From Curly to Straight

Hello!

Many of you friends know I have natural super curly hair. Throughout the years I have enjoyed wearing my hair in different ways both curly and straight. I am lucky (or unlucky depending on how my hair is doing that day) to have LOTS of hair! so styling it and caring for it has always been a project for me.

Here I am at around 2 years old with my gorgeous Mom. Maybe I should go back to wearing hair scarfs!

Here are a few different hair styles I have done in the past:

For many years I used Hair Relaxers, but my hair was thinning out so I stopped. A few years later I tried doing the Brazilian Blowout, but it would not last as long and it was very expensive. Lately I tried a Keratin Treatment and it has worked great for me. I did it about 6 months ago so most of it is out of my hair by now, but I will be doing it again soon.

Most of the time I wear my hair curly (up in a bun or ponytail) but from time to time I do straighten it. My hair is longer than it has been in a while, which is a nice change of pace but I do miss my short hair style specially when I see a cool hair cut!

Some people ask me if I am wearing a wig or extensions when I wear my hair down straight because they are used to seeing me with curly hair (which shrinks a whole lot vs. when it is straight) I explain that it is my hair but it looks different because of the length and texture. I wanted to show you a quick summary of how I straighten my hair in 3 steps.

Step 1

Wash and Condition, Condition, Condition. Did I mention I Condition? When I know I am going to straighten my hair, I wash my hair with sulfate free, salt free shampoo, and then apply a hair mask and then follow with my regular conditioner. I use a t-shirt to dry my hair not a towel since I noticed this gives me less frizz when it is dry. This is how my hair looks out the shower.

My hair tends to air dry pretty quickly, so I promptly apply my products I use to prep my hair to be straighten. (I will add a list at the end of the post with all the names of products) Basically, I use a heat defense, a lotion to help smooth out hair, and argon oil to help with frizz. Once I have all the product in, I separate my hair into 4 sections (I divide horizontally from left to right and use clips to hold sections) this method works best for me because I have so much hair.) Now that I have my hair up in sections I am ready for the next step.

Step 2

Blow-drying with round brush – Take each section, re-wet (because my hair dries very quickly and if I brush and blow dry when my hair is already dry , it turns into a frizz fest ball! So I go section by section with the brush, mostly pulling the hair, not necessarily curling it with the brush like hair dressers do at the salon for a blow out.

I do not need the extra volume so a simple pull to form tension and dry the roots very well and move brush across length of hair. Towards ends I do tend to curl in a little bit just so that they are not pin straight (I do not like that look on me) I repeat this through out my entire hair. It gets tiring at times, but making sure my roots are completely dry is what can make or brake my hair style. So I take my time, I listen to music or watch Netflix to make it more fun. This step takes me about 30-35 minutes. I recently broke my old round brush and just bought this new one, and I have to say I really like the new one! My hair does not get tangled on it and I think it leaves it a little bit smoother without more effort, so I am glad my old one broke so I could try this one! After all my hair is dry I am ready for the final step.

Step 3

After my hair has been brushed dry, I use my flat iron at 425 degrees, to go over my blow dried sections. I once again divide my hair in 4 sections. I start with my hair at the bottom and go through my hair with the flat iron. I do not like pin straight hair on me, so I use this opportunity to make waves, curls, etc for whatever look I am going for that day. If I just want waves I do not twist my hand as much as I run the flat iron, and do straight motions towards the top to make sure my roots are very straight and just focus on the bottom curling away from my face.

I repeat this until all my hair has been flat ironed and styled. It usually takes me about 30 minutes. Many people ask me how come I just don’t style it when I am blow-drying it. One of the reasons is that it is very hard for me to get my hair super straight just with a blow dryer, therefore my hair tends to go very frizzy specially from the roots later. So I like to seal my hair with the flat iron, and I can get away with just pulling my hair dry rather than having to curl it with a round brush which makes my arms super tired!

And that is how I straighten my hair from wet! The entire process takes me about one hour or a little more if I take many breaks to hydrate, check my messages etc! My hair lasts about 2 to 3 days. I wish it could last longer but even with dry shampoo I cannot stand not washing my head so I wash at the end of the third day tops. I usually do this twice a month, just to change it up from my regular curly hair styles. I hope this helps someone with similar hair than mine. If you have any questions let me know! Here are 2 more shots of my hair from the side: