Straight Hair Style Options for Natural Hair

[Natural_Girl]

Hello everyone,

I'm a 100% natural 4a/b/3c thick head of hair girl:O)
I'm looking to wear my hair in straight styles more often.
My hair has grown its longest since going natural back in 1996. Howver, I feel a sense of relief an dlight-headedness everythime my hair is pressed for it's semi-annual trim.
I'm trying to figure out whether I should get my hair regularly pressed like Queen Latifah and other celebs who have their hair regularly pressed - once per week as I'm getting back into my exercise routine now - or should I get my hair relaxed again though my hair reverts quite quickly after relaxing and I remember having it relaxed every 3-4 weeks b/c of this. How much damage is involved with regularly pressing hair?
Would appreciate feedback from others either been here or who may be able to provide some other options.

Much appreciated!

NaturalGirl

 

[Nefertiti0906]

Pressing your hair alot will eventually damage your hair. If you're going to use heat a lot, it is very important to always deep condition and take care of your ends. Or you can opt to use roller sets instead, they also straighten the hair, and you can over it once with a large barrel curling iron or flat iron.

 

[Natural_Girl]

Thanks for the tips!

 

[AFashionSlave]

[ QUOTE ]
Nefertiti0906 said:
Pressing your hair alot will eventually damage your hair. If you're going to use heat a lot, it is very important to always deep condition and take care of your ends. Or you can opt to use roller sets instead, they also straighten the hair, and you can over it once with a large barrel curling iron or flat iron.

[/ QUOTE ]
ITA!
Pressing is not a good option. I lost my napps once before from the heat from a pressing comb.

I good example of fried napps is Free from 106 & park. She wears her hair straight most of the time now but every once in a while she will try to wear it curly. Take a good look at her hair the next time she tries to wear it in it's natural texture. It's is stringy, damaged looking, and NOT CUTE!

I just posted pics of a Dominican Blow-out in my album & take a look at the link below. Nappgirlcurls does an awesome roller set WITH NO HEAT!
http://public.fotki.com/NGCCuadra/nappgirlcurls_hair_album/ngcs_rollerset_styles/

 

[Natural_Girl]

Thanks - will check out the links for styling tips.

 

[Nay]

Hey, Natural Girl:

I press my hair about every 5 to 6 weeks just for a change up, and I wear it straight for about 5 days. I haven't noticed any damage, per se, from pressing my hair. For me, it was the daily hot curlers that were MURDER for my hair.

Usually, though, I wear my hair in heat-less styles, and that has definitely contributed to my hair health.

I would think that if you are really into exercising now that pressing your hair may be a waste of time. I know that for me exercising and pressed hair just don't go together very well!

So I really don't know what to tell you. I just wanted to say that I empathize and understand the desire to see your hair straight and long every so often. Although I love my braidout, every now and then I do get the urge to break out the pressing comb

 

[Chichi]

I would definitely try the rollerset/Dominican blowout look. I have found that relaxed hair and straightened natural hair are not the same thing. When I had fully relaxed hair it looked flat and lifeless but my straigthened natural hair gives me so much more fullness and body

.

Chichi

 

[14got]

Those blowouts I have seen look great.

But when I want str8 hair I throw on an inta-weave. My hair safely tucked away in some braids

 

[Natural_Girl]

Thanks for all of the tips!

 

[deeplyrooted]

i always wear braid-outs when i wanna show some length or want a straighter look. pressing just isn't an option for me not only because of the heat, but because no hair style is worth the drama if it takes all that time and effort to create.

 

[Natural_Girl]

Thanks - I love when my hair is in braid outs as well.
It's just that when my hair is pressed, my head feels sooooo much lighter...I'm really considering getting it relaxed....

 

[ADB]

When I was natural I would get my hair pressed every 2 weeks. Never had any damage, but my hair always stayed the same length.