Curly hair help?

Jan 10, 2015

Adrianna H.

I have pretty curly hair (3b) & its a little past my shoulders curly & halfway down my back straight. I love my curly hair but I also like it straight. I'm really afraid of damage, but I want to straighten my hair around every one or two weeks. Are there any good protectants, flat irons that do minimal damage or no heat methods? Thanks ♡

Jan 10, 2015

Angela P.

Chi hair straightener is awesome

Jan 11, 2015

Kitty K.

I have 3b/3c mixed curls as well!

Firstly, I prefer to use serum heat protectants. They typically contain silicones that coat the hair and do a much better job at protecting than spray-on heat protectants.
Also, majority of spray on protectants contain solvent alcohol and will dry out your hair; so it's actually healthier for a serum to be used.
Leave in conditioners also tend to typically have silicones for heat protection as well.
I use one n' only argan oil serum prior to straightening.

For a flat iron I highly recommend Nu-Me's MegaStar.
Stay away from flat irons that are solely based on just titanium. They do a better job at straightening, but they do not distribute heat evenly and do a sure heck of a job of destroying hair and curl pattern.
The Megastar is pricey at $200.00, but there are coupon codes everywhere. I got mine at $69.99. I like it a lot better than Chi and GHD. It leaves my hair softer than both, actually.
Nu-Me does have cheaper flat irons, and I have tried them out but they are not impressive and they do not leave the hair feeling silky.

To minimize damage you definitely want to incorporate protein treatments at least once a month; so basically when it's time to wash your hair on a week you used heat, do a protein treatment. Hair is made out of protein. When you bleach, chemically treat and use heat on hair you should follow up with protein treatments. I use Aphogee Keratin 2 Minute Reconstructor. Too much protein can be damaging therefore I always follow up with a moisturizing treatment.

The less damaging method would be to roller set your hair, or to heat style your hair when it's completely dry and this also protects the curl pattern from being altered.
I'm personally too impatient to roller set my hair, so what I do is stretch out my curls over night.
I wash my hair and allow it to air dry.. before bed time comes around, I braid my hair so that my curls are stretched for tomorrow.
Using a flat paddle brush, I brush my hair while blow drying it. It doesn't have to be perfectly straight, you're still just stretching your curls. ( I find that by doing this it makes flat ironing a lot more easier. ) I do this on low-medium setting and I blast my hair with a cool shot afterwards to prevent frizz and seal in moisture.
Once I'm done, I go ahead and flat iron my hair. I have always been advised by different hair stylists to use high heat on my hair.
Alot of girls say it's best to use low heat, but when you have insanely curly hair not only does that not work but it can be more damaging to your hair because it is basically collecting heat. You want to pass the flat iron through your hair 1-2 times max, and with low heat I find that I'm passing it 15 times without any result.

You can flat iron your hair, as long as you take care of it! I like ironing mine as well, but I do grow tired of it really quick and end up missing my unique curls.