It has been awhile because, again, disenchantment with natural hair took a hold of me.  Not disenchantment with natural hair itself, mind you, just talking about it, posting about it, reading about it, etc.  There’s only so much involvement one can have with their hair while cultivating a full life, unless that life is professionally linked to said subject.

I’ve been keeping up care of my tresses as normal, with weekly washes and conditioning, daily moisturizing treatments and basically letting it do what it do… Grow.  But here lately I’ve desired to do something different with it than go with my traditional WNG’s, especially with the weather turning cold and me not wanting to go out with wet hair every morning.  So  a couple week’s ago I decided to press my coils and wear it in a pony-puff, which surprised me because I had no idea my hair had grown long enough to put in one ponytail yet.  The process took one hour and thirty minutes with my electric pressing comb set at about 400* F or so (close to the highest setting) and I utilized grape seed oil as my heat protectant.  As you can tell from the above photo the results were pleasant enough, and my hair maintained a healthy state and appearance, but I came away with feather light strands that I couldn’t really do anything with except throw them in a ponytail.  Because my hair had very little defined body to it in its wispy pressed state and I desired a smooth look, I decided to run out and add two more tools to my hair styling arsenal:

A set of Jilbere de Paris™ Palladium ceramic flat irons and 1 1/2 barrel curling iron.  Since I’m not very brand savvy when it comes to styling tools, and really don’t plan on using either heat implement very often, I opted for this set because it was simple and affordable (the flat iron was $60 at Sally’s Beauty Supply and the curling iron was free with the purchase of the flat iron… can’t beat that there).  I do know that ceramic irons transfer heat more evenly so that was a must when decided on styling implements.  The Jilbere irons are a decent choice in my opinion, although I’ve heard Maxius’ Maxiglide is a far superior, albeit more expensive, tool to work with.

Since I’d pressed my hair just a few days before purchasing the set of irons I waited to style my hair in order to give it a rest.  In the interim I kept my hair moisturized with Yonnea’s GPS oil, wrapped it every night and kept my hands out of it as much as possible.  Although I have very thick/coarse hair I know it’s weakest when it’s straightened, considering the amount of heat it takes to get it to that point.  So I wanted to make sure it recovered as much as possible from the pressing before applying more heat to it.  Once it was time to flat iron my hair (something I’ve never done before), in addition to an application of grape seed oil, I applied a generous amount of Beyond The Zone Pro Formula Turn Up The Heat flat iron protection spray.  Parting my hair into inch wide by inch thick sections it took me just about as long to flat iron my hair as it did to press it, but the results were breathtaking!

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My hair was sleek, frizz-less, supple and the straightest it had been since I stopped relaxing.  I was so amazed at the difference between flat ironing and pressing although the amount of time to achieve both results is roughly the same.  Another difference was the appearance/condition of my ends, which took on a much smoother, more “manageable”, look.  The grape seed oil and protection spray, along with the ceramic plates, infused my hair with a very healthy sheen that I instantly fell in love with.

When it came time to curl my hair I was very careful to just apply the curling iron to the ends of my hair for just long enough to bend them, giving my style body while minimizing heat exposure to the entire strand:

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In a word, it was strikingly different from what I ‘d grown used to in the past three, almost four, years.  Not a good different or a bad different, since to me styling options are merely an expression and not a definition of what’s natural or not.  It was just different, and I like it just like I have grown to like my WNG’s.  The responses from coworkers and Facebook friends were very complimentary, although they too were surprised to see how much hair I actually had.  Yes, shrinkage can be deceptive, ladies and gentlemen.

Maintaining the style was a breeze.  Every night I’d coat it with Yonnea’s GPS oil, brush it around the circumference of my head to keep the bends “fresh”, then cover it with a satin wrap.  In the morning I ran a wide tooth comb through it and went on my merry way.  No fuss, no muss and no extra heat.  Of course this will not be a style I plan on duplicating with any frequency because of the threat of heat damage, but it was a nice change of pace.

For those of you who are daring to wear your hair straight using heat options, keep these tips in mind to ensure your hair resists heat damage and maintains health:

• MOISTURIZE PROFUSELY!!!  In preparation to heat styling be sure to deep condition your hair intensely with a protein rich conditioner and keep it well “oiled”.  Moisturized hair increases your hair’s heat capacity, allowing you to use less heat when styling and protect the core of the hair strand.
• Utilize a heat protector.  Whether it be a commercial product or my stand by, grape seed oil (of all the oils, grape seed withstands higher temperatures), always apply a “buffer” between your hair and the heat tool.  Although “cones” get a bad rep when it comes to natural hair maintenance, they do wonders with transferring heat quickly so irons do not need to be on the hair long in order to straighten.
• Know your hair’s “heat tolerance”.  Just because your hair is coarse or thick, that does not mean you need to apply the max temperature of the flat or curling iron in order to achieve smooth results.  Coarse hair burns at the same temperature as paper (~451*F) and thin hair can scorch at way lower thresholds.  Also, having the irons on too low of temperature settings can also cause damage since you have to run the tools over the hair multiple times.
• Minimize the number of heat tools used in styling.  For example, banding hair after cleansing and conditioning will allow the hair to dry “straight”, eliminating the use of a blow dryer or pressing comb in addition to a flat iron.  Or, utilize the cool setting when blowing drying and a good brush to distribute the air.  Much damage is done to hair by blow drying hair too fast.
• Utilize non-heat tools to maintain style so heat exposure is limited.  For instance, if you want to keep your heat set curls for extended periods, enlist the help of rollers while you sleep.  Daily heat application puts your tresses at greater risk for heat damage, even at low temperatures.
• Make sure all your heat styling tools, and hair, are clean prior to each styling.  Ideally flat, curling and pressing irons should be cleaned after each use so that build-up does not “harden” on their surfaces and cause damage to the hair shaft or cuticle as the tools are passed along the strands.

As a general rule, heat on natural hair is a no-no in most circles but for those of you who like a straight look every  now and again, know that you can achieve beautiful results without putting your hair at risk.

Healthy Hair Wishes & Happy New Year!