Pressed Natural Regimen Ideas

[prettypithy]

I've been natural since February and have decided to start wearing my hair straight pretty much all the time. I plan on washing, conditioning and flat ironing every two weeks. If I am not retaining length like I usually do by the end of the year, I will go back to my curls.

In any case, I need suggestions on how to maintain moisture without causing reversion between straightenings. I plan to mostly bun and/or clip it up and of course, continue wrapping it up at night and using castor oil daily.

TIA!

 

[faithVA]

You may want to try the heat training support thread. Not that you are trying to heat train but since they press their hair more regularly some of the ideas may be helpful to you.

 

[Nonie]

I think a lot of people use oils (eg coconut oil) to moisturize their hair when straightened.

But you would benefit too if your DC before straightening gave you all your moisture, so you can focus on just holding it in with a serum that blocks out moisture that causes reversion. If you will use a serum, or some other anti-humectant heat protector, then trying to moisturize your hair will be futile as they block everything from reaching your hair.

@westNDNbeauty has the same logic I have but I don't know how long she wears her presses for, so maybe she can give you some tips if she keeps hers longer than a week. I only do a week, and I don't need to moisturize during that week because I make sure my hair has enough before I flat iron.

 

[Rocky91]

I just add a little argan oil to my hair during the week.
I don't really think of it as truly moisturizing, but I guess lubricating, lol. idk it makes my hair feel nice.
i think you'll retain length just fine, especially if you're planning to mostly bun/pin-up. i'd press once every 2 weeks, just because once a week seems like too much work and too much manipulation.
try to look for ways to avoid blowdrying, such as rollersetting first, or even just braiding your hair and sitting under the dryer, to minimize the amount of heat your hair has to take.
hope this helps some.

 

[GoodMernin]

I wear my hair flat ironed a majority of the time and my regimen for maintaining moisture consists mostly of what I do to my hair just before I wash it and what I do right after it has been washed.

Before I wash I must have an organic coconut oil and cold pressed evoo pre poo. This allows not too much of a strip of my hair when I wash.

After washing I MUST over night DC with Kimmaytube's DC recipe + a tablespoon of honey. It has to be over night for me because I am so busy around the house I can't keep still long enough to sit under the dryer.

So, I walk around the house and go to bed looking like Tyrone Biggums with my scarf, silk bonnet and wool fitted hat. The family used to look at me like I was a nut but they are used to it now. lol

Then after I rinse the next morning,, I have to do a final rinse with a cold diluted green tea and ACV rinse. This closes and smooths my cuticles so that I have a better clearing, blow dry, and flat iron (with heat protectant).

The following nights I section my hair in 4 sections and seal each section's ends with a pea sized amount of shea butter and work my way to the roots so as not to make my hair too oily and heavy.

Then after a week, I repeat the whole process.

 

[beana]

I wear my natural hair pressed 95% of the time. I wash DC and flat iron every 2 weeks. For the first week, my hair does a good job of retaining moisture so i only add a dab (really just a dab) of coconut oil to my hair before styling in the morning and wrapping at night. During the send week, my hair is not as straight and i use Darcy botanicals transitioning cream to moisturize daily. My hair is still stratight and easy to comb on week 2, just noe fresh out the salon looking. I usually wear ponytails and buns during my second week. HTH

 

[Leeda.the.Paladin]

There's a straight naturals thread that's pretty long. I will try to find it.

Here it is:

http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=196649&highlight=straight+natural

 

[prettypithy]

So, I walk around the house and go to bed looking like Tyrone Biggums with my scarf, silk bonnet and wool fitted hat.

GoodMernin



Thanks for the laugh and the advice!

 

[westNDNbeauty]

My hair actually stays straight until I decided to wash it. That could be a week or a month from the day I straighten it. My hair does not revert during the time I wear it straight. For me, I can add serum, but it is usually not necessary. It seems that my hair gets more oily and straighter as the time passes. That increase in oil is something that I don't notice during the times I wear my hair kinky.

Here is my tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffjZQQIGelg

 

[vivEz daNs lamouR]

Since going natural I've worn my hair straight a majority of the time because as a curly I tend to get a lot of SSK. This past summer was my first time managing to wear straight hair through the NYC heat and humidity since being natural and it held up pretty well.

My regimen is pretty consistent and I don't really branch out of it. I clarify with every wash because I use cones, but I also DC with every wash for at least 30 minutes with heat.

- Wash with Suave Gentle Daily Clarifier.
- DC with any of my dominican products, I absolutely love the Silicon Mix, Baba de Caracol and Esperma de Ballena.
- Rinse and final condition with Trader Joe's NourishSpa
- Before blow drying, I do a mix of Silicon Mix leave in (which I think is the best in terms of preventing reversion), Aphogee Green Tea Reconstructor, and Fantasia IC Heat Protect spray.
- Flat iron and then pin curl.

My hair reverts every time I wash, and I've done really well with retaining length and achieving growth. (Recent pic in siggy.)

HTH.

 

[naturalagain2]