Naturals who straighten: what do you do with your edges?

[AJellyCake]

I'm assuming you straighten them also , but what I'm really wondering is how?

I'm transitioning and will straighten my hair in December for the first time in 6 months yay. My edges are almost completely natural. I think I will do my first rollerset, so I am just looking for tips on how to get the edges in particular straight and how you maintain them. If you rollerset, do you use little rollers just for the edges (really, I've never done this before. Sorry if that's a dumb question. )? If you only flat iron, do you have a special technique for getting the edges straight?

And, of course, how do you maintain the straight edges until you wet your hair again?

Thanks in advance!

 

[growinghealthyhair]

I have a really tiny flat iron that I use occasionally.

 

[Rainy]

I usually flat iron my hair and skip other methods. If you prefer to skip heat, I find good smoothing gel really works. A little gel and a scarf are always great to lay down those edges. Roll up your hair, apply the gel, use a small brush to lay down the edges and wrap a scarf around the hairline and let it dry.

 

[LovelyLouboutin]

I bought an EdgeStick cause I kept burning my forehead trying to get my edges with my Chi

 

[Nonie]

I just brush them.

This is what my edges look like if I don't bother them:

This what they look like when I brush them:

Here's another look at my edges after I brush them:

I've never been a fan of gelling down edges. Even when wearing my hair natural, I just brush the edges to get this:

 

[SoopremeBeing]

Bumping for more responses! Id like to know too!

 

[Rocky91]

I use a mini flat iron for my edges, to make sure they get super straight to begin with.
when I work out, I tie a bandana tightly around them, and if i leave it alone until it dries, it remains fairly straight.
If I am going somewhere fancy, I'm not above a small touch up with the flatiron.
after a while, when they just get fuzzy, i don't bother with heat, and i whip out my ORS edge control, which smooths them out. by then my flatiron job is in a ponytail and i'm ready to wash anyways.

 

[AJellyCake]

Thanks, everyone, for the responses so far. You've definitely given me some ideas.

My edges don't sit down for anything right now. The only way I can get them to lie down is to spray them with avj/water so they're moist, slick some gel on them, and then tie them down with a scarf. I don't think that would work if I straightened my hair.

Nonie Your edges look great! I've been on the lookout for naturals who can make their edges smooth, and yours are pretty. You do all of that without gel? I'm also not a fan of gelled edges on my hair but can't get them to sit down without it right now. Maybe they just need to get longer so I can pull them back? I was thinking about making a thread on my edges (with pics) but haven't done it yet.

rocky Thanks for the tip about the bandana. I think that will work for me when I work out, too.

LovelyLouboutin Why did i think an "EdgeStick" was like a pomade when I read your post? I googled it though so I know what you're talking about now.

Rainy Thanks. I will try this, too. I am just worried that it won't work for me with straightened hair, but since it does work for you, I will try it. I think if I slick them downward (toward my ear instead of toward the back of my head) maybe it will look better with straight hair....

growinghealthyhair Thanks. This or the EdgeStick do seem like easy ways to get them straight. I just don't have a little flat iron. I think mine is 2 inches wide or so.

SoopremeBeing Thanks for bumping!

 

[FlyyGyrl]

I have a one inch corioliss which gets my edges (and my whole head) pretty good. No special technique just pull out a small section along my hairline and straighten. The edges stay straight until I wash.

 

[Nonie]

@Nonie Your edges look great! I've been on the lookout for naturals who can make their edges smooth, and yours are pretty. You do all of that without gel? I'm also not a fan of gelled edges on my hair but can't get them to sit down without it right now. Maybe they just need to get longer so I can pull them back? I was thinking about making a thread on my edges (with pics) but haven't done it yet.

naturalnewb I don't know how long you've been natural, but I think one of the reason people are so obsessed with smooth edges is they are so used to having straight relaxed hair that they cannot see a little fuzz as a good thing. I mean, this sort of hair should have smooth edges:

​

But when you have a bit of a kink, then a little fuzz isn't so bad. My hair is not straightened here, but you can see I don't have flat fuzz-free hair. Still it doesn't look bad at all, IMO:
​

Here's my hair when I haven't brushed the fuzz along the hairline; that hair isn't long and it forms beady beads:

​

Here's a close of the same do after hairline's been brushed:
​

​

If you have coarse hair, the hair may not lie down but if you tie a scarf after brushing, I think it'll look good...and in time you'll get to used to the "less than perfect" edges. I think a little fuzz makes hair looks soft and not like a helmet. I have told the story of how as I kid I used to admire halos on kids with type 3 hair like the pic to the left:

That fuzzy crown of fluff seen on the sides was to me so purrty that I'd take a comb and pull out a little fort of afro hair in the front of my hair to make my own type 4 hair halo.

So try just the scarf method on the weekend and wear it like that and see if it doesn't grow on you. You may come to find you were really fussing for nothing and it really doesn't look that bad. I'm mad I don't have large photos of that pic I first posted of my straightened hair coz you could've seen a bit of fluff, but it didn't take from the total do.​

 

[growinghealthyhair]

naturalnewb

I was actually also speaking of the edge stick (name slipped my mind) . Lol

 

[greenandchic]

Good question! When I flat iron my hair eventually, I was going to use a butter or jelly to smooth down the edges. My edges lay pretty flat anyway, but I wonder if I will have a stark contrast.

 

[SEMO]

I try to get my edges as straight as possible when I first flat iron my hair. But I often find that it's not until the next day, after I've wrapped my hair for a night and tied it down with a satin scarf, that my hair lays down like I like.

 

[AJellyCake]

@naturalnewb I don't know how long you've been natural, but I think one of the reason people are so obsessed with smooth edges is they are so used to having straight relaxed hair that they cannot see a little fuzz as a good thing. I mean, this sort of hair should have smooth edges:

​

But when you have a bit of a kink, then a little fuzz isn't so bad.
​

Nonie I agree with all of this (as well as the rest of the post). Thank you! I am transitioning now and it's been 9 months since my last relaxer. Part of the reason why transitioning is so much fun and rewarding for me is because it's made me reevaluate how I look at my hair. Believe me, before I started my HHJ in May, I flat ironed my hair stick straight every week and relaxed every 6-8 weeks. I never though I could go 6 months with zero heat. My edges stay pretty fuzzy these days .

I am thinking that when I straighten my hair next month, my edges should be straight though. I think the scarf method will probably work well. I'd just never done it on dry hair before (I use this to get my edges to lie down but I always spritz them first so they're a bit damp).