hair a break and put it in a protective style such as twists. This will impart more moisture into my strands and allow it to get some more TLC that it was lacking while it was straight.
