There’s a lot of things to know before you straighten your hair if you want healthy hair! Straightening your hair is already a science as it is, when you try to avoid crimps from the iron, straightening your hair too flat and taking away the volume, and getting your hair to not do that flip out if that’s not the look you’re going for. But, there’s a lot more to straightening your hair than the superficial stuff because you’re dealing with a concentrated amount of high heat. Here are important things to know before you straighten your hair.
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1. 325 Degrees
One of the things to know before you straighten your hair is what temperature to style your hair. When straightening your hair you might be tempted to turn the dial on your flat iron to the maximum temperature for salon perfect hair. However, anyone who straightens their hair on a regular basis knows all too well that straightening your hair at such a high temperature will damage your hair immediately. The maximum temperature you should be straightening your hair is at 325 degrees to avoid serious damage to the hair.
2. Ceramic Flat Irons
When purchasing a flat iron make sure the plates are coated with ceramic. It’s important to purchase an iron with ceramic plates because ceramic distributes heat evenly. This is essential because you don’t want an iron that only has “hot spots” – this will prolong the time it takes to style your hair because only parts of the plates are hot while others are only warm.
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3. Moisturize
Your hair is full of proteins and oils; however, when you expose your hair to a high amount of heat, the oils and proteins burn out. Therefore, before straightening your hair apply products such as an iron protection spray or a styling cream with heat protection. Your hair will be able to withstand more heat with the protection of appropriate hair products.
4. 3-4 Times a Week
Even though we want picture perfect hair every day of the week, it comes with a price! Avoid using heat to style your hair every day. Instead, style your hair every second day and avoid washing your hair in between styling to maintain your hair. If you are someone who has hair that starts to look greasy fast, in between washes use dry shampoo or a small amount of baby powder to absorb the grease so you don’t have to wash and re-style your hair as often.
5. Size Matters
If you have long or thick hair, an iron with wider plates is better suited for you because wider plates cover more surface area. On the other hand, if you have short or fine hair, an iron with narrower plates is ideal because narrower plates can style narrower strands of hair better.
6. Wet Hair
Never straighten your hair when it’s wet, even if you’ve applied products! Applying heat to wet hair damages the hair faster than anything else because not only is there direct heat being applied to your hair, but there is also heat being added to the water, causing steam – remember, you want to gently flat iron your hair, not steam it straight! Plan well ahead so you don’t have to opt for straightening your hair while it’s still wet!
7. Clean Your Iron
After straightening your hair, make sure to wipe your iron clean. If not, there will be a buildup of oil, products, and loose hair on to your iron. The more “gunk” there is on your iron, the less effective it will be to transfer heat from the iron on to your hair. Plus, cleaning your iron on a regular basis will reduce the time it takes to style your hair and prolong replacing your iron.
For many women, our hair is our safety blanket so it’s important we keep it healthy! When it comes to using products that use heat to style our hair, we need to know the facts so we don’t damage our hair. What are some other facts or tips we should know about when styling our hair with heat?
Comments
Wendy: I straighten my hair everyday and it isn't damage. Once a week apply a strengthening mask. And wash my hair with herbal essences basicly because it smells so good my hair is shiny soft and healthy
cate: I was thinking about permanently straightening my hair. It's called Japanese permanent hair straightening. Does anyone know anything about it? Please give me some tips about it.
KelsiZ: I do not flat iron my hair when its wet but i was wondering, what about the flat irons that said they are for flat ironing wet hair? Like the wet 2 straight flat iron from revlon, i think thats what it is called.
Mish: Straightening kills yr hair, it's just not good for it so it should be minimal use of irons! It prevents it growing x
Anna: If you straighten your hair almost everyday, I would recommended getting it permanently done. Although it really depends on how you feel about your hair. I use to have hair that was incredibly frizzy and poofy. So much so, that I never wore it down in public ever. My hair didn't feel healthy even though I nourished it consistently. (Tried everything over the years, Argan oils, macadamia, frizz serums, deep repair shampoos the lot!) I finally had enough of my hair and decided to get it chemically straightened (a bit different to the Japanese straightening because the chemicals are a bit harsher and my stylist told me that under law, they weren't really meant to use that procedure). Anyway, I have no regrets after getting my hair done! It is so much softer now and flatter and although it may not be healthier, it sure looks and feels like it is. To those who say it is completely hair damaging, it is. I'm not going to lie, my stylist told me it would completely dehydrate my hair. But would you rather have your hair damaged in one day and let it repair over time, or damage it continually every morning and spending hours doing so. Note: getting your hair permanently straightened in any way is a big commitment. Especially if you have curly hair because you'll need to touch up your regrowth. Sorry for the long post but I hope it helped!
Brittney: There are other factors that affect what temperature the heat should be set at like the persons hair texture. And there are other awesome plates like titanium and tourmaline you can buy from salons that distribute heat equally.
CowardlyLion: I found #2 somewhat interesting and very true. One of my sisters has a regular flat iron, as damaging as it is, it works. but on the other hand, my other sister has a flat iron she bought from a kiosk in the mall that is ceramic and doesn't damage your hair so quickly. it is $100, but it's worth it and my sisters hair looks great. ??
Camila: Straightening your hair while it's wet is the scariest thing ever. It starts to sizzle and smoke comes off of it. Terrifying
Maude: Heat protector suppose to be number one
Eternity: I did Japanese hair straightening and it was the best beauty thing i did in my life. Made my hair healthier even after my natural hair grew back. However, no hair dyeing for at least a year or more. Allow your natural hair to grow back in full. I read in Allure mag that doing the Japanese hair straightening once makes your hair healthier, but WOULD NOT AND SHOULD NOT do it the second time. I would also recommend having the salon test it on a sample of your hair. Someone I know got it done at a salon that did not test and it ruined her hair. Granted she bleached her hair and dyed it constantly. At any rate, I loved the results, had no issues with it, and made my hair much more healthy than how it initially was before I got it done, even after my curls grew back.
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