Is a Dominican Blow Dry or a Hot Comb worse?

[Mdmommy99]

I am natural but want to wear my hair straight for my bday next month. I have decided to only straighten 2 times this year to get to APL by December. I love the way my hair looks after going to the Dominican Salon and having it rollerset and blown dry, but my hair is really prone to splits and I'm scared of the possible heat damage. I've gotten them before I started my HHJ ( see my avatar) and didn't really notice damage but I also wasnt trying to reach a goal then or paying as much attention to my hair.

My other option is to go to my BFF who is also a stylist and get her to straighten but she only straightens using a hot comb which she does after she blow dries my hair ( even though the dryer isn't as hot as the Dominican one) It gets straight but doesn't have as much body as when I go to the Dominican salon. I am wondering if this is just as damaging.

My last option is to just try roller setting and straightening myself with my flat iron but I haven't mastered this. It comes out looking just o.k. and if I'm going to straighten I would rather have it look really nice.

My question is, even if the Dominican blow dryer is super hot, do you think that it should be ok if I'm only doing it 2 times per year? Or should I just choose one of the other options? Has anyone experienced damage from doing this just one time?

 

[fattyfatfat]

to me, a hot comb is better because you can be satisfied with one or two passes through your hair. from my experience with dominican salons, they constantly go over the same section of hair with all of that heat and rough brushing.

I know the other ladies will be able to provide you with LOTS of help with this.

 

[Mdmommy99]

Thanks I hope the other ladies can help as well. I love the Dominican results but don't want any setbacks right now.

 

[jada1111]

I would say both are bad.

Don't be fooled believing that a dominican blowout is less damaging than a hot comb. Those chicks will have your hair SMOKIN' hot if you're not careful.

Dominicans LOVE and LIVE for STRAIGHT hair. They will accomplish that by any means necessary (usually requiring intense heat).

If I was you, I'd purchase Chi Flat Iron and do it yourself or go to a "white" salon that has experience straightening our hair texture with a flat iron. Leave the hot comb and dominican blowout alone.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

I think the dominican blowout is definitely way worse. I used to get them and its an incredible amount of back to back intense direct heat all for weightless flowy hair you can get with a flat iron, the comb chase technique and lightweight products with way less damage.

I've been using electric hot combs for years with no issues, my avvie was the result of a hotcomb to the roots and a flat iron, you be the judge.

With a hot comb all you need is a little technique and you shouldn't have any problems at all I recommend an electric one with various settings.

A MaxiGlide will give you the ultimate straightness as well.

 

[Kash]

i think hot combs are the lesser of the 2 evils if you know what you are doing and have experience using them; BUT if you don't... then please ask around and find someone at a salon or a reputable kitchen-tichen who can properly hook ya up.

 

[Mdmommy99]

i think hot combs are the lesser of the 2 evils if you know what you are doing and have experience using them; BUT if you don't... then please ask around and find someone at a salon or a reputable kitchen-tichen who can properly hook ya up.

Yeah I don't know what I'm doing so I would definitely have to go to the salon. My bff stylist can work wonders with the hot comb. I just worried that the blow dryer, hot comb, and then the hot curlers would amount to about the same amount of damage as the Dominican.

 

[TamedTresses]

Dominicans LOVE and LIVE for STRAIGHT hair. They will accomplish that by any means necessary (usually requiring intense heat).

I love how you said that.

Sorry...nothing else constructive to say. I don't know which one is more damaging. Ok...ok...I'm leaving.

 

[Mdmommy99]

The poll results seem to be saying the opposite of what everyone in the thread is saying. Where are the people who are voting for hot comb as worse?

 

[guudhair]

I would say Dominican Blowouts are worse...that heat is like no other !!!

 

[PPGbubbles]

what kills me about the dominican blowout is that its not just the heat....its the manipulation with the round brush is the killer!

many blk women have a hair type that lacks the extra cuticle layer that some dominicans and women of other races have and that makes this kind of straightening very damaging

Fortunately you can control the the temp of the hot comb and if you use light tension along with the comb you can reduce the amount of heat used.

 

[Mdmommy99]

what kills me about the dominican blowout is that its not just the heat....its the manipulation with the round brush is the killer!

many blk women have a hair type that lacks the extra cuticle layer that some dominicans and women of other races have and that makes this kind of straightening very damaging

Fortunately you can control the the temp of the hot comb and if you use light tension along with the comb you can reduce the amount of heat used.

Thanks I never even thought about the damage from the brush. I do know that the heat from the blow dryer on my scalp always has me near tears.

 

[Kash]

Yeah I don't know what I'm doing so I would definitely have to go to the salon. My bff stylist can work wonders with the hot comb. I just worried that the blow dryer, hot comb, and then the hot curlers would amount to about the same amount of damage as the Dominican.

what about if you have your bff stylist, blow dry your hair using the tension method (no comb/brush attachment needed) straighten your hair with the hot comb and then roller-set your hair... no hot curlers needed.

 

[Mdmommy99]

what about if you have your bff stylist, blow dry your hair using the tension method (no comb/brush attachment needed) straighten your hair with the hot comb and then roller-set your hair... no hot curlers needed.

Good idea. I will ask her about that. The only prob I have with her doing my hair sometimes is she doesn't do too much natural hair styling or seem to know much about keeping natural hair healthy. But because we're friends she is usually open to what I ask her to do.

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

I think you can definitely do this yourself. Here'e my straightening advice:

If you're a type 3 curly:

- I suggest a rollerset which should handle the majority of the straightening, then if you really want to you can follow that with a light flat iron.​

If you're a type 4 tightly coily: (like me)

- I suggest starting out with a blowout with a good tourmaline ionic blowdryer like my Andis here are my results with it. Do it section by section and pull the hair with each pass to stretch it and allow the comb attachment to glide through the strands more easily.
​

I recommend two kinds of flat irons: A 100% ceramic 1" iron like the Amika and the MaxiGlide MP

Technique with a traditional 100% ceramic flat iron:

- Start with freshly washed wet hair sectioned off (I prefer 8 sections)

- Take small sections, do one pass of the hot comb first then one pass of the flat iron second, you can get it especially straight by chasing it with a fine toothed comb at the flat ironing step​

Technique with the MaxiGlide MP:

- Simply take small sections and begin to flat iron the hair being generous with the steam burst. Here are my results with that technique​

Product recommendations for blowdrying:

- IC Fantasia Pink Bottle Heat Protectant serum​

Product Recommendation for flat ironing:

- IC Fantasia Pink Bottle Heat Protectant SPRAY <--- this is awesome because its weightless and really provides that illusive swang everyone fiends over up in here​

Hope that helped hun!

 

[Mdmommy99]

Thanks so much for the info and steps! I might do a test run of this over this weekend while I'm snowed in. I'm not quite sure of my hair type but I think its probably a 3ish 4ish blend. I'm going to try the rollerset and then flat iron first and see if that works for me. If I don't look a HAM afterwards I may post pics

 

[Natural Glow]

Well, I guess i'm in the minority but dominican blowouts were less damaging to my hair. I've had blowouts maybe 3 times (months a part) and never had any problems.

Not too long ago I decided to go to another shop and she used Marcel irons and my hair was permanently straight for a min. (i was pissed) Now if you use an electric flat iron i think that's on the same level as a flat iron

 

[Natural Glow]

Product Recommendation for flat ironing:

- IC Fantasia Pink Bottle Heat Protectant SPRAY <--- this is awesome because its weightless and really provides that illusive swang everyone fiends over up in here​

I might have to try that. I love the serum.

Have you ever tried the Beyond the Zone Heat Protectant spray? I wonder how they compare.


​

 

[BlackMasterPiece]

^ Cant say that I have but I hear alota great things about it on here....when my IC runs out I may give it a whirl...although I'm big on stickin to what aint broke so we'll see

 

[locabouthair]

All I know is that I used to go to a salon and get my hair pressed and she brunt off several parts of my hair that took FOREVER to grow back. I dont think I'm messing with the hot comb anymore after that.

The dominican blow out isnt the best thing for your hair but both could be bad if there is too much heat involved. Just make sure neither are too hot.

 

[sharifeh]

Man, I love the swang dominican blowouts give me, I wish I knew their secret...The heat is painful on my scalp but my hair is bouncing like crazy afterwards...

I'm gonna have to try this comb chase method combined w/ lightweight products thing...

 

[Bene]

Isn't a hot comb direct heat applied to the shaft? If that's the case, then it's about as (or more) damaging than a flat iron. If I had to choose, I'd go with the Dominicans. They stick me under a dryer with some ginormous rollers on my head, and then do a quick touch up with the blow dryer. That's less direct heat than a hot comb.

 

[OneInAMillion]

Personally, I think both can be damaging depending on the technique used. With that said, this is what I did on my natural hair and it never disturbed the curl pattern:

*Rollerset my hair on magnetic rollers
*Blew out the roots only
*Pressed the edges only with a hot comb

Sometimes I did the rollerset and blowout on the roots myself, and often I've gone to the Dominican salon salon. I've always done the hot comb part myself. In my experience, when the hot comb was applied to the shaft, that was a surefire way to end up with straight ends.

 

[BeautyBlvd]

I voted for the hot comb as more damaging because for me pre-relaxer I would have my hair straightened with the hot comb, old school style (as in the hot comb sitting on the stove) it never really retained any length. Once I got a relaxer and starting hitting up the dominican salons I really started to retain length and saw a change in my hair for the better. The key for me is I always only get the roots blow out, not the whole head.