Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dilemma.

[dlove]

I am 4A all natural.

Braid stylist have failed me time and time again with all sorts of issues. I like doing my own hair but I am so limited to what I can do. Bantu knots look awful because of the various lengths. I cant part straight enough to wear braids or flat twists.

My hair is past shoulder length in the back and lower neck length when I press it. People say my hair is thick and full. It looks a little thin to me because I have various lengths in the crown 4 inches, back six inches, bang 4 inches and sides 5 inches. It looks nice in a wrap.

When my hair shrinks, I have a medium afro. Picked out, I have a BAA.

I want to pressing my hair weekly using Sabino Moisture Block. I get very little breakage and the press lasts for 7 days. The only reason why I wash after 7 days is because the number of long hairs in the comb grows in a larger amount ( 15-25).

Besides all this, my DH hates an afro and plaits with a passion.

Any naturals that press weekly or bi weekly have tips to keep my hair full and thick?

Oh yeah, I always dc( aubrey GP), air dry and press with one pass with a hot tools hot comb. Then I flat iron with one pass with my ceramic solia for shine and a "bump".

 

[Nonie]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

I'm sorry I can't answer your main question coz I'm clueless on heat and not ready to use it myself just yet. But I wanted to tell you that not being able to part straight doesn't mean you can't wear plaits or twists. My extensions braids were not parted straight on most of my head. I would look in the mirror and do my best to part them in the front where I plan to expose when styling but not always, as shown in the pic below:

And now I deliberately try not to make straight parts because if there's one thing I have learned about straight parts, if worn for long, they become gulleys and leave huge gaps that take a while to disappear. So when I wear twists in public, the parting looks like this:

My hair also appears to be different lengths because it is all more all less the same length but because it's growing from different parts of a circular knob, it falls at different lengths and doesn't look as cute when hanging down. But I don't let that stop me. If you wore curlers on twists while the hair was damp and let it dry, I am guessing you could create a bob that would frame your face nicely.

OK, I'ma shut up now so someone that knows about heat can speak up. But just in case you change your mind, hope I have convinced you that you have alternatives.

 

[clever]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

Hi-
I'm natural and i've been able to keep my hair thick and healthy using heat often....
The first thing I would say is to use the most moisturizing conditioner you can find to DC with and the most moisturizing leave in...I like velvet whip).


Also,since you plan to straighten often I feel you should just get a great ceramic iron(I say this because I used to do the hot comb followed by the solia thing and it was fine in the beggining but I was left with damage.)I get better results from just using a chi flat iron.

Have you tried keeping it straight longer than one week?If it isn't option make sure you start the process over each time before you re-apply heat(wash,DC,airdry etc)

 

[luxe.li.]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

I'm glad you made this post because I was going to post something similar. I flat ironed my hair a week ago and kept it straight without heat, and I noticed 1/4" growth in a week (I have newly dyed streaks that are blond and now I can see my dark dark brown new growth) and I notice my hair thrives when its straight, moisturized, and wrapped. But I'm going to go a week or so wearing my hair natural and see how my hair acts....so I'll be interested to see the responses you get....

P.S. what does DH stand for?

 

[Deja9]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

I used to press my 4a hair bi weekly and now I press weekly. Elle Doll is right- you must DC and put a good leave-in in your hair. My hair has thrived and become longer. Heat used properly is ok. I don't like the plaits, etc FOR MYSELF (not knocking it) and have been told that I look better with straight hair- and it's true. I prefer natural pressed, personally -although I admire other natural styles on ppl. Senaa lathan is natural pressed and shares her reggi in sbh magazine. and gabrielle union ( i last heard anyway). You can keep your hair straight. Find an oil that works for your hair as well and sleep with a satin scarf.

I would like to add an update. Before lhcf I pressed my hair every 2 weeks. For the past 4 months I pressed weekly. Since then I have gone back to pressing every 2 weeks-not because my hair was coming out or damaged. I just prefer to use less heat and buy more time to myself. Both ways work for me and can work for anyone if done correctly.

 

[HeavenlySkies]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

P.S. what does DH stand for?

Dear Husband.​

 

[msa]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

Maybe if you get a ceramic hot comb...those hot tools heat appliances can be torture on the hair. You might end up with hair that is permanently heat straightened.

 

[pazyamor]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

I really want to start wearing my hair straight, I'm in an in-between stage right now and all of my usual styles are horrible at this point. Does anybody have any good leave-in recommendations? That's all I'm missing I think.

 

[dlove]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

Hi-
I'm natural and i've been able to keep my hair thick and healthy using heat often....
The first thing I would say is to use the most moisturizing conditioner you can find to DC with and the most moisturizing leave in...I like velvet whip).


Also,since you plan to straighten often I feel you should just get a great ceramic iron(I say this because I used to do the hot comb followed by the solia thing and it was fine in the beggining but I was left with damage.)I get better results from just using a chi flat iron.

Have you tried keeping it straight longer than one week?If it isn't option make sure you start the process over each time before you re-apply heat(wash,DC,airdry etc)

Thanks for your response. I've tried to keep a press for 8 days but the number of hairs in the comb began to increase. So you've used a Solia and didn't like it? About how many passes did you do? I only do one hot comb pass and one cermaic Solia pass.

 

[dlove]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

I used to press my 4a hair bi weekly and now I press weekly. Elle Doll is right- you must DC and put a good leave-in in your hair. My hair has thrived and become longer. Heat used properly is ok. I don't like the plaits, etc FOR MYSELF (not knocking it) and have been told that I look better with straight hair- and it's true. I prefer natural pressed, personally -although I admire other natural styles on ppl. Senaa lathan is natural pressed and shares her reggi in sbh magazine. and gabrielle union ( i last heard anyway). You can keep your hair straight. Find an oil that works for your hair as well and sleep with a satin scarf.

Thanks Deja. What DC and leave in do you use?

 

[lovelyme]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

Try pressing the roots only and use the flat iron on the rest of the hair.
DON'T FORGET A HEAT PROTECTANT (I prefer Chi Silk Infusion)

 

[dlove]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

Try pressing the roots only and use the flat iron on the rest of the hair.
DON'T FORGET A HEAT PROTECTANT (I prefer Chi Silk Infusion)

Thanks...even better than CHI ( I used to use it) is Sabino Moisture Block.

I get no reversion, no - absolutely no - immediate breakage for at least 3-4 days, and it is a heat protectant.

Now about those recommendations of DC and leave in's that are not humectants....give me some suggestions please!

 

[dlove]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

bumping for responses

 

[IndianAngel22]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

Hi-
I'm natural and i've been able to keep my hair thick and healthy using heat often....
The first thing I would say is to use the most moisturizing conditioner you can find to DC with and the most moisturizing leave in...I like velvet whip).


Also,since you plan to straighten often I feel you should just get a great ceramic iron(I say this because I used to do the hot comb followed by the solia thing and it was fine in the beggining but I was left with damage.)I get better results from just using a chi flat iron.

Have you tried keeping it straight longer than one week?If it isn't option make sure you start the process over each time before you re-apply heat(wash,DC,airdry etc)

I think you need to be my new best friend lol. Your hair looks a lot like mine I think and I'm trying to get where you're at! I straighten now also. Just started yesterday

 

[clever]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

I think you need to be my new best friend lol. Your hair looks a lot like mine I think and I'm trying to get where you're at! I straighten now also. Just started yesterday

lol!Send me a pm if you need anything

 

[Luxurious12]

Re: Can I continue to weekly press and maintain thick natural 4 b hair?Here's my dile

Seems like you are doing a great job already!I use the Chi as well. There is a new ceramic iron out now that does not allow your hair to snag on the edges of the flat iron like the Chi does now! It's from Paul Mitchell, I just don't know how to buy one yet. My stylist dumped the Chi for it and is amazing for leaving that silky shine too. My best advice is to make sure you are using a light oil each week to lock in the moisture and make sure you are using on the tips of your hair too along with timely trims, which some people feel differently about but it is best to make sure you are doing this every 4 to 6 weeks when you are straightening your hair on the regular.

I hope this helps!