Is it better to be natural and flat iron for straight hair or go relaxed?

[changedlife]

I think natural is better IMO. YOU have many options with natural hair including straigthening.

 

[luxe.li.]

Natural and flat iron straight is the best IMO because you have the ability to rock it straight when you want too, or natural when you want to. When I was younger I would always try to wash my hair and hope for curls. Then I would try to braid and twist my hair up and let it dry so I'll have the wavy look but it never worked out. My hair would snap and look crazy.

I guess you can always wear straw sets to achieve the curly look but I love that my hair does it naturally.

 

[Amelia456]

Breaking the molecular bond of your hair to achieve straight hair is crazy IMO. There is nothing healthy about a perm.

 

[OneInAMillion]

This exactly how I feel and why I may go back to relaxing (but a more texlaxed look) because I still want to rock straight hair. I also love my smooth, bouncy, rollersets and not ready to give them up yet. I don't need alot of heat to achieve the looks I love. When I go natural, I would like to get straight styles occasionally(1-2x per year) but intend to rock my natural texture 95% of the time. I'm too afraid of heat damage to consider using heat more often. I would feel like I would be better off relaxing if I burned my hair straight.

Off topic but I love the protective style in your siggy! I think I'm going to try it.

 

[OneInAMillion]

Is it better/healthier for the hair to be

(1) a natural who flat irons for the straight look?

or,

(2) a relaxed gal that rollersets for the straight look?

Which is the lesser of the two evils in your opinion? I'm not expecting there to be a general consensus on this (obviously there won't be). But personal stories are appreciated!

Hi!

I picked natural who flatirons for the straight look. This is basically why I'm transitioning. I have fine hair, and any kind of chemical (relaxer, texturizer) just limits my thickness. Also, you can always rollerset as a natural too. I'm 15 months post (I believe the natural part is at the bottom of my ears) and I still get rollersets and then blow the roots.

 

[Mizz Diamonds]

I think it depends on the your hair and the techniques that are used

 

[LivingDol1]

i think it also depends on your hair. i'm relaxed (more like texlaxed...?) and i roller set for the most part or air dry when i'm lazy. i think my hair is in very healthy condition because i've found the best methods that work for me. i rarely use direct heat and if i ever feel the need to, i use heat protectant and i work with low heat. my hair never smells burnt and it's not breaking off.

i don't think that roller sets would work on my natural hair. i think it would revert very quickly. and i don't want to flat iron natural hair on a regular basis.

which brings me to the point that the climate in which you live in is very important. it's humid over here on the east coast! my hair never frizzes when i'm in LA. lol.

 

[imaccami]

I think if you want straight hair the majority of the time you should relax because you can use less heat to get it straight and it'll be straighter. It'll take less time to get your hair straight and it won't revert like natural hair would.

You can do braidouts if you want the curly look.

 

[Khaiya]

I voted natural and straight, i LOVE straight hair, i just do. But i'm transitioning cause i miss the strength my natural hair has and the thickness. So i'll be a straight hair natural cause i'm only transitioning for health purposes. I miss my elasticity too! And my flat iron is amazing so i can still get lasting relaxer results with all my natural strength and thickness.

 

[melodies815]

(I just watched a show about chemicals and population control, so I am probably on a very conspiracy-theory trip right now. Read with that context. ) Overall, I think chemicals are bad - though not because women want straight hair; I am just not sure of the intention of these manufacturers any longer, thus informing my mindset at the moment. Relaxer manufacturers are making some really deadly things for such a small grouping of people - women with ethnic hair.....hrrrmmmm.....

That aside...I think it depends on your hair. I did well when I was relaxed and learned healthy hair practices....but my natural hair HATES getting straightened unless I use Sabino. I flat ironed last week to length check using CHI, and TALK ABOUT BREAKAGE!!! It was horrible. That stuff did not protect my hair at all. It just helped to straighten well. I washed three times in a week and deep conditioned each time - twice with protein and once with moisture, just to get some balance back to this hair of mine. I kind of thought a spray might be too light, but used it anyway.

The breakage has stopped, but I am still traumatized.

I want to straighten again, but when I use Sabino, it's a little heavy right now for my liking. I like the movement I get with CHI, but my hair is soooo safe with Sabino. What to do???

This is such a needlessly long post just to say..."it depends..."

cj

 

[Sugar]

For me personally relaxed is better. My hair is really fine and being a heat straightened natural would leave me bald.

I feel like I have more options with a relaxer. I wear my hair straight most of the time and even though I'm relaxed I still have the option of wearing my hair big and poofy, sleek and straight, curly/wavy (even without rolling it).

 

[laCriolla]

ive been both and my hair is healthier relaxed.

 

[bravenewgirl87]

I would say that you should relax if you want straight hair. Yu damage your curl pattern and cause irreparable damage. You hair pretty much won't be the same after the second or third time you do it, especially if your a kinky natural. You'll burn the pieces of your hair straight and then it will start to look to fuzzy.

 

[sheba1]

I dunno, brave... I have friends that are heat "trained"/damaged naturals that have beautiful hair. They say they prefer to press rather than perm. The hair doesn't have to be fuzzy. They aren't natural for their coils, but rather to avoid the chemicals of relaxing.