Thursday, September 18, 2008

It's official - I am awful at getting my hair straight!

So I had this great idea to straighten my hair since it's not as humid anymore - boy was I wrong.  So I washed my hair with Hello Hydration shampoo by Herbal Essences (it was on sale and I had a coupon - as far as shampoos go, it's pretty gentle).  I conditioned my hair using my BioSilk conditioner and combed through my hair with the Knot Today detangler/leave in.  I heard great things about Paul Mitchell's Straight Works which is like a gel that helps keep wavy and curly hair straight, longer.  So I used about a quarter size of the gel and blew my hair dry on the warm setting.  So far so good - my hair feels nice and soft.

Next step - the straightening comb (calm down, it's an electric one).  So I took small sections and sprayed on a heat protectant by Motions.  I actually like their heat protectant.  It smells great and my hair was super soft.  I find that a lot of heat protectants leave you hair crunchy.  So below are some pictures of my hair only after the straigtening comb.
 
As you can see my hair still is pretty poofy.  So next step - the Chi flat iron.  I sprayed a little more of the heat protectant and then flat ironed each section.  Mind you it is around 12 a.m. at this point.  Below is the result of the flat ironing.
I still wasn't thrilled, but I told myself I would add some Baby Buttercreme and then wrap it and see what I ended up with in the morning.  So the next morning, I bumped the ends and got the below result.
 
It doesn't look bad, but it doesn't look great lol.  So it's official - I am awful at straightening my own hair and I will leave it to the professionals!!!!  I clipped some of it up before I went to work, because as soon as I went outside, all hell broke loose!  So that night, I braid my hair in 3 big cornrows and this morning I just wore it big and kinda wavy.  Now I just have to find someone inexpensive to straighten my hair for me.  HELP! :)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know how you feel. I am really bad at straighting my own hair. I gave up trying to wear it straight a long time ago. Especially in the summer! If I want my hair straight I go to Etae or use the caramel treatment myself at home. The treatment actually lasts months in my hair even though they say it is not permanent. Did you feel this way when you used the Etae product? I mostly wear my hair in twists or microbraids. I just can't tolerate anything else.

Elisa said...

Hi Debbie - I never felt like that Carmel treatment straightened my hair any. When I was transitioning, my relaxed hair LOVED the moisture from the Carmel treatment. But the last time I used it when I was natural, I wasn't impressed. Maybe I need to give it another try. I loved the salon, but driving to Philly for straight hair is too far for me :(.

B. Fly said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
B. Fly said...

I wasn't all that great at doing my hair when I was relaxed. Straightening it myself now that I'm natural just makes me nervous. I think you should give yourself some credit. It was only your first time. I'm sure it'll get better with practice.

Elisa said...

Yes - it's too much work! I give up with trying to do it anymore! The problem is everyone who does a good job straigtening natural hair is expensive. I need to find someone reasonable priced so I can go twice a month. Hmmph! I'm FRUSTRATED!

All-Mi-T [Thought Crime] Rawdawgbuffalo said...

LMBAO
nice smile though
Nice spot u have here, hope u don’t mind the drive by, do chk me out one day

rawdawgbuffalo and if u like what u read, maybe u will come back, even Blog Roll Me

Elisa said...

LOL. I figured folks would get a kick outta this post. Hey, I had to keep it real. It ain't easy to get natural hair straight and people need to realize this lol.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll return the favor!

Anonymous said...

I haven't straighten my hair since i learned the basic maintenance of natural hair.. and restarted as full natural a hear ago.. its quite hard to get it straight on top of that im scared and all this red hair dying business prevent me from using more damage ready approach....

Elisa said...

hi koffee - i really won't be trying the whole straight thing again myself. i will always experiment with color and i guess some people don't consider me to be natural b/c of that, but it's all good! ive switched it up again with a dark brown rinse. i'll be posting about that soon! ty for stopping by!