Length check and serious question for naturals.

[silenttullip]

Um can someone tell me if it looks like I've made sl?



Also do any of you naturals notice a dry feeling on your ends when you flat iron? If not I've got some cutting to do and I really don't wanna cause my hair even had knots when I was relaxed. If you do notice a dry feeling how can this be avoided? It's not from my iron I used my hana professional with the shield. thanks in advance

 

[Bettina]

It looks like you are a little past SL from what I am seeing. Congrats!


To answer your question about dryness...I used to have that issue as well after flat ironing my ends would feel rough and look dull. I had knots that would not come out ---I got them to slip out with slathering Olive oil on first the DEEP Condition for about 30 min. knots are gone! Hth. Im sure more folks will give ideas on how to get rid of knots to achieve the flatiron results you desire.

 

[SEMO]

You look SL to me, congrats!

And I know just what you mean about rough ends when flat ironing. My hair used to be the same way and I think I got a lot of inches cut off unnecessarily when I fist went natural trying to fix the problem.

Like Bettina said, I think it's more of a moisture issue. And properly deep conditioning your hair before flat ironing should help.

 

[virtuenow]

yes, to avoid dry/scruffy ends, you need to use the comb chase flat iron method. It gets all the crinkles out at the ends of your hair. If you figure out the right technique early on, it will save you from cutting your ends every time u flat iron. Those "rough" ends can be misleading. There have beeen some recent posts on this- by the way (a search may be helpful)

 

[winnettag]

It looks like it. Congrats!
I flat ironed for the first time in 6 years today and my ends feel great, but the last 6 inches or so are relaxed so.....yea.
I DC'ed, sprayed on heat protectant, air dried a little, blowdryed, applied CHI Silk Infusion then flatironed.

 

[fluffyforever]

DO NOT CUT YOUR ENDS!!!

They may need a trim anyway, but cutting your ends before or even after you flat iron will not prevent dry ends on straightened hair. I have done this the first 2 out of the 4 times I straightened my hair as a natural. After the cut, the newly released ends take on the dry feeling as the old ends I snipped off. They still tangle and snag on each other. And I never had this problem with that part of my hair before I trimmed. I cut too much hair thinking that the bottom 1-2 inches were worse than they actually were.

I agree with the others here. Moisture is the solution. Before you flat iron, make sure you work on bringing moisture to your ends. This won't happen over night. But in a few weeks, I'm sure it will. Right now I am working on keeping my ends moisturized because I still have a problem with keeping my ends happy.

 

[Janet']

I would definitely say that you are shoulder length. Congrats!

 

[yardyspice]

I totally agree. I wasted a lot of hair trying to get my ends to look perm straight What has helped is to blow dry my hair 50% or more wet while using the tension method and then using Skinny Serum to flat iron.

You look SL to me, congrats!

And I know just what you mean about rough ends when flat ironing. My hair used to be the same way and I think I got a lot of inches cut off unnecessarily when I fist went natural trying to fix the problem.

Like Bettina said, I think it's more of a moisture issue. And properly deep conditioning your hair before flat ironing should help.

 

[Beaute Noire]

Cosigning on the DC before you flat-iron. This step is very important for me to ensure that my hair turns out moist and supple post flat-ironing. <<---pay special attention to the lengths and ends of your hair when applying the product and make sure it's something really moisturizing and thick.

*Although some prefer to DC without heat, IMO unless you are going to leave the DC in your hair for hours you should use a heat cap/soft bonnet dryer. This helps the product penetrate the hair. I think this should help your dryness problems.

As I type I'm DC'ing with Miss Keys 10en1

 

[Beaute Noire]

I totally agree. I wasted a lot of hair trying to get my ends to look perm straight What has helped is to blow dry my hair 50% or more wet while using the tension method and then using Skinny Serum to flat iron.

I LOVE PM Super Skinny Serum 4 flat-ironing

 

[Lylddlebit]

Looks like shoulder length to me.


If my ends are dry when I flat iron then either something I did, something in general, or something I used on my hair is wrong for/with my hair. Depending on which one of those is the wrong thing, I address that.

 

[lilsparkle825]

cosigning on everything said in this thread...

1) congrats on SL

2) if i DC, then rollerset, then comb chase, my ends are as straight as the rest of my hair. the second best method is for me to DC, then blowdry with my denman before flatironing.