Straightening Puffy Hair

First Things First:

I love straightening my puffy hair occassionally, but before I touch any blow dyers or flat irons, there are a few things that I make sure to do:

First, I thoroughly wash and detangle. It is better to start this process on clean hair. This will remove all dirt, old product, and tangles from previous hair styles.

Products Used:

• Shampoo: Mielle Organics Babassu Conditioning Shampoo
• Detangling Conditioner: Aussie Moist Conditioner
• Tool: Wide tooth comb

Second, I give myself a deep conditioning treatment. This step will leave my hair soft and manageable. The deep conditioner also strengthens my hair, which is necessary protection while my hair is exposed to heat. I detangle my hair while rinsing the deep conditioner out of my hair.

Product Used:

• Deep Conditioner: Shea Moisture Manuka Honey and Mafura Oil Intensive Hydration Hair Masque
• Tool: Wide tooth comb

Third, I lightly clipped my ends. The purpose of this step is to find the single strand knots and split ends that will cause a problem when pulled through a flat iron. On average, I clip about 1/8 of an inch. This step is optional, but my results are better with clean ends.

Step-By-Step Straightening:

1. I dry my hair with a t-shirt first. This will remove a majority of the water. Drying with a t-shirt minimizes the frizz potential.
2. Once excess water has been removed with the t-shirt, I section my hair into 6 sections. Steps 3-5 are completed section by section. You would complete one section before moving on to the next.
3. Apply heat protectant. Heat protectants used: *Creme of Nature with Argan Oil Oil Moisturizer as well as the 7-in-1 Leave-In Treatment.
4. Holding the ends of one section of hair (pictured above) blow dry your hair. This will elongate your curly strands, thus reducing the number of passes you will have to make with the flat iron. I used the “HOT” setting, otherwise I would have been blow drying FOREVER. Using the “COOL” setting is supposed to be more protective, but I didn’t see the point in prolonging my process when I was already using an awesome heat protectant.
5. Part your hair into very thin sections and chase a fine tooth comb with the flat iron.

The following video from Chimere Nicole is what I used as a reference and is the perfect flat ironing tutorial:

Styles for Flat Ironed Hair:

The following are my two favorite styles to wear while my hair is flat ironed 🙂

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Preparing for Bed:

While preparing for bed I usually alternate between two chunky cornrows or two chunky braids. I would then wrap my hair with a satin scarf as well as sleep on a pillow lined with satin. NOTE: The pillow lined with satin is simply my regular pillow with a strip of black satin (with a floral pattern that is beautiful might I add), which I purchased from Joann Fabric. My hair result in the morning is a loose wave.

Prepare for the Frizz:

The picture below is me two days after I labored on my hair for hours. Long story short, embrace the frizz because it’s coming…lol

I flat iron my hair once a year; twice at the most. Although I frizz up within the first three days, I still believe this style is well worth the time I invest. I will admit though, I miss my puff when my hair is straightened 🙂

How often do you flat iron your hair?

Have you experienced heat damage?

Share your hair straightening story in the comment section.