Natural hair is beautiful in all its kinky and curly glory, but sometimes, you want sleek straight hair too and the best way to achieve this is to straighten out your curls. Straightening your natural hair and trimming off damaged and split ends is best done by a professional, but then who says you can’t skip the experienced hands of a professional and do it yourself?
For that bone straight look, a heating device is the best really and if you have really long hair but shrinkage has been hiding your true length from you, straightening it is the best way to expose shrinkage and do your true length check.
If you are going to do this at home though, ensure you are well prepared and you have handled a straightening iron before (don’t go burning off your ears or scalps and be shouting Adedoyin told you to o, biko). We already know heat and natural hair are not the best of friends, so this shouldn’t be done regularly. Some limit their heat use to once or even twice a year.
Ensure you do a protein treatment, followed by a deep conditioning treatment prior to this hair straightening. This is to strengthen your strands and reduce any damages that may occur.
Also, never do this without heat protectant spray. Avoid using carrier oils, as few have high smoking points and even the ones that do aren’t the best bet. Invest in a heat protectant spray as they are pretty affordable.
Blow dry your hair or you can stretch it out through the use of non-heat methods before you use the hair straightener on it. Try not to pass the straightener through a section hair more than 2 times. If you can do it once, that is better.
Watch this video by Naturalneiicey for a better idea on how to get this safely done. Remember, if you cannot do it yourself, go to a stylist who knows how to handle natural hair.
Enjoy your straightened hair!
SEE MORE HERE Natural Hair Magic: The Switch From Curls to Sleek