How to Safely Straighten Hair with Heat

Hi Everyone!! For those of you who know me from the Long Hair Care Forum, you may have read my posts on how heat can be used safely. I decided to post my tips from my Journal entries here in one place...For the most part, this is just to give you an idea of what to do; what works best for you of course may vary, but the main point to remember is to just be patient and take your time. You don't want to cause any unnecessary drama when styling the hair. If it's frustrating you, then stop and choose a another styling method. When you are more calm, you can come back to this technique... I also want to add that I have modified the ideas here; I have learned quite a bit with my hair since I first wrote this... I don't recommend doing this more than 1-2x/week, b/c that's just too much general manipulation (I just don't style that much) but the techniques and products are such that you probably won't need to do anything more than this. Let me know if I wasn't clear on something. HTH Alrighty, let's get started: First, you want to start off with clean, well-conditioned hair, no exceptions. After you've rinsed out your deep conditioner, gently and lightly towel-blot the hair (you still want it fairly wet, not damp). Don't rub or do any other man-handling. Next, apply your leave-in conditioner. I love Paul Mitchell The Conditioner or Kenra Daily Provision, but I have lots of leave-ins, so it doesn't matter what you use, so long as you use one. Ok, it's technique time: Get your blowdryer (a ceramic one) and either a round brush (either boar bristle or the ball-knobby kind) or a paddle brush, and some clips. Does your dryer have speed settings, heat settings and a cold shot?? If not, get one. Your hair should be pretty wet w/a little bit of product in it at this point (b/c you used SMALL amounts). Without the concentrator nozzle (*trust me on this!!) you want to "rough dry the hair". Ok, don't let the word "rough" freak you out--you're not actually roughing up the hair. Set the dryer on low speed, but hot heat. Using your fingers and pointing the dryer down and 7-8 in. from your hair, blow dry your hair to about 80% dry. (If you don't want to do this or you aren't in a hurry you can airdry to a/b 80&). Once you've gotten to 80%, next comes your heat protectant. I apply Joico K-pak Smoothing Balm, but you can also use a Garnier serum or something like that if you don't want pricey items. Tresemme has WONDERFUL heat protectant products (comparable to Nexxus). I like the Joico one b/c it has humidity protection...In any event, use a small amount, and apply to the ends first, then to the roots (esp. if you have lots of new growth), then comb the product through to the distribute the product to the remainder of the hair. Now this is where it can get tricky and takes some practice. Set the blowdryer on low speed, medium heat. Take the small section you want to blow dry and run the round brush under it and hold the running dryer over the top (approx. 6-8 inches away) and run the brush down the length of the hair. If using a paddle brush, using the brush over the hair, starting at the roots. Anyways, continue moving the brush and dryer down the length until dry. Keep the dryer moving at all times to prevent burning the hair, and make sure not to leave the dryer blowing on the ends of the hair too long (the ends are the oldest part of the hair, and you want to focus on limiting their chances of damage). If you want a bump at the end, bend the round brush at the ends of the hair. Next use the cold shot feature on the dryer to lock in the straightness and shine (the straightness will last longer if you use the cold shot). How do you get the brush back up the roots after you got to the ends to do it again?? I place the dryer nozzle under the hair section so that it’s laying on the dryer, then place the brush back at the roots to reset my starting place. If you have a blowdryer stand, you can use that too. Go over the top of the section of hair to get the roots straighter; I prefer using a paddle brush for this reason. Here are videos of a stylist doing it: How To Blow-Dry Hair Straight How To Use A Round Brush To Curl Hair Here are more blow drying tips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6HR1KsQ7xo http://www.hairboutique.com/tips/tip100019.htm http://www.hair-styles-secrets-revea...blow%20dry.htm So once you’ve gotten all the hair dry and fairly straight, get out your serum (I like Chi Silk Infusion) and apply a dime-sized amount to each of the 4 sections you previously created. Then, starting at the nape of the first section, part out a piece of hair to start flat ironing if you want more of a finished, polished look. The flat iron should be ceramic, preferably tourmaline, and it should not be set on the highest setting it has. In fact, start with the lowest setting, and gradually turn the degree up to reached the effective temperature (if you find that the look you want is not achieved with the temp at 375 or lower, you need to practice your blowdrying and flat ironing technique some more). I have a Solia and I keep it at 250-270 around a recent touch-up, and 275-300 when I have lots of new growth. Make your sections less than ½’’ thick and get a rattail comb and put it under the section. Follow the comb down the length of the hair with the flat iron. Go slowly, but not too slow; take maybe 2-4 seconds for each pass of the iron. If you see smoke or hear a sizzle, turn the iron down! NO EXCEPTIONS. You should be able to comfortably touch the hair almost immediately after running the iron on it. Flat Iron Video: Richard Ashforth's Tip: How To Use Hair Straighteners So go over each small section once (no more than twice) with the flat iron until you finish your hair. When I finish, I like to take a little more Chi silk infusion and rub it all over the hair (focusing on the ends) for extra protection and shine. And voila!! You are done :) Hope this helps someone. Regular Heat Use threads: http://www.longhaircareforum.com/for...d.php?t=110350 http://www.longhaircareforum.com/for...d.php?t=114270 http://www.longhaircareforum.com/for...d.php?t=144439 http://www.longhaircareforum.com/for...d.php?t=129013