Naturals who Flat Iron...Care Tips??

[Motivator01]

My sister needs help.....
She is also Natural but flat irons her hair so she has lost most of the elasticity. and needs help in taking care of her hair . it is starting to show signs of breakage. What shoud she do????? I dont apply heat to mine so I cant give her any solid advice other than reduce the heat, I also told her to stop blowdrying her hair and then flat ironing which I think is making her hair break

Please help ladies who flat iron their hair.

 

[babyanjel]

Some people's hair just doesn't respond well to heat...but if she likes straight styles like i do, she should either blow dry it straight or flat iron. Not both, I just believe that's too much heat. Maybe she could air dry in rollers or large twists and then flat iron with a good serum or light oil.

I use heat on my hair once a week, if it starts to revert because it got wet or something, oh well, i just leave it alooone, try a braid out or bun it up for the rest of the week.

 

[beyondcute]

Id sugest addint a heat protectant while its wet, smooth it back in a ponytial and let it airdry that way the front will be straight and smooth. Once its dry flat iron it.

IMO blowdryers do nothign for my hair so I always go the flat Iron route. Also make sure the flat iron is on low. A few passes of low heat is way better than one pass of scorching heat. (Imagine washing your hands, you wouldnt use boilng water but warm water over a few seconds)

Just my $0.38

 

[SVT]

Reducing the use of the flatiron and eliminating the practice of blowdrying with hot air before straightening are tips I'd give.

I used to wash and blowdry and straighten my hair weekly once upon a time. My hair was dry, splitting, and prone to breakage. It would not grow longer than "just past shoulders". I severely reduced my use of heat beginning in 2002 and focused on moisture then eventually strength (protein treatments). My hair is now at midback when straightened (about 3-4 times yearly) and in much better condition as compared to previous years but I do have thin ends. They're a vestige from the old ways so I'm doing occasional trims to remedy that.

I ususally wear my unstraightened hair in a slicked back bun or pony. I condition wash daily with Suave Tropical Coconut and do a protein treatment about once a month with Aphogee.

For flatironing/pressing, I do a protein treatment right before, apply some coconut oil to damp hair, style it then let it air dry. I use the blowdryer on the cold setting to chase away any leftover dampness.

Hopefully your sister will find a way to put the irons down some and wear her hair unstraightened. IMO, it's much easier to do healthy hair treatments on unstraightened hair than it is on hair that is continully thermally straightened.

 

[balisi]

I recommend that she cuts her heat use at least in half, if not more. If she hasn't had one in a while, she should use a reconstructor right away, followed by a lubricating/moisturizing treatment. The moisturizing deep-con should be used once a week until her hair's health is restored, but the reconstructor should be used perhaps every six weeks, each time followed by a moisturizing deep-con. She should cut off the breaking ends a little at a time, whatever she's comfortable with. Finally, no-heat styles are a beautiful thing and should be an option for her. Keep us updated on her results.

 

[Motivator01]

Thank you ladies I will print this thread and give it to her also any good serums or recontructors she can use ???

Thanks

 

[Motivator01]

Bumping for more responses
Please help

 

[MWilson569]

I had the same exact problem...I was losing my elaticity and sections of my natural hair was staying straight and not reverting back after I washed it. I had to lay off the flatironing for a while even though I love when my hair is straight. Protein treatments and deep conditioning really helped my hair.I say she should cornrow her her hair or braid it (not tight) and let her hair rest. I find when hair loses elasticity you just need to leave it alone for a while and not manipulate it with your hands on a daily bases and the best way for that to be accomplised is to put in a protective style such as braids. For me I lost total elasticity in certain sections and I just trimmed those sections off slowly as my hair grew out. What added to my damaged hair was using the gold n hot flatiron. I now only use cermamic/tourmaline flat irons with heat protectant and my hair is much healthier and never feels dry. When your sister gets her hair back on track maybe she can alternate flatiron and natural. ex. flatironed hair for 2 weeks and natural for two weeks. HTH -Melissa

 

[SoAnxious12]

HA! A thread where i can be useful lol.
Well i flat-iron my hair a lot and when i first started i got a lot of heat damage and it broke off constantly. Before i was using a rusty electric hotcomb and a really horrible heat protectant. After the damage i didnt use heat for about six months and cut three inches of damage off. Now i've got a maxi-glide and i use Fantasia IC spray heat protectant. It has a lot of cones in it tho, but it works great for me!
Also, i used a light protein treatment by Aphogee. I think it was the 2min Keratin or sumthin bottle. Either way the bottle says 2min lol. Make sure she doesnt blowdry just airdry in braids or someother protectie style, it helps if you put a lil oil on the ends after moisturizing them. Thats all i can think of for right now. HTH