Naturals that Straighten...

P

PinkSkates

New Member
I get a lot of PM's about this, so I thought I'd make my reply public.
Q. PinkSkates how do you maintain your natural pressed hair since you exercise a lot?

A. Before I workout, I always put my hair up high, then twist it up and clip it on top of my head, or do a high ponytail. I make sure there is no hair touching my face at all, this minimizes exposure to sweat.

I schedule my workout routines around my hair pressing schedule. I recommend you save your heavy exercise days prior to hair straightening; and avoid working out immediately after your hair has been straightened and styled.
Pressed naturals, please do not attempt to flat iron or hot comb daily to smooth your edges.:nono:

Sebastian and Bumble and Bumble have good Dry Shampoos. You can apply them to your hairline and then apply a dab of EVCO (or your favorite light hair oil) to your hair toothbrush, and brush your edges down, put on a scarf, and 10 minutes later your edges are straight and smooth.

Note: Perspiration is a natural body fluid and does not on its on own dry the hair out or cause hair breakage.
 
You're welcome CountryGal
At night I:
1. apply a dab of EVCO around my hairline and cross wrap and apply my scarf.
2. Do a PinCurl and scarf.
3. Do a bun and scarf
4. Do 2 pocahontas braids and scarf.
 
:kiss::thankyou:

I really needed this. Stressing over work out schedule and hair.

pinkskates said:
I get a lot of PM's about this, so I thought I'd make my reply public.
Q. PinkSkates how do you maintain your natural pressed hair since you exercise a lot?

A. Before I workout, I always put my hair up high, then twist it up and clip it on top of my head, or do a high ponytail. I make sure there is no hair touching my face at all, this minimizes exposure to sweat.

I schedule my workout routines around my hair pressing schedule. I recommend you save your heavy exercise days prior to hair straightening; and avoid working out immediately after your hair has been straightened and styled.
Pressed naturals, please do not attempt to flat iron or hot comb daily to smooth your edges.:nono:

Sebastian and Bumble and Bumble have good Dry Shampoos. You can apply them to your hairline and then apply a dab of EVCO (or your favorite light hair oil) to your hair toothbrush, and brush your edges down, put on a scarf, and 10 minutes later your edges are straight and smooth.

Note: Perspiration is a natural body fluid and does not on its on own dry the hair out or cause hair breakage.
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by drjo91
YOur hair its out of this world...is beautiful!! How long have you been natural?
Click to expand...

Thank you drjo1!:Rose: I've been completely natural since 2000.


You're welcome xxxtacy and right back atcha'...:kiss:
 
Pinkskates, was your hair always long before becoming natural? I am struggling to get to APL. Certain strands of hair look very close to APL. I want to get to APL because from there I should easily get to other lenghts.
 
Hey CG,
When I was relaxed, the longest my hair reached was APL. After I transitioned and cut the remaining relaxed ends off I was left with chin length natural hair. And then my first two years of being natural, I abused the heat usage (pre LHCF). And burnt off a lot of hair; so in 2002. I started over again with chin length hair and I've been growing my hair out using good hair care practices since. This is the longest my hair has ever been.
 
pinkskates said:
Hey CG,
When I was relaxed, the longest my hair reached was APL. After I transitioned and cut the remaining relaxed ends off I was left with chin length natural hair. And then my first two years of being natural, I abused the heat usage (pre LHCF). And burnt off a lot of hair; so in 2002. I started over again with chin length hair and I've been growing my hair out using good hair care practices since. This is the longest my hair has ever been.
Click to expand...

What did you do that was abusing, and what do you do now that is healthy (like what heat protectant do you use?) Im gonna start pressing my hair soon and I'm terrified of heat damage. I saw your hair in a previous thread and its similar to the lead actress in "girlfriends" anyhow thx for the tips and happy hair growing, your hair is truly an inspiration ;)
 
Since I started pressing my hair, it has really thrived. I owe this to you Pinkskates and Miss Iris. I think the major difference is how SMOOTH my ends are. I also have been cleaning my combs after each press in a vinegar/water mixture as you recommended on your fotki.

AWESOME!
 
Thank you Ghanja. When I first went natural, I would press my hair without heat protection; I would touch up my edges every other day with my hot comb. I would press my hair even thou it was dirty. And I was not using the right kinds of shampoo and conditioners for my dry hair texture. I was truly hair-ignorant.
 
Last edited:
thanks for your post pinkskates! Do you think your hair gets and stays straight more easily than when you first went natural?
 
Originally posted by Africa
thanks for your post pinkskates! Do you think your hair gets and stays straight more easily than when you first went natural?
Click to expand...

Hi Africa,
No my hair does not straighten any easier now than it did when I first went natural.
But its a lot less frustrating for me to straighten my hair now, because I educated myself about my hair type. And I experimentated with many products and straightening techniques until I found a formula that works best for my hair texture.
 
pinkskates said:
Hi Africa,
No my hair does not straighten any easier now than it did when I first went natural.
But its a lot less frustrating for me to straighten my hair now, because I educated myself about my hair type. And I experimentated with many products and straightening techniques until I found a formula that works best for my hair texture.
Click to expand...

thanks! I hope I have the same experience if/when I go natural:yep:
 
Pinksates, do you find that you lose alot of hair while prepping to straighten?

I brush through my hair with a paddle brush while my hair is wet after washing and conditioning and with sabino moisture block in it so that it will be easier to flatiron when airdryed. I have noticed that I loose some hair in the process.

Pinksates, do you find that you lose alot of hair while prepping to straighten?

How do you prevent your hair from breaking (not all the hair that comes out while my hair is straight is shed hair) while it is straight?
 
Originally posted by blkbutterflyz0301
Pinksates, do you find that you lose alot of hair while prepping to straighten?

I brush through my hair with a paddle brush while my hair is wet after washing and conditioning and with sabino moisture block in it so that it will be easier to flatiron when airdryed. I have noticed that I loose some hair in the process.

Pinksates, do you find that you lose alot of hair while prepping to straighten?

How do you prevent your hair from breaking (not
Click to expand...
I lose very little hair while prepping my hair for pressing, because:
A. I detangle very well with my wood seamless comb.
B. When I blow dry I don't use any comb or brush attachment. Remember our hair is most vulnerable when its wet. So doing a lot of manual manipulation to the hair with combs and brushes while blow drying can be damaging and will snag out and break many hairs.
I think in my "hair sequel" fotki album I actually show the amount of hair in my comb after blow drying.
C. I blow dry using my 'tension-only" method. That is key in keeping my hair loss to a bare minimum.
 
okay, here is my main prob with my pressed hair. I have these REALLY irritating hair knots and balls at the end of my strands. They mess up the whole look of my press. Do you get these or have you gotten these and how did you remedy the situation?

I'm thinking of getting a really good pair of hair scissors and day by day cutting them all off....one at a time.
 
Originally posted by FeelinIt
okay, here is my main prob with my pressed hair. I have these REALLY irritating hair knots and balls at the end of my strands. They mess up the whole look of my press. Do you get these or have you gotten these and how did you remedy the situation?

I'm thinking of getting a really good pair of hair scissors and day by day cutting them all off....one at a time.
Click to expand...
I think these hair knots come with the territory of our hair type. Our hair likes to curl itself around one another.
I notice that I really only get these hair knots when I keep my hair in its natural state...which is only a couple of months out the year.
The best way to keep them to a minimum is to keep your hair tangle free as much as possible and keep a little weight on your ends (as in hair oil, I use EVCO on my ends) so to weigh your ends down just a bit so its not so easy for the ends to wrap themselves around each other. That works for me.
 
Thank you, Pinkskates! :yep: As a new natural, I haven't straightened out my hair yet but will save these tips for the beginning of the year when I do it for the first time.

My daughter is about 80% natural. (She still has a few relaxed ends left.) I blow-dry her hair every two weeks but had been using the comb attachment not thinking anything of it. I'm going to switch over to your "tension only" method.

Thanks again for the tips!! :yep:
 
First, I love love love your hair. Do you ever roller set your hair? Not sure if you said this...do you wash and straighten once a week, once every two weeks, etc.?

I would prefer to wear my hair straight, but I'm too lazy. I need to get back on the ball.
 
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