Heat damage.... The evil alteration of your natural curl pattern after using heat styling tools. These tools include flat irons, blow dryers, curling irons and hot combs. This results in permanent straight hair and loosen curl pattern. Seems daunting, right? The good news is heat damage is avoidable. Below are ways you can avert heat damage.
1) Shampoo or Condition With a Protein Based Product
A protein based shampoo and conditioner provides strength to your hair before heat styling. Some common protein ingredients include keratin, hydrolyzed keratin, soy milk protein, egg protein hydrolyzed wheat protein, hydrolyzed silk protein, hydrolyzed oat flour and hydrolyzed soy milk protein.
2) Use a Moisturizing Deep Conditioner
It is important to have a protein moisture balance. Too much protein can lead to breakage, brittle, stiff and straw like hair. Therefore, use a moisturizing deep conditioner to prevent protein overload. Moisturizing deep conditioners adds moisture, aids in preventing damage and improves hair elasticity.
3) Stretch Your Hair Before Blow Drying
Stretching your hair will speed up the blow-drying process in numerous ways. Since your hair is slightly stretched, this reduces shrinkage, eases detangling, straighter results, prevents excessive blow-drying and minimizes tangles and knots. An easy way is after applying the deep conditioner, detangle then twist hair. For even more stretch, after washing out the deep conditioner, twist hair then put it into a bantu knot.
4) Heat Protectant Before Blow Drying
This is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Anytime you use a hot styling tool such as a blow-dryer, you need a heat protectant. The only exception is using heat to deep condition. There are different forms of heat protectant which include sprays, gels, lotions, oils and serums.
5) Blow Dry on Low Heat
The goal is to prevent heat damage. Blow-drying on the low heat setting limits the possibility of over drying your hair. Additionally, avoiding farther damage.
6) Hair Straight as Possible Before Flat Ironing
Blow-drying your hair as straight as possible lessens the passes of the flat iron. The less passes the better. Passes are the amount of time you flat iron a section of hair.
7) Apply Heat Protectant Prior to Straightening (Optional)
To prepare for the flat iron process, you can add extra heat protectant. This is an additional precaution. The heat protectant should be lightweight. Preferably a spray or mist. Therefore, your hair isn't weighted down and affect your results.
8) Use Low Heat When Using the Flat Iron
NEVER use the flat iron on the highest heat, usually 450 degrees. High heat may permanently damage your curl pattern. Especially, if you have fine hair. The highest degree I recommend is 400. Try your best to stay within 350-400 degrees.
9) No More Than Two Passes
Excessive passes with the flat iron can also cause heat damage. Repeatedly straightening one section of your hair over and over again can fry your hair, literally. Hence, to achieve the best results, slowly pass the straightener through your hair.
10) Invest in an Ionic Blow Dyer and Infrared Straightener
Investing in your hot tools is essential for salon quality results and healthy hair. To achieve these results, I recommend an ionic blow-dryer and infrared straightener. Ionic blow dryers contain negative ions which clean hair, eliminates frizz and reduces static. Infrared straighteners use gentle heat that penetrates hair and locks in moisture. Additionally, hair is moisturized from the inside out. This prevents damage to the hair.
I used Aria Beauty Unicorn Mini Blow Dryer & Hair Diffuser.
This blow-dryer has an international voltage. It is equipped with a diffuser, so you can use it for your wash and go. It has international voltage. Therefore, you can travel anywhere in the world with it. On the blow-dryer, there is a switch that converts the voltage. This compact mini blow-dryer is super lightweight and compact. It is small yet powerful. I was surprised at how quick it dried and stretched my hair. There are two settings, high and low. It comes with a one-year warranty.
Who doesn't want to be a unicorn? With this blow- dryer, you can channel your inner unicorn. The packaging is extremely appealing. The beautiful colors and unicorn theme is eye catching. I was flabbergasted how quickly it dried and stretched my hair. This mini blow-dryer is small and powerful. Typically, after blow-drying my hair feels brittle and breaks off. With this Aria Beauty's blow-dryer, my hair felt soft. Additionally, I had less breakage.
I used Aria Beauty 1” Rose Gold Infrared Ceramic Hair Straightener
This infrared straightener uses less harsh heat to straighten hair. Furthermore, damage caused by heat is avoidable. It also heats in seconds! When using, you don't need a "death grip". Meaning, a lot of pressure on the plates isn't necessary. Similar to the blow-dryer, it has an international voltage. To achieve optimal results, use on clean hair or with minimal product.
This straightener didn't snag my hair at all! It glided smoothly on my hair. Easy to grip and use. Only one pass of the flat iron was needed for most of my hair. The result was shiny, frizz free hair. Also, my hair had movement, body and volume.
A huge thank you to Aria Beauty for allowing me to collaborate with you. It was an honor.
TUTORIAL ON HOW TO STRAIGHTEN NATURAL HAIR
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