Let me share!
Pre-LHCF my flatirons were crappy. Always stiff, always damaging and I there was always this whiff of burnt hair when I turned my head..
After tons of thread searching and of course trail and error I put together this:
-DC on dry hair with AO GPB
-Shampoo with Giovanni SAS, concentrate on my scalp, lather twice.
-Condition with Giovanni SAS, I know its not a DC, but I leave it on for about 15 minutes anyway.
-Rinse thoroughly!
-Toweldry
-Bantu knot in 7 sections. This stretches the hair and doesn't allow it to airdry.
-Section by section, I add Sabino, detangle and blowdry with my denman and Babyliss Pro Tourmaline Ionic hairdryer. I use about a pea size on every section. A lot of people find this too heavy, but I'm only apl and think it's just fine. It smoothes and makes it easy to detangle and while I thought it was scary at first, not to use any sort of leave in, once I applied a little bit more I saw that this was no problem at all.
Once one section is dry and detangled, I bantu knot it back up to keep it smooth and out of my way.
I use my hands to smooth down my nape and edges (saturated with sabino, can't stand reverted edges) and move the blowdryer over these parts. They'll still be frizzy, but the curl/kink will be out and makes them easier to flatiron.
-Undo one section, apply sabino (a little less than before), run a small toothed comb over them once, then chase my flatiron right behind the comb.
I use the FHI runway and I believe it really makes a difference.
When its gliding through my hair, the strands are all frizzy and rough on one side and then all shiny and smooth on the other.
It really doesn't need to be on the highest heat and I never swipe more than once.
I really take my time for this. It costs me about 2 hours, but it's worth the patience.
-Sometimes, I'll use my mini tourmaline ceramic flatiron to catch my edges, but I can't control the heat on it and I'm afraid it might be going up to 450 or something.. it doesn't say.
So I'll just pull my hair straight and zap the strands quickly. It can be frustrating when a section of your hair won't behave right.. especially around your hairline. But damaged hair simply won't look good, so don't make the mistake of going over the same section to make it look smoother. I've tried.
-Apply a teeny bit oil before (cross)wrapping, the kind that penetrates your hair, like coconut or olive, so it'll be gone in the morning and your hair will be silky smooth for days!
Mistakes that I've made:
-Using a cheap flatiron and blowdryer. I'm sensitive to marketing and deep down I know I shouldn't believe everything, but this tourmaline thing really seems to make a difference.
-Putting the heat up too high. Again a mistake made with a cheaper blowdryer and flatiron. If you've put it on the higher temerature and you still need to go over the same section three times, unless you didn't wash your hair properly, it's got to be the flatiron.
-Going over the same section to make it look better. Hair will look good when it's healthy. Repeating your swipes will just make it worse on the long term.
-Oils before flatironing. I already knew this, but I thought I could go ahead and DC with AO white camelia after a wash, thinking that since I'm not using a leave in it would be okay. If you've ever used this, you know that your hair will still be oily after rinsing.. It smoked and sizzled (well, just a little of course) and left my hair super greasy and thin.
Some of my coils have loosened because of that one time..
Long post, lol, but I really hope this helps some one!
, so here is my suuuper long step by step straightening method I posted earlier in the transitioning thread (I'm 18 months post):
