hair smell whenever using heat.

[browneyedgrl]

What do you do to keep that freshly cleaned smell to hair when you heat straighten???? I'm tired of the "cooked" scent I get whenever I use heat appliances. I never use the highest heat settings and I always do it freshly shampooed hair so I don't know what the problem is.

At one point I was advised that maybe it was the flat iron. Over the years i've bought like 4 of various price ranges and quality from conair to sedu and still the same thing. I keep the plates clean with mild soap/water too so its not the dirty plates. Even as a hot comb user when younger same issue.

I use very little product and clarify as needed. Any tips on what I can be doing wrong or is this just unavoidable? It really makes me self conscious around otherserplexed.

 

[ScorpioBeauty09]

I DC on every wash day and most of the conditioners I use are strong enough where my hair smells like it even after it's been flat ironed.

 

[browneyedgrl]

What products do you use? I've been using motions lavishing to shampoo and then following up with chi products for styling for the past year.

 

[Nonie]

The secret is to start off with clean hair and not use anything but heat protectant (no leave ins or moisturizer; just heat protectant). I personally do a double protection. I first airdry bare hair...after having DC'd well. Then I spray it with a heat protectant. By airdrying first, I am able to tell when heat protectant spray has been applied well because my hair will be wet again which = well coated. I pass a clean flat iron over it. NO SMELL!!!! Ya hear? And I'm talking 446 degrees F heat! No smell. I work on small sections at a time, so I can ensure good coverage per section before passing the iron over. So I don't spray my hair all at once, but only on the section I'm about to flat iron.

Once I've gone over it with one pass, I section out a narrow part and carefully apply heat protectant serum. Again, the aim is not to use a lot but to be thorough in ensuring no inch of my hair is left uncovered. Narrow section ensure meticulous application. One pass. NO SMELL.

No smell during the flat ironing, no smell after, no smell even on the day I wash my hair. The only difference I did this time vs all other times when I had the smell: I used heat protectants.

 

[AwesomelyNappy]

I follow almost what nonie does (except i half airdry and half blowdry). on clean and well conditioned dry hair (no oil, no leave in... just heat protectant), i section my hair in about 6 big sections, then i divide those sections into smaller ones as i flatiron, lightly misting my heat protectant over the section before i pass with my flat iron. I dont have any smells left behind, and later when i wash my hair, it just smells like hair and whatever shampoo i'm using... no burnt/pressed smell. (also, i use medium heat. i dont know what temp it is, but on my Maxiglide, i use between 4-6 depending on which section of hair i'm on)

Also, i've noticed that the type of heat protectant matters with my hair. When i used a creamy or oil based heat protectant, i'm more likely to notice some sort of smell. However, with a watery based spray, i've noticed no smell when i flat-iron.

 

[naheda72]

This is some good stuff. I have been looking for the past week for answers to this as I plan to flat iron today. Going to a party tomorrow night and I want people talking about my hair, not its smell, LOL ;-)

 

[MyInvisibleChyrsalis]

Great advice Nonie. I'm trying this, because as excited as I am about getting to see my hair in it's straigtehed state, I dread that burned in smell.

 

[browneyedgrl]

thank u all so much. Normally I use a creamy leave-in, serum and liquid heat protectant and maybe it's the buildup plus heat causing the burned smell. Next time i'll just use a liquid heat protectant alone and see what happens.

Also for anyone misting liquid heat protectant before you pass the heat tool over the hair is that safe? I'm assuming the dampness from the mist will cauze sizzling and damage? I usually spray and let mine dry first before I use any irons.

 

[Nonie]

thank u all so much. Normally I use a creamy leave-in, serum and liquid heat protectant and maybe it's the buildup plus heat causing the burned smell. Next time i'll just use a liquid heat protectant alone and see what happens.

Also for anyone misting liquid heat protectant before you pass the heat tool over the hair is that safe? I'm assuming the dampness from the mist will cauze sizzling and damage? I usually spray and let mine dry first before I use any irons.

browneyedgirl, you're probably better off waiting for it to dry, so don't change that.

I've been straightening my hair wet since my teens and back then I just used water as the only thing on my hair for the first press before applying a serum and pressing one more time, so it's a habit of a lifetime for me. I wasn't too concerned using heat while the wet protectant was in my hair because the directions do say to use immediately before heat. So I considered that the manufacturers blessing. But for someone one not used to this, I suggest you don't do it. But if you are one who blowdries before flat ironing, I would recommend you airdry your hair first to get rid of water, then wet it with the spray protectant and blowdry with that instead of water. Then flat iron with a serum protectant.

The reason I've been flatironing wet hair (wet-to-dry) since my teens because I found back then, after seeing others do it, that I got sleeker results this way. But why I say don't change what's been working is there is a chance that "bubble hair syndrome" could be caused by this method...so better safe than sorry.

 

[Your Cheeziness]

Cosign with Nonie. I flat iron just about every wash and only have that smell when I've put too much product on my hair. So, I stopped using leave in a long time ago.

After I rinse my deep conditioner out, I towel dry and apply a spray heat protectant and blow dry. Then I apply a little serum and flat iron. That's it. My hair doesn't get dry or anything. The conditioning starts with the deep conditioner, a leave in is a supplement that's not necessary for me.

I also found the right temperature for my hair. I started low until I found the right temp for my hair without burning it.

 

[Your Cheeziness]

thank u all so much. Normally I use a creamy leave-in, serum and liquid heat protectant and maybe it's the buildup plus heat causing the burned smell. Next time i'll just use a liquid heat protectant alone and see what happens.

Also for anyone misting liquid heat protectant before you pass the heat tool over the hair is that safe? I'm assuming the dampness from the mist will cauze sizzling and damage? I usually spray and let mine dry first before I use any irons.

Yes, I use Fantasia Straightening Spray before blow drying. So all I need to do is add serum when I flat iron. I learned you don't have to keep applying product over and over again. Once it's on, it's not coming off until you shampoo it out.

If you have a product that comes out too heavily causing dampness, try applying less or or getting a fine misting spray pump to use it with.

 

[ms.blue]

This thread has exactly what I'm looking for. I hate having that flatironed smell hair and was wondering if it was my flatiron or my products I used. Now I'm going to skip the leave-in when I flatiron my hair next week.

 

[Nonie]

Just wanted to add that if the tool you normally use still has the "burnt" smell from the last time you used it, please clean it, otherwise the smell residue will rub off onto your clean hair and leave it smelling as before.

 

[sapphire18]

browneyedgrl I spray a little perfume on my boars bristle brush and run it through my hair after straightening. Also, I don't use anything but serum on my hair not even rinse out conditioner. It probably has nothing to do with the heat. I flat iron my hair on the highest setting but I only use 2 swipes.

 

[Nonie]

@browneyedgrl I spray a little perfume on my boars bristle brush and run it through my hair after straightening. Also, I don't use anything but serum on my hair not even rinse out conditioner. It probably has nothing to do with the heat. I flat iron my hair on the highest setting but I only use 2 swipes.

sapphire18, not sure what you mean by the bold unless you mean that the temperature doesn't make a difference--high or low it can still smell.

Fact is you get that smell because of protein being heated up or burnt. If you get it even after using a serum, either you didn't apply the serum well to cover every inch of your hair, or your hair has a lot of other stuff on it that gets cooked instead and that also makes the serum not adhere well to your hair to provide full protection so direct heat gets to your strands. (Think of applying something over something else that is probably slippery. You'd end up having gaps left behind from product molecules sliding over those of the other products hence risk of burning the hair without the serum protection.)

 

[sapphire18]

sapphire18, not sure what you mean by the bold unless you mean that the temperature doesn't make a difference--high or low it can still smell.

Fact is you get that smell because of protein being heated up or burnt. If you get it even after using a serum, either you didn't apply the serum well to cover every inch of your hair, or your hair has a lot of other stuff on it that gets cooked instead and that also makes the serum not adhere well to your hair to provide full protection so direct heat gets to your strands. (Think of applying something over something else that is probably slippery. You'd end up having gaps left behind from product molecules sliding over those of the other products hence risk of burning the hair without the serum protection.)

Nonie
That is exactly what I mean (the bold print above). Thanks for better explaining my post.

 

[RZILYNT]

I have found that I don't have the burnt smell while using titanium irons as I do with the ceramics. I have not changed any of my products. This is Just my most recent experience.

RZ~