Flat Ironing Tips

Are you flat ironing your hair with sometimey results? Not getting it as "straight" as you would like? Here are some tips that may be just what you need to get what you are looking for.

1. Make sure hair is conditioned well. If your hair isn't conditioned and moisturized well, then don't even think about putting any heat in your hair. Using just a heat protectant on unconditioned hair will not do the trick. Applying heat to dry, brittle hair is just asking for breakage. Only flat iron your hair if you condition it regularly.
2. Never flat iron dirty hair. It's best to flat iron your hair as soon as you finish freshly shampooing and conditioning your hair. If you apply heat to hair that has a bunch of dirt or product in it, then you are just baking that stuff into your hair. If you need a touch up in the middle of the week, use very little heat, once...not every day.
3. Use some sort of smoothing serum. After you have shampooed and conditioned, before blow drying apply a smoothing serum to your hair. This is especially good for straightening natural hair. If there is a lot of moisture in the air, try to find a humidity-resistant formula. Design Essentials Silk Essentials is my favorite.
4. Use a heat protectant. Once your hair is COMPLETELY dry, use a heat protectant on each section of the hair before you flat iron. Although a heat protectant helps, even the best ones out there will not hold up against heat that is too high.
5. Don't use oil before you iron. You may want to put a natural oil on your hair AFTER you flat iron  for a little added weight, if your hair is limp and fine then you won't need it, but using oil before you flat iron will give you too much weight and you won't achieve the bouncy look you are after.
6. Do not put heat on wet hair. For the best results, make sure your hair is totally dry before putting a flat iron to it. Either blow dry your hair in its entirety or if you don't want to put excessive amounts of heat in your hair let your hair air dry until it's about 80% dry then blow dry the rest of the way. If your hair isn't completely dry before flat ironing, it will just frizz up.
7. Take your time. Slow and steady wins the race. Don't flat iron your hair if you are in a hurry. Using slow and controlled movements will give you the best results, but don't linger in one place too long. Get as close to the roots as you can and pull the iron down in one smooth motion. If you  hurry through it, you may have to go over the section again...and again...and again. Don't forget, the less heat the better.
8. Adjust your heat settings as needed. Naturals will be surprised to find that they have two or three different textures in their hair, it's not uncommon. In my case, the crown of my head is a lot curlier and requires higher heat than my nape area, which has a very loose curl. So, just because your flat iron can heat up to 450 degrees doesn't mean you  have to use that much heat on every area of your head. That's a sure fire way of permanently straightening or damaging your natural curls.
9. Don't iron big sections of hair. Big, chunky sections of hair won't straighten to your liking. Try not to press wider or thicker than 1 inch at a time.
10. Wrap your hair at night. Now that you have done all that hard work straightening your hair, why ruin it by no nighttime maintenance!!? If you wrap your hair at night and cover it with a silk or satin scarf, then by morning you won't need to do much of anything besides taking it down and combing through it. You will already have a slight curve and volume...no more heat should be required.

Simple as 1..2..3 or maybe 10!!! LOL!! LOVE YOUR HAIR!!