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Introduction
Do you have kinky, naturally curly, or wavy hair and worry that you may damage it if you use a flat iron to straighten it out ? If so, you are not alone with that worry, and here is the thing. If your friends with curly or wavy hair damaged their hair while using a flat iron, you must know that they did not do their homework to prevent damage. Therefore, you have the advantage of landing on this article because you will learn how to flat iron your natural hair without causing any damage to it. Once you flatten your hair with care and utilize the tips as you read the article further, the promise is that your hair will be fine!
Is Straightening Your Hair A Challenging Task?
The thing is, if you have never straightened your hair before, there will be a learning curve the same way it applies to everything else. So you have to remember that you have to develop a skill to straighten your hair the way you would for anything else you learn. You have to give yourself some time and patience because you may find that the first tries don’t go as smoothly or well as you hoped. However, if you keep working on it, you will become a pro when straightening your hair with a flat iron. Let’s go over some tips you can utilize so you do not damage your hair, or if you do, it is incredibly minimal. The first and foremost thing you need to do is use a heat protectant before flat ironing your hair. Let’s talk about that further.
Always Use A Heat Protectant Before Flat Ironing Your Hair
The one thing you must always do is use a heat protectant) before using a flat iron to straighten your hair or using any hair styling tools. Heat damages hair, and that is not unknown to people. Unfortunately, silicone heat protectants get a bad rap as there is a lot of talk about why you should not use silicone-based shampoos and conditioners too often. The reason for that is that silicone can put a rigid shield around your hair shaft, which can prevent water from reaching it. However, you can use silicone-based products occasionally. Remember that many heat protectants do not consist of silicone and are more desirable to use.
If you intend to flat iron your hair several times a week, then you do not want to use a silicone-based heat protectant, or else it will harden your hair. However, remember that these heat protectants are excellent for protecting your hair from heat damage. If you worry about it hardening your hair shaft, you will want to wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo. Whatever you do, use a heat protectant on your hair before working with it. While you do that, you will want to do something else to control the level of heat you set on your flat iron.
Keep Your Flat Iron Heat Level Low
The temptation to crank up the heat on your flat iron) may be there because you will want to make it as straight as possible. However, you do not want to do that, even if you have a heat protectant. Even if you don’t use it more than a few times a month, do not do that. If you put the heat onto a high level, you will bring your hair’s cortex to a boil which will undoubtedly cause a lot of damage to your hair. Sure, you may enjoy having a sleek and straight appearance of your hair for the short term if you do that, but you will regret it later on when you see there is a lot of heat damage.
You do not want to keep the temperature of your flat iron hotter than 450 F or 232 C. Ideally, you should have the temperature at 350 F or almost 177 C. That is a much safer temperature to work with when you flatten your hair. When flat ironing your hair even at the recommended temperature, you do not want to keep ironing it either. That will increase your chances of damaging it, otherwise.
Only Work With Your Hair Once With The Flat Iron
If you do a lot of passes as you flat iron your hair, you are risking damage because it will keep bringing the heat in contact with your hair. You may want to ensure that your hair becomes straight and smooth quickly by doing that; however, that is a sure way to increase your chances of having heat damage. Therefore, the best thing you can do is give your hair one pass with your flat iron, and that will be enough to straighten it and smooth it out.
Start with a small clump of hair at a time instead of trying to flatten too much at once. If you attempt to flatten too many hair strands at once, you will want to keep the hair between the hot plates for a long time, undoubtedly cooking your hair. Therefore, use smaller clumps of strands when you are flattening your hair, and you will not need to spend that much time flattening a smaller chunk of hair strands. Sure, this method may take you longer to flatten your hair, but it is much safer than the alternative method. And after flattening your hair, you do not want to neglect the aftercare to help prevent your hair from breaking.
Care For Your Hair After Flat Ironing
If you think you can wash your hands and not worry about your hair after flat ironing it the correct way, you are wrong. That is because the breakage will happen after you flat iron it. That is why aftercare is essential. However, the good news is that the aftercare is straightforward. It would be best if you did deep conditioning, which will lock in the moisture in your hair, as well as having protein masks. These sessions are essential to lock in moisture and patch up your hair if any heat damage occurs while flat ironing your hair.
Conclusion
If you have naturally curly or wavy hair and want to flatten it with a flat iron, you may worry about damage. If you do, that is normal because too much heat will ruin your hair, and that is a known fact. First, you need to put a heat protectant on your hair before styling your hair with a flat iron. Secondly, you must keep the heat level low, and it should never exceed 450 F or 232 C. The best temperature would be 350 F or almost 177 C. Also, don’t forget that you need to take care of your hair after you flat iron it by doing deep conditioning or using a protein mask to lock in moisture and patch up any heat damage.