Naturals who straighten: What tips do you have?

[Poohbear]

ok I just went and looked at your album, you have much some major progress WOW, your routine is really working!

Thanks again MissScarlett! The ironic thing is is that I don't have a routine! I'm so inconsistent when it comes to washing my hair and styling my hair. I can't stick to anything!

 

[neenzmj]

When you rollerset your hair, do you comb each section of hair before wrapping it around a roller? Yes, I gently comb each section to make certain it's nice and smooth.

And do you lose any hair from combing your hair out? If I've detangled in the shower, I generally don't lose any hair -- just a few strands if any.

And how long does it take you to rollerset your whole head? I section and braid it while I'm still in the shower. If I were to really focus on setting my hair (without pausing for interruptions, I'd say it would take 20-30 minutes.)

And do you ever have a problem with your hair shrinking while you're trying to roll your hair around the roller? No, I don't have that problem. Here's what I do: instead of using hair clips, I use the snap-on magnetic rollers (I've found the large purple rollers with snap-ons.) This really works well in helping me get a nice, snug set and getting my roots straight.

I tried to rollerset my hair myself but couldnt because of shrinkage and my hair is super dense. I also feel like I'm damaging my hair when I comb it out after washing and detangling in the shower. So I let my mom rollerset my hair for me. This was back in October of last year I believe.

 

[zzirvingj]

Use the paddle brush.

I second that. I just bought a new paddle brush from Ulta and I love it. Oh, and a new ionic blow dryer, which I love, too

 

[Vshanell]

The thing with my hair and maybe with others who have 4a/b hair texture, I cannot wrap my hair after doing a rollerset. When I attempt to wrap/comb my hair around my head, it turns into a poofy fro! My ends are just as thick as my roots, so they don't lay down with the rest of my hair. I tried to wrap my hair last night and it didn't work so I just put a few rollers in my hair.

Ok, that statement just made me envious right there . What I wouldn't give for some thick ends.....but I'm workin on it.

 

[Dee Raven]

Wow ladies,

I leave for a few days and I come back to a wealth of information. Thanks so much. I can't wait to try something this weekend.

 

[angellazette]

I wish I could do a decent flat iron...I end up looking like James Brown.

 

[Poohbear]

I second that. I just bought a new paddle brush from Ulta and I love it. Oh, and a new ionic blow dryer, which I love, too

@bmoreflyygirl & zzirvingj, the paddle brush will rip my natural hair out or get stuck in my natural hair. It was okay for my relaxed hair, but I'm somewhat afraid to use it on my natural hair, even when straightened. My natural hair is WAY thicker than my relaxed hair. Not only is my hair SUPER tightly coiled, it is thin-stranded and VERY densely compacted, and most areas are wiry in texture. But I'm not going to worry about it...it'll be awhile before I attempt to straighten my hair again.

 

[glamazon386]

@bmoreflyygirl & zzirvingj, the paddle brush will rip my natural hair out or get stuck in my natural hair. It was okay for my relaxed hair, but I'm somewhat afraid to use it on my natural hair, even when straightened. My natural hair is WAY thicker than my relaxed hair. Not only is my hair SUPER tightly coiled, it is thin-stranded and VERY densely compacted, and most areas are wiry in texture. But I'm not going to worry about it...it'll be awhile before I attempt to straighten my hair again.

Really? Hmm... I felt the same way about the Denman. I couldn't use it. I guess what works for one doesn't necessasrily work for others. I'm gonna try it again on my hair when I get it done Monday.

 

[remnant]

Hello Ladies,

I have been natural now for almost a year and I feel like I'm ready to try straightening. I haven't done so up to now because I've been really scared of ruining my texture. For those of you who have been straightening without losing your texture, could you give me some tips on products and tools. Thanks.

I use pokahontas technique:
http://public.fotki.com/Pokahontas/new-pics-1-4-07/how-i-get-my-natura/

My heat protetant is Redken heatglide

 

[Stationwagon]

@bmoreflyygirl & zzirvingj, the paddle brush will rip my natural hair out or get stuck in my natural hair. It was okay for my relaxed hair, but I'm somewhat afraid to use it on my natural hair, even when straightened. My natural hair is WAY thicker than my relaxed hair. Not only is my hair SUPER tightly coiled, it is thin-stranded and VERY densely compacted, and most areas are wiry in texture. But I'm not going to worry about it...it'll be awhile before I attempt to straighten my hair again.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I thought I was the only one with this problem. I had a stylist that "brushed" my hair and I had so much breakage. Paddle brushes and I are not friends.

 

[Bublnbrnsuga]

Yall making me want to straighten!! Dangit!

 

[Bublnbrnsuga]

Ladies,

I flat ironed my hair for the first time last night! I used a Jilbere Ceramic Pro flat iron 1-1/2" width and Silk Elements Heat Protection Spray (thanks to DivaStyle). This flat iron has 30 heat settings on it, and I set mine between 15 & 20.

I previously had two-strand twists in my hair before flat ironing my hair. I unraveled each twists one at a time, gently combed it out, and then I flat ironed the section going over it once, and fore a few sections twice. As you can see I didn't get my hair straight-straight because I'm still scared of damage, so this amount of straightness will do for me...Here are the results:

Last night

This morning after waking up....frizzy & starting to shrink:

After taking a shower, I decided to put the front of my hair up:

I'm glad I got to see what my hair looks like straighten...I will not be doing this often...maybe 1-2 times a year. Soon, my hair will be going back in twists!!!

Poohty-poo, you are so pretty

 

[~*~ShopAholic~*~]

I knew it was something new about that avatar the other day, but I thought you dug out an old throw-back picture, it looks good, even as it shrinks especially with the front pulled up, that use to be one of my favorite styles. Oh yeah, Congratulations on the progress!

Ladies,

I flat ironed my hair for the first time last night! I used a Jilbere Ceramic Pro flat iron 1-1/2" width and Silk Elements Heat Protection Spray (thanks to DivaStyle). This flat iron has 30 heat settings on it, and I set mine between 15 & 20.

I previously had two-strand twists in my hair before flat ironing my hair. I unraveled each twists one at a time, gently combed it out, and then I flat ironed the section going over it once, and fore a few sections twice. As you can see I didn't get my hair straight-straight because I'm still scared of damage, so this amount of straightness will do for me...Here are the results:

Last night

This morning after waking up....frizzy & starting to shrink:

After taking a shower, I decided to put the front of my hair up:

I'm glad I got to see what my hair looks like straighten...I will not be doing this often...maybe 1-2 times a year. Soon, my hair will be going back in twists!!!

 

[wyldcurlz]

Here are some photos to help with my descriptions

Wet and sprayed with leave-in ***** After sitting under the dryer

After taking rollers out ***** After Flat Ironing

i WISH my hair looked as good as your's does wet & just sprayed with leave-in. my curls are great, but the top (from the roots to about 2-in down) is...hard to describe. it doesn't curl, but its not straight. it just lays there and the very edges kinda pouf up. i'm going to try it your way. maybe friday nite. i wanna see if it'll work for me!! i'm excited & hoping that it will. (your hair is beautiful by the way, Divastyle.)

 

[gloomgeisha]

**Bumping**

 

[JuicesN'Berries]

I can't stress enough how important it is to use a low heat setting and a heat protectant. I was obsessed with hair that "swangs like a white girls" so I didn't put any product (so that it wouldn't weight it down) and I also used the highest setting....now I have severe heat damage on about 5 inches of my hair in the front.....Please don't forget this tip or else you will be like me....trying to hide the straight pieces!!

 

[Jenaee]

I wish I could do a decent flat iron...I end up looking like James Brown.

ME TOO!!!! I'm rocking what looks like a old-school blow out and I just flat ironed on Sunday night. Hopefully with all these tips, James Brown will not return.

 

[ClassicBeauty]

i WISH my hair looked as good as your's does wet & just sprayed with leave-in. my curls are great, but the top (from the roots to about 2-in down) is...hard to describe. it doesn't curl, but its not straight. it just lays there and the very edges kinda pouf up. i'm going to try it your way. maybe friday nite. i wanna see if it'll work for me!! i'm excited & hoping that it will. (your hair is beautiful by the way, Divastyle.)

Thanks girl!
I just wish my hair would dry like that. It dries all frizzy! Plus I have 3 different textures. (My mom says that's all my mixed up ancestry coming out of me. ) The front has waves and a little curl, the back has bigger curls, but up in that crown...it's something totally different. Other than a braidout, I have yet to figure out how to make all those textures work together and lay together.
By the way, when I roll it I have to constantly spray leave in. My hair just sucks it all up! When I part it into sections, I usually comb each section out and then twist or braid it up and pin it into little buns (like coils or whatever). That keeps each section combed out and moist until I get to rolling that section. (I hope that makes sense.)
Good luck to you!

 

[Country gal]

Bumping I need to come back with my updates. I really like tyhe IC Fantasia serum it is the truth.

 

[ClassicBeauty]

I can't stress enough how important it is to use a low heat setting and a heat protectant. I was obsessed with hair that "swangs like a white girls" so I didn't put any product (so that it wouldn't weight it down) and I also used the highest setting....now I have severe heat damage on about 5 inches of my hair in the front.....Please don't forget this tip or else you will be like me....trying to hide the straight pieces!!

I'm sorry to hear that. I think that everyone has to find the setting that works for them. For me, I've found that my hair can take a lot of heat, but I only run the flat iron through each small section ONE time. When I use a lower setting, I find myself going over each part multiple times. In the end, I'm not sure which is really worse, but I choose to use higher heat and only go over it once, versus going over it like 3 times with lower heat. I always use a heat protectant, but my hair has so much leave in conditioner on it by the time I actually get to flat iron it that it's cool. The deep conditioner is also a must. My hair swings just fine using the leave ins and a light heat protectant. (My theory is that it's all because of the rollerset.)

 

[Kurlee]

Yall making me want to straighten!! Dangit!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
You have officially become my hair inspiration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Beautiful hair girl!

 

[zzirvingj]

Here are some photos to help with my descriptions

Wet and sprayed with leave-in ***** After sitting under the dryer

After taking rollers out ***** After Flat Ironing

Woooooweeeeeeeeee look at all of that gorgeous hair! It looks really nice in the pic where the rollers have been taken out before you pressed it. I've really been wanting to try the roller set technique for pressing.

What kind of dryer do people recommend for this?

 

[zzirvingj]

@bmoreflyygirl & zzirvingj, the paddle brush will rip my natural hair out or get stuck in my natural hair. It was okay for my relaxed hair, but I'm somewhat afraid to use it on my natural hair, even when straightened. My natural hair is WAY thicker than my relaxed hair. Not only is my hair SUPER tightly coiled, it is thin-stranded and VERY densely compacted, and most areas are wiry in texture. But I'm not going to worry about it...it'll be awhile before I attempt to straighten my hair again.

So what kind of brush do you typically use that doesn't tug at the hair?

I find that with this new paddle brush I only use it when detangling in the shower while completely wet w/conditioner on it. Under that circumstance it seems to work really well. I used it last time I pressed it out while blow drying and it helped me to straighten it out more, but I did feel like a little more of my hair came out during that process, so I stick to using it to detangle in the shower only for now.

 

[Poohbear]

So what kind of brush do you typically use that doesn't tug at the hair?

I find that with this new paddle brush I only use it when detangling in the shower while completely wet w/conditioner on it. Under that circumstance it seems to work really well. I used it last time I pressed it out while blow drying and it helped me to straighten it out more, but I did feel like a little more of my hair came out during that process, so I stick to using it to detangle in the shower only for now.

I don't use a brush at all. Instead of wrapping my hair, I just gathered my hair with my hands on top of my head and put a scarf around it. My hair is super coily and if I wrapped my hair around my head, it would be ripping my ends off. My hair never gets very straight when I straighten it so it still textured when straightened.

 

[glamazon386]

I don't use a brush at all. Instead of wrapping my hair, I just gathered my hair with my hands on top of my head and put a scarf around it. My hair is super coily and if I wrapped my hair around my head, it would be ripping my ends off. My hair never gets very straight when I straighten it so it still textured when straightened.

I straightened mines myself last night (there's a few pics in the fotki) and now I get what you meant about not being able to use the paddle brush. Some parts I could run the brush through but other parts I couldn't. When I went to the salon he got it perfectly straight all the way through and it moved when the wind blew, when I walked, etc. When I did it myself it didnt turn out bad, though. I just couldn't get it as flat as I wanted it. And now I know I can do it myself should I need to but I think I'll stick to letting him do it at the shop. He gets it done in a half hr.

 

[ClassicBeauty]

Woooooweeeeeeeeee look at all of that gorgeous hair! It looks really nice in the pic where the rollers have been taken out before you pressed it. I've really been wanting to try the roller set technique for pressing.

What kind of dryer do people recommend for this?

Thanks girl!
I sit under a hooded dryer for deep conditioning and roller sets.

 

[ClassicBeauty]

I straightened mines myself last night (there's a few pics in the fotki) and now I get what you meant about not being able to use the paddle brush. Some parts I could run the brush through but other parts I couldn't. When I went to the salon he got it perfectly straight all the way through and it moved when the wind blew, when I walked, etc. When I did it myself it didnt turn out bad, though. I just couldn't get it as flat as I wanted it. And now I know I can do it myself should I need to but I think I'll stick to letting him do it at the shop. He gets it done in a half hr.

WOW! A half hour sounds amazing! I can only wish for that. I'm glad you were able to do it yourself. I always use a paddle brush...for everything! A paddle brush and a wide tooth comb are all I ever use.
If he got it straighter, it's probably because he used higher heat. I personally use a high heat most of the time. I've found that using higher heat and going over each small section one time is better than using medium heat and going over each section like 3 times. I'm sure that's not the popular method, but it works for me and I don't have to use anymore heat all week.

 

[AtlantaJJ]

I straighten almost every week and my hair is very healthy. I wash and condition. Then I use a deep conditioner and sit under the dryer for about 15 min. I comb it out while the conditioner is still on with a wide tooth comb. After I rinse the conditioner out, I spray with leave-in conditioner. Then I rollerset with big rollers (purple and gray) and sit under the dryer until it dries. After it dries, I remove the rollers spray some heat protectant and wrap it up while the flat iron heats up. I then flat iron my whole head. The rollers get my hair pretty straight (use the largest ones you can for the length of your hair), but the hair that is exposed while it is rolled is really wavy. After I finish flat ironing, I wrap it up and go to bed. (I have to wrap it that first night. It makes it so much better the next day.)

I use the leave-in in place of setting lotion. You can see the products I use in the siggy. (I'm really cheap.) I hope this helps. I know it sounds like a lot, but I did this when I had a relaxer too so it just seems normal to me. People always ask me what I do to my hair and when I tell them they go . Let me know if you have any more questions. I'll try to add some more photos soon. I really reccomend the rollerset before the direct heat. I avoid blowdryers at all costs!

When I get some length this is exactly how I am going to straighten my hair, my mom used to do this for me when I was young and just press my edges..it worked great! Plus its my excuse to read while I sit under the dryer...

 

[AtlantaJJ]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
You have officially become my hair inspiration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Beautiful hair girl!

Just amazing~~~!!!!!!

Lawdy, there is some beautiful natural hair up in this thread!!! I am so glad I'm natural now, it's just a matter of time and care...my hair is growing growing growing !! Thanks for the inspiration ladies!!

 

[MissJ]

What temperature do y'all use to straighten without damage?