Straight Hair Natural's Support Thread

Evolving78 said:
@Lylddlebit
I am not feeling the Michelle Obama-Susan Rice- Condoleezza Rice-Katherine Johnson hair! My hair is short and has a tremendous about of volume. It is super straight, but I fine, medium density hair. Once I gain some more length, I’ll be satisfied. I’m thinking of going back to design essentials, or mizani for maintenance. Maybe Moroccan Oil shampoo and conditioner. I want something with a lot of moisture and heavy cream-based. I trimmed my ends and will do so again in 4 weeks. I cut my hair completely off twice last year, like bald fade, so it layered and NL right now.
Going to the salon is dangerous for me. I’m not unique, but my hair requires a certain type of handling. Getting it relaxed at a salon is fine, but my natural texture is different. My hair will shrink and coil up so fast and it is fine, so you have to be gentle. Thats why my hair didn’t grow much as a kid. As an adult, I can grow my hair with no problem.
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That's Funny. I was thinking Michelle Obama-Olivia Pope, but I understand haha. Your plan sounds good.
 
Lylddlebit said:
I have worn back-to-back pressed hair that looks good from one wash to the other but it did not require pressing every 2 weeks to do it. Instead, I can leave my hair looking freshly done from month to month when my haircare regimen is consistent. I have also had stints going to the shop to get my hair done every 2 weeks without any hair issues and it looked pretty good but I got trims every 2 months to maintain that.

When I press more frequently quality products, tools, treatments, and regular trims work well. It doesn't have to be super expensive (even though quality often increases as pricetags do) but it has to be tools and products that make my hair super manageable and maintain its health. Your most frequent wash day is a good start, but there is a cushion that exists to keep your hair healthy and in good shape when you use heat and chemicals infrequently which greatly diminishes and sometimes disappears altogether once you start to use heat and/or chemicals frequently. Maintenance treatments, instead of saving them as a response to hair issues are a huge tool to keep your hair healthy and consistency buffers potentially damaging practices. You can wear frequently straightened hair that is healthy but it pulls from somewhere: be that quality tools, products, consistency, great genes, high-end resources, etc.

The two photos are examples of my hair during stints of frequent pressing. One is a press just over a month old from a window that I was pressing back-to-back at WL+. The other is from my days going to the shop every 2 weeks in undergrad (before I grew my hair out). It is possible to have healthy hair with frequent pressing but there is little to no cushion for error or skimping on quality tools and products when you take that route. Please excuse the watermarks I pulled one of these from my folder with very old Fotki photos of the earlier years of my hair journey.

BTW do you have any photos of that Michelle Obama hair? No pressure or anything but I love to see well-enjoyed hair, if you are willing to share.
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So you a hair model tho? Like lord I see what you did for our good sis I want that for me.
 
Hey ladies, I am trying to work on minimizing product use to maintain this press. My hair feels good now and I don’t want to use products that have glycerin (moisturizers) trying to keep my hair from drying out. What do you ladies do to maintain your silk press?
 
Evolving78 said:
Hey ladies, I am trying to work on minimizing product use to maintain this press. My hair feels good now and I don’t want to use products that have glycerin (moisturizers) trying to keep my hair from drying out. What do you ladies do to maintain your silk press?
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During the wash/prep for the press I bombard my hair with enough moisture and nourishment to last until the next wash. When my hair is dry enough to need extra product it is usually a sign I need to rewash it. If a leave-in doesn't last until the next wash, then I don't consider it a good enough leave-in but here are some exceptions:

  • A few months ago we had that "Arctic Blast" storm. So three weeks into my press I took a bit of Olaplex 6(any creamy leave-in that is moisturizing would have worked) and put a light coating all over my hair
    • I hard-pressed my hair so my hair didn't revert but softened to make it an extra few extra weeks with softened, supple moisturized hair that still had movement.
    • Every 1-2 weeks I may put a light serum or oil on my ends to keep them lubricated and prevent them from snagging on my clothes when I wear my hair down daily for extended periods.
    • I will lay my edges with a texture paste, or gel in a minute.
If you train your hair to hold onto the moisture you give it then your pressed hair will remain soft supple and tangle-free through a press. Even though your hair is dry it'll keep that "just-washed-and-blown-out" feel for weeks on end. The kicker is my hair has to be well-moisturized and maintained in the months and weeks leading up to the press. If I go from bone dry hair to trying to fully moisturize it in one wash day, it won't yield results that feel as good or last as long, but if my hair was pressed before it dried out then the press will wear and last longer.

If you want a video on how I refresh a press I can send you a link. I am documenting some of my hair practices this year to celebrate my 20-year natural anniversary coming up in June, but honestly, if you start training your hair to hold onto the moisture it gets on wash day, you will start to notice how well styles including presses last naturally. The key is consistent maintenance before the press comes.
 
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ckisland said:
Made it 11 days! I could've gone longer but I got 2 of the Doux Press Play products and I wanted to give them a try.

1. Washed with Press Rewind 3x
2. Dried my hair with turban
3. Sprayed on Silent Treatment to 4 sections
4. Detangled with wide tooth comb then my Felicia Leatherwood brush
5. Blowdried each section with denman brush
6. Flatironed 1 pass at 430F

My wash day was fantastic!!! Took me 1hr 40 mins total. Detangling was so easy! The Silent Treatment made my hair so smooth. I skipped conditioner because I wanted to see how the system made my hair feel (the Press Play conditioner has shea butter which my hair hates), and I love how my hair feels. Now I'm curious to see how my hair lasts.

2/9 (today)
View attachment 494263View attachment 494265View attachment 494267View attachment 494269

1/29 ( last week)
View attachment 494271View attachment 494273View attachment 494275
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Your hair grew!
 
I used to have a paddle brush around here, but think I got rid of it. What paddle brush do you ladies you? I like using comb attachments, but the one on my dryer is janky…
 
Evolving78 said:
I used to have a paddle brush around here, but think I got rid of it. What paddle brush do you ladies you? I like using comb attachments, but the one on my dryer is janky…
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aveda wooden paddle brush | Aveda

Professional <STRONG>paddle brush</STRONG> features extended bristles for easy detangling and reduces stress to hair and scalp during blow-drying and styling. Ideal for smoothing hair during blow-drying to create smooth, straight styles.
www.aveda.com www.aveda.com
www.frommpro.com

Intuition Hot Paddle Brush - Blue

FrommPro's Intuition hot brush. Blow dry and straightening brush for minimal damage.
www.frommpro.com www.frommpro.com
denmanbrushus.com

D4 Original Styler | 9 Row | Denman Brush

D4 Original Styler 9 Row Brush by Denman. The ultimate multi-functional hairbrush for detangling, blow-drying, styling, and defining curls. UK Made
denmanbrushus.com denmanbrushus.com
Never liked Denmans for detangling until the D38 and the d38 p but their 7 and 9 rows have always hit for the blow dry.


I also like detangle brushes for blow drying(less breakage). Some people say not enough tension but I believe it works fine with a bit of patience.
denmanbrushus.com

D38 Power Paddle | Detangling, Curl Defining & Blow-Drying | Denman Brush

Award Winning, Denman D38 Power Paddle. Perfect for fast and easy detangling, curl definition and blow-drying hair smooth. Perfect for all hair types. UK made.
denmanbrushus.com denmanbrushus.com
brushwiththebest.com

Hair Brush for Curly Hair | Curly Hair Detangling/Detangler Brush | Best Travel Hair Brush

From curly to kinky curly, and straight to super thick or even synthetic hair, this brush will help your detangle days become easier. Visit our site & buy it now!
brushwiththebest.com brushwiththebest.com
www.frizzoff.com

Flexy Brush - For Detangling and

The Best Detangling and "Curl Clumping" Brush. Built strong, durable, lightweight and easy to clean. Great for shower use, combing through curls with conditioner, removing tangles or shampoo massaging to clean the scalp. Amazing for "Curl Clumping" and definition for thick bouncy curls. Its open...
www.frizzoff.com www.frizzoff.com
https://www.fhiheat.com/pages/unbrush-collection ( I am about to get that new fragile hair one. I have several of the original)
 
I washed and blow dried my hair. I decided not to straighten it and put some twists in. I may go this route until May. This will help me to work on my ends and get some growth in to trim again. I want to wear a nice silk press at the end of May.
 
Lylddlebit said:
See, you see it. It isn't just the heat itself, the tension used while drying has its own set of threats. The combination of blow dryer heat and overstretching during the process can cause coil/curl loosening. I know everyone's hair has different strengths and weaknesses, but speaking for myself, mechanical damage has always been a bigger threat to my hair than the regular use of high heat. I use high heat regulary and get pretty good reversion consistently. I wouldn't be bothered by heat damage so the idea of loosening coils don't bother me, I just rarely get that beyond the last few inches(that woudl get cut off soon) of very old ends. However, if I am rough with my hair that will cause me way more breakage and/or overstretching than my flat iron and hot combs ever do.

The tension that can be improperly applied while using the blow dryer can cause the curl/coil pattern to loosen, just like a ballon that has been filled up to the limit and then deflated.
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So how does one reduce the risk of using tension inappropriately?
 
By stacking your deck with healthy hair and healthy practices.

  • Hair that is well moisturized, will have stretch and give before it breaks.
  • Hair that is well lubricated will have a slip that facilitates tools gliding through it. Each pass should make subsequent ones smoother during the stretching process because each pass should straighten it out. I only use the blow-dry process for stretching and drying. I never use the blow-dry process to detangle. I blow dry wet hair because wet-to-dry smooths more efficiently and allows more malleability than damp-to-dry.
  • Strong hair can reasonably sustain mechanical handling/tension and remain resilient.

Hair that is in moderately good-great shape is one of the best buffers to offset damaging things, including a bit too much tension. Healthy hair mitigates damaging stuff. Great practices take it easy on not-so-healthy hair. So if I have a little bit of one or another the hair can look good by the time I finish a style, even if both aren't simultaneously great.

Beyond that "practice makes perfect" I take my time and let the tool glide without allowing it to rip my hair out. I start off with hair that is well nourished and moisturized from my deep conditioner and thoroughly detangled. If I run into a tangle, during the blow dry process I don't pull the tool through my hair and the tangle. That is sure to break it off. I stop, gently remove the tangle then continue drying untangled hair. Most people run into excessive tension when they are pulling blow dryer attachments, combs, or brushes through sections that are too thick for the attachment comb or brush to glide through, blow drying out that is dried out before it smoothes out or just too rough. If the section is a struggle to pass through all I have to do is make the section smaller, detangle then let the tool glide through the hair...I NEVER use my blow dryer to detangle my hair. I never fight through my hair during the styling process. I never keep on blow drying when I see broken hair...because that will be exactly what it looks like: breakage and damage. I also never blow dry dried out or hair that lacks sufficient lubrication hair. The things I am saying are easier said than done before it has been practiced and learned. I certainly wasn't applying this as a young teen when I was rough on my hair, but the difference can be felt. A person may not say "This is/isn't the appropriate use of tension" but they can clearly feel the difference between a comb or brush gliding through their hair instead of ripping through it.

I will have better examples soon. I am pressing my hair, including the blow dry, the week after next and I know sometimes describing it isn't as easy to understand as seeing it demonstrated. I will try to capture the details I am speaking about.
 
Evolving78 said:
Is it easier to work with? Does the cord stay out of the way? I’m going to blow dry my hair late tonight or early morning. If I can get a good blow dry in, then I will proceed to straighten my hair.
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It is very light and has a long cord so that makes it easy for me. I can't say it is easier because I just shift to use whatever tool I am using, but I do like it and it is unique to my hair tools.
 
Evolving78 said:
I got some CHI products.. haven’t gotten those in years. Going to use them tonight. I’m going to put a black or dark brown rinse in my hair first.
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If you like chi products a bunch of them were 50% off on Ulta today only. Some are sold out now, but there is still a lot left, including the silk infusion. I ordered a set of the products this morning. It was a good time to replenish. Not trying to put my pj ways on you, but I avoid full price when it is half off.

 
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Lylddlebit said:
If you like chi products a bunch of them were 50% off on Ulta today only. Some are sold out nos, but there is still a lot left, including the silk infusion. I ordered a set of the products this morning. It was a good time to replenish. Not trying to put my pj ways on you, but I avoid full price when it is half off.

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Yeah I ran up there and got some! I had a ton of points, so I got a lot of random things! lol
 
Evolving78 said:
I got some CHI products.. haven’t gotten those in years. Going to use them tonight. I’m going to put a black or dark brown rinse in my hair first.
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Lurker here!
I'm texlaxed but I stretch my relaxers. I've been thinking of using heat to stretch my relaxer for a full year.

So I bought this here CHI thermal care product to use 6mths post hair bc my MIL was coming for a holiday visit.

1711722971632.png

The ladies on here rave about CHI so I was hopeful it would be success.
When I finished, my roots were nice and smooth.

1711723018781.png

After wrapping it up and sleeping on it. I woke up to this!!

1711723121822.png

So I'm watching closely for your report back, sista @Evolving78 . Because I'm sure it was user error on my end but I don't use heat often enough to know what I did wrong.
 
MzSwift said:
Lurker here!
I'm texlaxed but I stretch my relaxers. I've been thinking of using heat to stretch my relaxer for a full year.

So I bought this here CHI thermal care product to use 6mths post hair bc my MIL was coming for a holiday visit.

View attachment 495257

The ladies on here rave about CHI so I was hopeful it would be success.
When I finished, my roots were nice and smooth.

View attachment 495259

After wrapping it up and sleeping on it. I woke up to this!!

View attachment 495261

So I'm watching closely for your report back, sista @Evolving78 . Because I'm sure it was user error on my end but I don't use heat often enough to know what I did wrong.
Click to expand...
Your hair looks pretty in both pics! I will let you know today. I’m about to blow dry my hair soon. I was trying to clean up, so I would not sweat my hair out being Hazel around here. Girl… see your hair is way longer than mine.. I can’t be looking like James Brown after a performance!
 
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