If you lust after super-sleek, smooth tresses, you’ve probably tried more than one hair straightening strategy. While there are about a million different ways to de-curl, some of these are bound to do your hair a fair amount of damage, and others are just plain ineffectual. To help you achieve your dream do safely and efficiently, I’ve done some research and put together a list of 8 tips for silky straight locks.
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Wash
Whether you’re using a chemical treatment or a heated appliance to straighten your hair, you’ll want to start with an effective shampoo and good-quality conditioner. Opt for a product designed to protect intensively styled hair, and, if you can, find one that’s enriched with a smoothing agent – like silicon or similar.
Maintain
Again, if you’re using chemical products or intense heat to style your locks, your hair is bound to dehydrate and become fragile. In order to prevent this from happening, it’s important that you take steps to keep your tresses moisturised and strong. Get yourself a good hair mask dedicated to rectifying your particularly problem, and apply it, religiously, once a week.
Defend
Before you get going with the drying and straightening, you’ll need to apply a defensive spray or balm to your hair. Look for a product with a built-it smoothing agent; this will ensure maximum straightness along with maximum protection.
Blow Dry
Using a powerful blow drier – go for a model that’s between 1500 and 1800 watts – blow out your hair so that it’s completely dry. If you have pronounced curls, you may want to use the drier and a big paddle brush to get your locks as straight as possible; this will make the process of flat ironing easier and faster.
Pin up
Once your hair is absolutely dry, use long toothed hair pins to clip up the top layers; this will allow you to work systematically through your hair with the flat iron, without missing any sections or creating unwanted kinks.
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Iron
Using your structured clipping as a guide, go through your hair section by section with the flat iron, starting from the bottom-most layer. Make sure you run the straighteners smoothly all the way from the root to the tip and, if you have especially curly or frizzy tresses, use a fine toothed comb in conjunction with the irons to get rid of any knots which might slow you down.
Blast
Once you have finished flat ironing each layer, switch your blow-drier to cold and, directing the nozzle downwards, blast your locks with the cool air. This will encourage the hair’s cuticle to shut down and ‘seal in’ the straightness, helping to maintain your look for longer.
Silicon
Using your fingers, work a silicon based finishing serum through your now-straight locks. This helps to further close the hair’s cuticle and will prevent frizzinness that results from moisture in the atmosphere and humidity.
Few things say ‘chic’ like beautiful, glassy straight tresses but getting your hair kink-free can be damaging. Hopefully, this list of 8 tips for silky straight locks will help you to achieve that smooth, flat-ironed style without breaking and dehydrating your hair; do you have any suggestions of your own to add to it?
Top Photo Credit: Shandi-lee
