How do you get your hair to lay flat against your head?!

[frida1980]

I've seen this done with natural hair all the time. Women somehow slick their natural hair back into a bun, without a hint of puffiness. I've tried this using gel and conditioner. After breaking off my edges, I gave up and concentrated on getting my edges back. How do you do it exactly?

 

[Whimsy]

water, coconut oil, brush, and scarf until i leave the house....(and sometimes until i get where i'm goin)

 

[L.Brown1114]

it may be the gel your using, may not have enough "grip" try jam or a different gel. and the scarf method. HTH!

 

[Sianna]

I typically use Ecostyler gel and and a scarf, though sometimes I will skip the scarf and use a hand held hairdryer, pressing the cool-shot button of course. I think the latter method usually works best for me because as the outermost part of my hair begins to dry, it will hold the inner layers even if they are still a little damp. Either way, I'm usually able to get my hair pretty flat.

HTH!!

 

[afrikurl]

Girl when you find out let me know. There is no amount of gel, shea butter,conditioner, scarves or any combination of them that makes my hair lay flat against my head. I don't think it's in the cards for me so I have given up. One product that at least gives that appearance until it dries is ORS Edge Control. It kinda feels like a mixture between wax and a gel. It keeps my hair line feeling soft though.

 

[frida1980]

Ok. This sounds like the method I'm hearing is this:

Wash and condition:

Apply either Jam gel or thick oil or butter.

Wear a scar and/or use a diffuser.

Huh. I think I've tried all of these. Maybe my hair really isn't meant for this.

 

[NaturalBoss]

I wear my hair 'slicked down' everyday. This is what I do:

-Co-wash
-Long Aid activator (this is new, I've only done this for about 3 days)
-Eco Styler gel (the dark brown one)
-Pull back in a ponytail or bun (it doesn't have to be tight)
-Spray S-Curl No Drip on the ends
-Put a mesh wrap on my hair (black w/ little holes and velcro to hold it together). The mesh wrap works a thousand times better than a scarf to me.
-Wear the mesh wrap until I get to work, church or wherever

End result: A very slick ponytail with nice waves that lasts all day!

 

[Soliel185]

I had an 'ah ha' moment when I discovered the Denman Brush. I don't use it everytime now, but the concept remains the same.

Unless your hair is completely flat and all going in the same direction underneath the top layers it will never EVER lie flat.

I also use a stretchy band that I've cut along the seam, wrap it around my forehead with an end in either hand, and then slowly tighten it as I push it back. After I've tied it off I put on my scarf like most of the other ladies mentioned and let it set.

For day to day I tie a scarf over it at night and when I wake up it's super smooth.

 

[Victorian]

Unless your hair is completely flat and all going in the same direction underneath the top layers it will never EVER lie flat.

This.
What you do to get your under layers smoothed down is up to you, but that's what needs to be done. You can't just keep going over the top hair -- that hair's already smooth, and you'll just put unnecessary stress on it and cause breakage. I learned this in my early days and started making a ponytail in back first, incorporating the front in sections as I moved forward.

These days if my hair isn't straightened, I make my ponytails in the shower when my hair is already laying right. I may need to take it down and squeeze out some water after a few minutes, but once the hair has started to set laying flat, it's much easier to re-make the ponytail.

 

[SilkySwag]

I have to do it on sopping wet hair with conditioner and a gel. Then I tie it down with a scarf.

 

[Judwill07]

Moisturize with spray detangler and Hawaiian Silky 14 in 1. Then warm up some coconut oil, saturate my scalp and ends and then slap on a gallon of gel.

PS: The gel doesn't break my hair

 

[discodumpling]

Water & grease (Softee, Dax etc) & a scarf (anything BUT cotton) slicks my hair down all day.

 

[Newtogrow]

my hair won't slick down for anybody's bun I would probably have to do heavy duty stretching or straighten it.

 

[Br*nzeb*mbsh~ll]

Ditto, sans Brush.
Scarf sops up the water and lays the hair down really well.

water, coconut oil, brush, and scarf until i leave the house....(and sometimes until i get where i'm goin)

 

[EccentricRed]

After my co-wash, I put ecostyler gel in my hair (I do some of the lower layers as well) and put a scarf on until it dries or until I leave the crib...

 

[song_of_serenity]

Wet hair, gel, brush, scarf.

 

[divachyk]

Damp or dry hair, moisturize/seal, toothbrush, scarf.

I use a toothbrush because it's gentle and doesn't rip my hair out, yet it allows me to brush, so to speak, my hair to help it lay flat. I've also use a fine tooth comb to rake (gently glide) over the hair. I'm definitely not digging the comb into the hair and combing it, just gliding it across the top layer of hair.

HTH!

 

[Austro-Afrikana]

The key is having your hair wet/damp and using a scarf.

On wet/damp moisturised hair I apply my gel (IC fantasia blue) and brush with a boar bristle brush. I pull back into a pony tail or whatever, apply a bit more gel and brush a bit more if needed. I tie a rectangular scarf around my head and leave it for at least 15 minutes and voila:

 

[glamazon386]

I pull back wet hair with conditioner and gel the same way I did when I was relaxed. I smooth the gel on with my hands and then go over it with a brush. I typically don't use a scarf.

 

[Nonie]

I consider my hair to be flat in the front when I create a puff, but I don't use any gel or scarf or even a brush. I just comb it in a backward direction then as I put the elastic on, I smooth it back with my hands as I push the elastic back to place.

This was done on fully shrunken 4B hair with S Curl applied to damp hair:

This was done on braid-stretched 4B hair with coconut oil and conditioner applied to dry hair:

 

[Poohbear]

Make sure your hair is detangled THOROUGHLY. Before smoothing your hair into a bun, make sure your hair is either wet or very moisturized all over. Any dry areas will cause puffiness. I just use water, conditioner (Aussie Moist) or moisturizer (S-Curl), and a boar bristle brush, then put on a scarf to let it dry flat. I've used gel before but it doesn't make any difference than conditioner when laying my hair down. Hope that helps.

 

[MsLizziA]

I have to do it on sopping wet hair with conditioner and a gel. Then I tie it down with a scarf.

THIS! i mean sopping wet! tons n tons of gel... its aggravating.. then i have to slide the stocking over it...

 

[MsLizziA]

The key is having your hair wet/damp and using a scarf.

On wet/damp moisturised hair I apply my gel (IC fantasia blue) and brush with a boar bristle brush. I pull back into a pony tail or whatever, apply a bit more gel and brush a bit more if needed. I tie a rectangular scarf around my head and leave it for at least 15 minutes and voila:

see that's the typa flat im talkin bout

 

[CandyCurls]

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[Uber]

I don't have to have wet hair but I get my best results on freshly washed wet hair with evoo or moisturiser. scarves tend to mess up my look. I tend to gel my hair before I put it in a band as well.

I don't use a brush either

 

[adw425]

I wet my hair or CO-wash; rinse in water that graduates from luke-hot to warm to cool to seal the cuticle; spray in Ojon revitalizing mist or my homemade leave-in (of rosewater, aloe vera juice, SAA, wheat protein, honeyquat and panthenol) and seal with whatever I am using to seal with at the moment. In the winter, it is some kind of shea butter-oil combo and, in the summer, it is an oil mixture, so currently mine is avocado, coconut and olive oil. I only use a shower comb, btw.

I smooth my hair into a low twisted or braided ponytail after I have secured it with an ouchless elastic band that I have dipped in oil and I tuck the end of it under. The tension from the elastic band is not loose, but not too tight either. It is tight enough to do provide the tension needed to "straighten" the hair overnight, but not tight enough to destroy my hairline. I sleep in a silk or satin scarf and, in the morning, I make my bun and my hair lies completely flat/is completely slicked down, as it were.... I will smooth the boar bristle brush over it once or twice. I never needed gel, but last year I tried some different ones, but some of them actually defeated, rather than aided in, the primary goal.

PS: I started doing this in 2005. Before I went to this method, I could not get my hair to slick down at all. I was pressing it almost every day to get it to lie flat, which was a big no-no. Now I press or flat-iron only when I have some formal event, like once a year.

 

[longhairlover]

I use wrapping strips, my mother gets her hair to lay flat but to me it's because of her texture my hair is thicker than hers so I use the strips.
the strips will keep you from overbrushing the hair and causing any damage. dry with a dryer or sleep overnight with them.

 

[kisa75]

I dampen my hair with either Infusium 23 or S-Curl. Then brush it into a pony with a combination of Elasta QP Mango Butter and Black N Sassy Creamy Set. I also put a little extra of the creamy set on my edges. Then I put on a scarf for at least 25 minutes.

 

[JusticeMe]

Girl when you find out let me know. There is no amount of gel, shea butter,conditioner, scarves or any combination of them that makes my hair lay flat against my head. I don't think it's in the cards for me so I have given up. One product that at least gives that appearance until it dries is ORS Edge Control. It kinda feels like a mixture between wax and a gel. It keeps my hair line feeling soft though.

I sorta agree I have been using ORS edge control, to me its sorta like Elasta QP Glaze but I do like it. The thing I don't like about it is when i first apply it, it looks great...laying everything down and I also use the scarf as well most days, but once it dries its like i never used it. But it does tend to leave some residue. It's best to use on freshly washed (or no other products) on the hair.

Anyway, I'm still trying to find that miracle product to lay my hair down.