BEST Flat Ironing Products/Procedures?

[Leslie_C]

I know u are the ladies to ask!
What are the products and steps u use to get fabulous,shiny,silky,swingy, flat ironed hair...WITH body!?!

I dont want to apply too many products...should oils/moisturizers be used?

Im talking salon results ladies!

How does this sound?
Shampoo
Condition
Apply a little leave in(dime size)
Setting lotion???
Then Air Dry or blow dry...
Then Apply a tiny bit of serum or polisher(I have NTM serum and Straight Effects hair polisher, and also Elasta QP silk heat protectant...dont know which one would work best) to each section...
Flat Iron small sections with my CHI Turbo or FHI ceramic Iron,3-4 strokes each section
Wrap hair and cover with saran wrap
sit under dryer for 10-15 minutes
uncover and unwrap
spray a little sheen and go!

 

[sweetpineapple]

Those steps are good. The serum I usally use is Biosilk Silk Theraphy, for more body though I usualy put each section in a roller as it cools down. You could do that in place of wrapping.

 

[FineChyna]

since we are on the topic can someone tell me how to go about pressing your hair with a flat iron? (i know it sounds dumb) do you just section your hair off and then do piece by piece? what about getting the "curve" and the ends of your hair and some body?

also is it necessary to have a ceramic flat iron to flat iron? i have a gold plated flat iron but its not a ceramic one.

 

[TigerLily]

Yeah, I like silk therapy as well. Also, nix the setting lotion. Otherwise, sounds good!

 

[TigerLily]

You got it right, FineChyna. Section the hair off piece by piece after you've applied your serum/heat protectant. Start as close to the root as possible, then slide the iron down. As your sliding the iron down, curve it under or over to get the hair to bend down or flip up.

Ceramic flat irons are best because it keeps you from burning your hair due to the heat being evenly distributed. Ceramic plated irons don't work that well because the ceramic can wear down over a period of time.

 

[Shatani]

[ QUOTE ]
FineChyna said:
since we are on the topic can someone tell me how to go about pressing your hair with a flat iron? (i know it sounds dumb) do you just section your hair off and then do piece by piece? what about getting the "curve" and the ends of your hair and some body?

also is it necessary to have a ceramic flat iron to flat iron? i have a gold plated flat iron but its not a ceramic one.

[/ QUOTE ]
1. yeah, thats pretty much what you have to do....just take some flat-ish sections and run the flat iron over it...im told you should do it relatively quickly, dont let it linger in one spot for too long!

2. about the curve....some flat irons are designed with a rounded end so that its easy to get the curve...also, when i did my friend's hair i realized that the smaller the better...the really wide, iron that her mother had made it difficult to do the curve, but her little 1" one did the trick!

3. ive been reading up on this, and from what i understand, the ceramics are better cuz the heat is more evenly distributed and the heat is less direct (or something like that)...that being said, i know a lot of people swear by the regular flat irons and think ceramic ones are crap! its all gonna depend on you and your hair...trial and error is the name of the game!

HTH
~T~

 

[Shatani]

woops! guess tigerlilly beat me to it!!! and much more succinctly i might add!

~T~

 

[JuJuBoo]

Hey, if you truly want it "silky" and "swingy", use a water based leave in, and get rid of the setting lotion! Any creams will just weigh it down. I use a water based leave in and Biosilk Silk Therepy. I don't sit under the drier either. Less time and less products give FAB results.

 

[LABETT]

I use Redken Smooth Down Line when flatironing my hair the
butter treat for my conditioner and the Redken heat glide is great to use the flatiron just slides thru my hair.

 

[Leslie_C]

Jujuboo,
by water based leave in, do u mean a watery one or can it be a cream that has water as the 1st ingredient? I dont have any watery(spray) conditioners anymore. I havent tried biosilk yet, but its on my wish list!

if u have never tried the saran wrap trick, u should! It makes a big difference in shine and body...I learned this from my stylist, its like magic!

 

[Shatani]

leslie, i think when she says water based, she means something with water listed as the first ingredient...
~T~

 

[deborah11]

what is the saran wrap trick. please explain someone. thanks.

 

[naomi]

While my hair is damp, I apply biosilk silk therapy and salerm 21 and then roller set my hair. After my hair is dried under the hood dryer, I then flat iron my hair. I use a Babyliss flat iron, its not ceramic though.

 

[Cowgirl]

Yes please explain more about the Saran wrap trick. I will be washing my hair today and would love to try this for the "swingability" factor.

 

[Michelle79]

bump fot the saran wrap trick

 

[JuJuBoo]

[ QUOTE ]
Leslie_C said:
Jujuboo,
by water based leave in, do u mean a watery one or can it be a cream that has water as the 1st ingredient? I dont have any watery(spray) conditioners anymore. I havent tried biosilk yet, but its on my wish list!

if u have never tried the saran wrap trick, u should! It makes a big difference in shine and body...I learned this from my stylist, its like magic!

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey by water based I mean an actual spray in. I've found that any kind of cream, even if water is the 1st ingredient weighs my hair down too much.
I've never done the saran wrap technique. I get I get a lot of body and shine just by sticking to fewer products. (I'm a minimalist at heart! The less time and products the happier I am.)

 

[Leslie_C]

ok ladies, this is the saran wrap trick, Im telling u, u will love the results. If u dont believe me, one day do it regular and one day do it with saran wrap and see the difference.

After flat ironing my hair, my stylist wrapped my hair and then she wrapped saran wrap around my wrap(tightly) and sat me under the dryer for 10 minutes or so. After that, she took the saran wrap down and combed my wrap down. It came out silky and shiny and swingy(my friends said it looked like white ppls hair...lol). I did this on my own hair the other day and had similar results. Its hard to describe the difference but its like it seals in shine and moisture or something plus give it body.... if u try it let me know how it goes! there was an old thread about this, if I find it Ill bump it

 

[JuJuBoo]

Just ten more minutes? hmmm.

MAYBE I can spare the time to atleast TRY it. hehehe :

 

[Michelle79]

Thanks Leslie! I'm definitely going to try that.

 

[ladybug]

Yeah the saran wrap is a great for shine and...

my stylist told me the plastic adds the shine when it is wrapped around your head...lol..it sounds crazy but the results are to die for...

 

[Cowgirl]

Thanks Leslie, I was waiting for your response.

I skipped my wash last night so I could try this. I will try this technique tonight and let you know the results.

 

[Leslie_C]

cool, see I knew SOMEONE would chime in to back me up...hahaha. Let me know how it goes! I just bought my ceramic flat iron and I have to put it WAY out of sight because I know it will become addictive. I have almost 8 weeks of new growth and Im sure it would suuurre smooth out my bdb's!

I have been so good about not using heat but since I got my iron the other day it keeps talking to me...lol. I will limit myself to doing this no more than 2X a month! I can wear it like that for a few days and up to a week depending on if I work out...
Ive learned to like my buns and especially braid outs so I need to keep up the good work bc my hair will break off with too much heat.