Frustrated again about this 4b napptrul hair...

[dlove]

Ladies,

I know that their are countless thread on how to successfully flat iron all natural 4b hair, but I can not get this thing right.

Again, my strands came out straighter- the ends a tad bit frizzy- but I want silky, relaxer straight looking hair that looks as though I stepped out of a salon. I have been to every beautician here in town ( I counted 32) within the last 10 years. I want to do this myself.

Please keep in mind that I have the nappiest type of hair an African American can have. It is very tightly coiled, thick and compact with major shrinkage.
Tell me where I went wrong:
First thing this morning I did the
coconut and lime natural relaxer ( 1 whole can of coconut milk and 1 lime)
( did not work on my 4b hair)

1. Wash (Aveda Sapp Moss)
2. oil rinse (coconut oil)
3. conditon (Aveda Sapp Moss Moisture)
4. air dry 50% before adding Aveda Damage Control Spray
5. air dried completely
6. applied Chi Silk Infusion - a little to each section just before flat ironing ( Solia ceramic 380 degrees- smoked a little at each press and only one pass)
7. Aveda anti-humectant all over when I finished.

The results: The comb "catches", hair is styled but looks like it got wet and on its way to reverting...

Please help me...If you have a youtube or step by step tutorial to achieving silking hair please share.

I'm tired of wearing weave and wigs. I have four inches of healthy all natural hair... ( i know because it floated in the water test)

If I don't get a grip on this technique... I will be relaxed by next month.

 

[lnhair]

I hope this helps. I wash and condition my hair and apply ORS carrot creme to my hair and detangle. I braid my hair up in a couple of braids and let it dry. The more braids i do the more stretched out my hair is. I usually do this at night and press my hair in the morning. I start with a pressing comb ( the kind you plug up). My hair looks like a blowout. I thin go over small sections with flat iron and it comes out real silky. For a heat protectant I use Ultra Sheen Creme Satin Press.

 

[dlove]

Maybe I need to invest in a plug in hot comb too. Be careful of using that Ultra Sheen product. I read this morning about how products that contain oil in first few ingredients are harmful over time. Check out the thread about using oils as protectants. Navsedga gave some powerful insight.

Thank You...

 

[PinkSkates]

Awwww...dlove I'm sorry it didn't come out the way you wanted it to. I noticed you only air dried;and I don't know how you feel about blow drying. But I do everything I can to loosen my natural coils before I straighten my hair with my hot comb. By the time I finish blow drying my hair is 30-40% straight. So that's less heat I have to apply when I press my hair.

 

[Ms Lala]

Awwww...dlove I'm sorry it didn't come out the way you wanted it to. I noticed you only air dried;and I don't know how you feel about blow drying. But I do everything I can to loosen my natural coils before I straighten my hair with my hot comb. By the time I finish blow drying my hair is 30-40% straight. So that's less heat I have to apply when I press my hair.

Same here I blow dry then flat iron for a straight look like in my avi. My hair is puffy when I flat iron it after air drying.

 

[jwhitley6]

Same here I blow dry then flat iron for a straight look like in my avi. My hair is puffy when I flat iron it after air drying.

I agree. Blowdry then flat iron, or use a pressing comb if you know how...combs are my preference. Also, nix the oil rinse. If you do a deep conditioning (good protein condish) your hair with stand up to the heat....And rinse well. Don't leave conditioner residue on your hair if you're gonna flat-iron/press it.

 

[foxxymami]

Something that I recently tried when I was putting twists in my hair last month.....while it's wet, I put in conditioner/leave-in/or whatever in and then part in a couple of sections (6 or so)....for each section I make bantu knots. I let it air dry like that. After it's dried, I undo the knots and my hair is still sort of frizzy, but the curl pattern is no longer there.

Maybe in addition to doing the blow dry method, you could try airdrying in knots one day too and see how that works for you

 

[dlove]

Thanks ladies...About the blow drying, I may need some pointers. The last time I attempted to blow dry my hair, the curl pattern was the same as if I let my hair air dry. Thats why I skipped the blow drying step. You see, my hair is thick, very thick, coily, compact and has a ton of shrinkage. When I pull my hair out to measure it after applying conditoner, I have 4 inches of hair.

In its shrinkage state it is only 1/2 inch......whoa.

I am going to try this again today (should I or should I wait because of the heat on yesterday? I have already poo/cond/moist and sealed). I don't know how to work a hot comb, so I'll try again with my Solia, like many of you have. I have a good hand held ceramic blow dryer.

What I really need to know is how does one loosen the curl pattern on thick, coily, compact hair using a blow dryer so that I can straighten it?

 

[SEMO]

I think to straigthen your hair some while blow drying you would use a paddle brush. With one hand you would brush your hair out one piece at a time and with the other hand you'd aim the blow dryer at that peice of hair from the root down. I hope that makes sense.

 

[dlove]

Something that I recently tried when I was putting twists in my hair last month.....while it's wet, I put in conditioner/leave-in/or whatever in and then part in a couple of sections (6 or so)....for each section I make bantu knots. I let it air dry like that. After it's dried, I undo the knots and my hair is still sort of frizzy, but the curl pattern is no longer there.

Maybe in addition to doing the blow dry method, you could try airdrying in knots one day too and see how that works for you

This sounds like a really good method. My hair is too short to do knots right now. I can barely twist it.

Thanks for your input, Thanks everyone.!

 

[Ms Lala]

My dryer has a comb attachment. THat's the only way I have been able to get it straight with the dryer.

Thanks ladies...About the blow drying, I may need some pointers. The last time I attempted to blow dry my hair, the curl pattern was the same as if I let my hair air dry. Thats why I skipped the blow drying step. You see, my hair is thick, very thick, coily, compact and has a ton of shrinkage. When I pull my hair out to measure it after applying conditoner, I have 4 inches of hair.

In its shrinkage state it is only 1/2 inch......whoa.

I am going to try this again today (should I or should I wait because of the heat on yesterday? I have already poo/cond/moist and sealed). I don't know how to work a hot comb, so I'll try again with my Solia, like many of you have. I have a good hand held ceramic blow dryer.

What I really need to know is how does one loosen the curl pattern on thick, coily, compact hair using a blow dryer so that I can straighten it?

 

[Minx]

Hey there!

I have 4b hair, and what I do is stretch my hair out before I flat ironing by banding.
This way I can skip the blow dryer (the less heat the better )

After I've done all of my "wash/condish" steps, I towel dry slightly, leaving my hair somewhat damp.
I then apply whatever creme (carrot, olive,etc) to my scalp, and a little to my hair.

I section my hair off to about 8-10 parts that will become ponytails.
(use clamps to keep them seperated if need be.)

I then comb each section out, one at a time, with my Jilbere shower comb(hair is still damp, so it's manageable) and then lightly brush through it with my Denman brush.
I then put that section into a ponytial, and keep adding my rubber bands all the way down to the ends of the ponytail.

Repeat for each section/ponytail.

I let it dry over night or I do it early in the day.
By then, it's pretty straight( I may run my wide tooth comb through it agian, just for good measure.)

When I take it down, I undo one section at a time.
I apply tiny bit of heat protectant (IC) and I flat iron as I go.
I have a Maxiglide and I set it one 1 or 2, no high heat necessary.
And the steam burst helps, as well.


As far as the hot comb, sorry, but I don't know anything about using the plug in kind.
Mine is the back in the day, heat up on the stove kind, and it has not touched my head since I went back to being natural almost two years ago!

Take care,

dk

 

[gradygirl]

Hey there!

I have 4b hair, and what I do is stretch my hair out before I flat ironing by banding.
This way I can skip the blow dryer (the less heat the better )

After I've done all of my "wash/condish" steps, I towel dry slightly, leaving my hair somewhat damp.
I then apply whatever creme (carrot, olive,etc) to my scalp, and a little to my hair.

I section my hair off to about 8-10 parts that will become ponytails.
(use clamps to keep them seperated if need be.)

I then comb each section out, one at a time, with my Jilbere shower comb(hair is still damp, so it's manageable) and then lightly brush through it with my Denman brush.
I then put that section into a ponytial, and keep adding my rubber bands all the way down to the ends of the ponytail.

Repeat for each section/ponytail.

I let it dry over night or I do it early in the day.
By then, it's pretty straight( I may run my wide tooth comb through it agian, just for good measure.)

When I take it down, I undo one section at a time.
I apply tiny bit of heat protectant (IC) and I flat iron as I go.
I have a Maxiglide and I set it one 1 or 2, no high heat necessary.
And the steam burst helps, as well.


As far as the hot comb, sorry, but I don't know anything about using the plug in kind.
Mine is the back in the day, heat up on the stove kind, and it has not touched my head since I went back to being natural almost two years ago!

Take care,

dk

I have to give this a try.

 

[velvet]

1. Skip the flat iron. It works better on longer hair.

2. Get an electric hot comb. I recommend Gold n' Hot because you can adjust the setting.

3. When you wash you hair make sure you leave NOTHING in it when you rinse. No oils, creams or anything. Divide the hair into sections, make sure each section is detangled and damp then blow dry with a comb attachment. (If you want you can also use Keracare Silkin Seal to aid in blowdrying, it helps, but it's not necessary). Keep the sections divided.

4. Get some Keracare curling wax. I never see anyone mention this- but it's gold in my book! You can get it for like $14 for Sally's and it's a huge jar. It will last you at least 2 years. Put a dab of the wax on a small section of the hair (you'll know how small by how easy it is to press, you can take more of less for your hair type). Glide the hair through once lightly- don't try to get it straight- just soften it. If it catches at all, detangle with your comb (or better a Denman brush). You may have to do this a few times.

5. Now take your comb and start from the root, hold and old face cloth underneath the comb with the other hand. What you are doing now is a hard press. This should make even the kinkiest hair bone straight if done correctly.

I know these directions are choppy, but if you want to try this and need help- I'm totally willing to walk you through step by step. It took me years to figure out how to press my own hair which is a combination of 3c, 4a, and something beyond 4b. I've helped quite a few African women where I live in Denmark who have very very tough unloved hair. If this doesn't work for you I can recommend some adjustments.

Keep trying!