I cannot count the amount of times the natural hair police have come down

on curly-haired women for wanting straight hair.  If they do not use chemicals they want to know how to care for flat ironed natural hair.  Women with curly hair do not straighten them because they hate it being curly. They just want to have easy hair.  People with straight hair do not understand hair knots.  Compared to the amount of hair knots folks with curly hair get, their number is small.

To understand curly hair problems, imagine all your hair went in a different direction every

quarter of an inch.  Then it piled it on each other and made a mini mountain.  Add some random split hairs that reached in between all the layers.  Just to make life interesting, they also turn and cling in random sections.  If you don’t know better, you plunge a comb in this mountain.  The hope is, it will make its way out minus the help of any kind of oil, moisturizer or water, without splitting in two.

 

These are general things to know how to care for flat-ironed natural hair. 

  • The hair ends need to be trimmed every 3-4 months.  If your ends are broken and frayed, the hair will look messy soon after it is done.  
  •  Give yourself a hair masque or deep conditioning treatment once a week or every two weeks. The conditioner must say “use with heat for 10 – 15 minutes”.   
  • Always use a styling product to protect the hair when blowdrying.  An oil is not protection; A leave-in conditioner is not protection.  The product should say it protects the hair while heat styling.  It can be called a straightening serum, straightening creme, mousse, foam, styling gel or styling lotion, etc.
  • If you air dry your hair and are going to straighten it with an iron, you must also use a styling product.  Again, an oil or a leave-in conditioner is not a styling product. 
  • Before blow drying, remove 80 per cent of the water from the hair before using the brush.  I prefer a paddle brush or a vent brush with smooth bristles for curly hair.
  • Cover your hair with a silk scarf to sleep.  Some people prefer to sleep on a satin pillowcase.
  • Stay away from water.  Hair has to be covered with a plastic cap when near water or the hair will revert to its natural state called frizzy.

 

Important:  You can use the flat iron on your hair the next day, maybe on the third day.  After that the product sticks to the iron and will break your hair.  You can wrap the hair and pin it; put it in rollers; pin curl it but no ironing after day 3.

 

A weekly or bi-weekly schedule how to care for flat-ironed natural hair would be:

  • Before the shampoo, apply a light oil or moisturizer and comb it out.
  • Wash with a moisturizing shampoo and use a conditioner.
  • Squeeze the water out of the hair with a towel.  Do not rub too hard.  Do not rub in too many directions.
  • Apply the amount of styling product recommended by the manufacturer.
  • Use the blow dry to blow the hair until it is 80 percent dry before using a brush.
  • Pin the hair up in sections and the blow dry will be easier.
  • There are sprays for putting on the hair before using the iron but this is up to you.
  • Test the iron on a lower temperature before using it on the hair.  If it does not straighten after 3 tries, you can bump it up until it does.  Do not use the iron at 450 degrees because you want to be fast.  You will lose your hair even faster.

 

Thanks to the person who requested this.  I hope this helps you know how to care for flat-ironed natural hair.  

By Paula Barker, Silkie Locks Hair Design

 

Call (613) 789-2179 For An Appointment If You Are In The Ottawa, Ontario Area.