This week I have been rocking the pony. It's easy, low manipulation and did I mention easy? I've decided to stretch the flat iron as long as I possibly can to limit the amount of heat I use. Wash and deep condition will be this weekend.
Showing posts with label flat iron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flat iron. Show all posts
Monday, June 14, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Heat Damage
2:22p
I wanted to blame the Ecostyler gel for my damage, but quite honestly, I thought back and realized that it couldnt have been the gel that damaged my hair.
The culprit is the blow dryer and the flat iron. I have been doing both weekly and my hair is suffering greatly for it. I have been wanting to wear my hair straight and haven't done any airdry or protective styles for the last month.
I have used heat protectant, but at a certain point, even a heat protectant won't fully protect hair from heat. It was simple over use.
I bought ORS Hair Mayo, which is a mild protein, which should help with the weakness of my strands. I plan to use that with heat after a clarifying wash and then I will do a moisturizing deep condition overnight.
I know that there are some strands that are still going to suffer from this, but I figure the best things for me to do is to try to stop the damage now that I know what was causing it.
I'm banishing the flat iron and the blow dryer and now will only be doing twistouts, braid outs, bantu knots and anything that doesn't require heat.
I'm sad and feel a bit defeated but just like I had to tell myself when I got my hair cut: It's just hair. It will grow back.
I wanted to blame the Ecostyler gel for my damage, but quite honestly, I thought back and realized that it couldnt have been the gel that damaged my hair.
The culprit is the blow dryer and the flat iron. I have been doing both weekly and my hair is suffering greatly for it. I have been wanting to wear my hair straight and haven't done any airdry or protective styles for the last month.
I have used heat protectant, but at a certain point, even a heat protectant won't fully protect hair from heat. It was simple over use.
I bought ORS Hair Mayo, which is a mild protein, which should help with the weakness of my strands. I plan to use that with heat after a clarifying wash and then I will do a moisturizing deep condition overnight.
I know that there are some strands that are still going to suffer from this, but I figure the best things for me to do is to try to stop the damage now that I know what was causing it.
I'm banishing the flat iron and the blow dryer and now will only be doing twistouts, braid outs, bantu knots and anything that doesn't require heat.
I'm sad and feel a bit defeated but just like I had to tell myself when I got my hair cut: It's just hair. It will grow back.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Flat Iron Update
1:21p
It's day 5 of my flat ironed hair and so far so good. I'm still enjoying straight, bouncy, sleek hair.
But of course there's a but.
I'm tired of flat, pin straight hair. I need some body.
So tonight I will be doing pin curls.
It's day 5 of my flat ironed hair and so far so good. I'm still enjoying straight, bouncy, sleek hair.
But of course there's a but.
I'm tired of flat, pin straight hair. I need some body.
So tonight I will be doing pin curls.
Friday, April 09, 2010
Flat Ironing - MOISTURE MOISTURE MOISTURE
8:21a
Yesterday I came across a post on LHCF about flat ironing and how to achieve that fresh from the salon look at home yourself.
Since becoming texlaxed, straightening my hair has been harder than ever but a technique I learned last night revolutionalized the way I will flat iron my hair from now on.
It's all about moisture. But the thing that was stressed was to NOT add any products to freshly washed hair.
Why?
Because that weighs it down and causes buildup on the hair causing a limp (and for me a hot greasy mess) less than stellar flat iron.
So how does moisture work if I'm not adding any moisturizing products BEFORE I flat iron?
The trick is in the deep conditioning step. I followed this youtube video about deep conditioning to a T. I even added the mayo. Then I watched this video on flat ironing, which didn't help me with my technique but it really provided excellent step by step instructions.
I saturated my strands with coconut oil and let that sit for about 20 minutes. I made a concoction of Aussie Moist, Hollywood Beauty Olive Cholesterol, 100% Aloe Vera Juice, Olive Oil, mayo, honey and a squeeze Aussie Deeeeep and left that on for close to an hour.
In the shower I washed the deep conditioner out with a moisturizing shampoo (Hello Hydration Shampoo) and then added Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner and covered with a shower cap for about 15 minutes.
When I washed out the conditioner, my hair was soft and extremely silky. I dried using the t-shirt method. After my hair was semi dry I added my blow drying heat protectant and blow dried in small sections. After my hair was dry, I added my Tressemee heat protectant and let it soak in before I flat ironed.
The trick with getting a really good flat iron is to take really small sections. I only required 1 to 2 passes for each section and my hair was silky, shiny and straight.
I slept with my hair wrapped in a silk scarf and a bonnett. This morning I put an extremely small amount of shine serum on my hair. My hair is bouncy, silky, soft and so smooth. I will be using this method from now on when I flat iron.
Yesterday I came across a post on LHCF about flat ironing and how to achieve that fresh from the salon look at home yourself.
Since becoming texlaxed, straightening my hair has been harder than ever but a technique I learned last night revolutionalized the way I will flat iron my hair from now on.
It's all about moisture. But the thing that was stressed was to NOT add any products to freshly washed hair.
Why?
Because that weighs it down and causes buildup on the hair causing a limp (and for me a hot greasy mess) less than stellar flat iron.
So how does moisture work if I'm not adding any moisturizing products BEFORE I flat iron?
The trick is in the deep conditioning step. I followed this youtube video about deep conditioning to a T. I even added the mayo. Then I watched this video on flat ironing, which didn't help me with my technique but it really provided excellent step by step instructions.
I saturated my strands with coconut oil and let that sit for about 20 minutes. I made a concoction of Aussie Moist, Hollywood Beauty Olive Cholesterol, 100% Aloe Vera Juice, Olive Oil, mayo, honey and a squeeze Aussie Deeeeep and left that on for close to an hour.
In the shower I washed the deep conditioner out with a moisturizing shampoo (Hello Hydration Shampoo) and then added Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Conditioner and covered with a shower cap for about 15 minutes.
When I washed out the conditioner, my hair was soft and extremely silky. I dried using the t-shirt method. After my hair was semi dry I added my blow drying heat protectant and blow dried in small sections. After my hair was dry, I added my Tressemee heat protectant and let it soak in before I flat ironed.
The trick with getting a really good flat iron is to take really small sections. I only required 1 to 2 passes for each section and my hair was silky, shiny and straight.
I slept with my hair wrapped in a silk scarf and a bonnett. This morning I put an extremely small amount of shine serum on my hair. My hair is bouncy, silky, soft and so smooth. I will be using this method from now on when I flat iron.
Shot of the back. More accurate picture of length. Silky, smooth and bouncy
My hair feels fabulous!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wash and Flat Iron
8:51a
Sunday Wash day - Washed with V05 clarifying shampoo, did an in shower deep condition with my cholesterol mix. Attempted a twist out which was a major fail.
Monday REwash day - Since the twist out was a severe fail, I decided to wash and start over. I wiped the slate clean by deep conditioning (really a cowash with deep conditioner because I left it on for less than 10 minutes) using my cholesterol mix: Hollywood Olive Cholesterol Deep Conditioning Creme, ORS and olive oil. That was a really great mixture that I will be using again.
I let my hair air dry with my moisturizer on (Elasta QP H-Two leave in, Lacio Lacio and coconut oil to seal). Once my hair was fully dry, I used the Smooth 'N Shine Polishing Silk Style Iron Styler and because I'm paranoid, I also sprayed on the Tressemme Heat Protectant as an extra precaution. I let those soak into my hair (a tip I learned recently) and I flat ironed with really low heat. I was scared.
My hair came out really moisturized and straight.
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Sunday Wash day - Washed with V05 clarifying shampoo, did an in shower deep condition with my cholesterol mix. Attempted a twist out which was a major fail.
Monday REwash day - Since the twist out was a severe fail, I decided to wash and start over. I wiped the slate clean by deep conditioning (really a cowash with deep conditioner because I left it on for less than 10 minutes) using my cholesterol mix: Hollywood Olive Cholesterol Deep Conditioning Creme, ORS and olive oil. That was a really great mixture that I will be using again.
I let my hair air dry with my moisturizer on (Elasta QP H-Two leave in, Lacio Lacio and coconut oil to seal). Once my hair was fully dry, I used the Smooth 'N Shine Polishing Silk Style Iron Styler and because I'm paranoid, I also sprayed on the Tressemme Heat Protectant as an extra precaution. I let those soak into my hair (a tip I learned recently) and I flat ironed with really low heat. I was scared.
My hair came out really moisturized and straight.
.JPG)
Side view of hair.
I did a middle part but after seeing this photo and how large my forehead looks, I quicky gave myself a part and side bangs!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
REVIEW: Smooth 'N Shine Polishing Silk Style Iron Styler - Heat Protect
9:24a
I was perusing the aisles at my local Target and I came across this product. I was pretty intrigued since I had been flatironing alot (big NO-NO...and I paid for it dearly).
It claims: Smooth 'N Shine Polishing Silk Style Iron Styler is a heat activated styler that protects hair from dehydration and damage.
Leaves hair smooth and shiny!
My finds: I like this product. The consistency is neither runny nor thick, and it covers hair easily with out having to use too much. I found that it did leave my hair both silky and shiny (and my girls hair - I used it to blow out their hair). I have become pretty paranoid (though one cannot tell!) about heat and I doubled up on the heat protectant, opting to use another heat protectant over this one.
It cost about $3 and was worth it. I make sure to use this when blow drying and flat ironing along with another heat protectant.
Ingredients: AQUA (WATER), GLYCERIN, CETEARYL ALCOHOL, BEHENTRIMONIUM METHOSULFATE, SILK AMINO ACIDS, PANTHENOL, HYDROXYPROPYL BIS-HYDROXYETHYLDIMONIUM CHLORIDE, POLYQUARTERNIUM-11, AMINOPROPYL DIMETHICONE, AMODIMETHICONE, HYDROLYZED WHEAT PROTEIN, LACTIC ACID, HYDROXIPROPYLCELLULOSE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, OCTOXYNOL-40, ISOLAURETH-6, METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE, MRTHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE, PARFUM (FRAGRANCE, LINALOOL, HEXYLCINNAMAL, CITRONELLOL, BUTYLPHENYL METHYLPROPIONAL, CI 17200 (RED 33).
I was perusing the aisles at my local Target and I came across this product. I was pretty intrigued since I had been flatironing alot (big NO-NO...and I paid for it dearly).
It claims: Smooth 'N Shine Polishing Silk Style Iron Styler is a heat activated styler that protects hair from dehydration and damage.
Leaves hair smooth and shiny!
My finds: I like this product. The consistency is neither runny nor thick, and it covers hair easily with out having to use too much. I found that it did leave my hair both silky and shiny (and my girls hair - I used it to blow out their hair). I have become pretty paranoid (though one cannot tell!) about heat and I doubled up on the heat protectant, opting to use another heat protectant over this one.
It cost about $3 and was worth it. I make sure to use this when blow drying and flat ironing along with another heat protectant.
Ingredients: AQUA (WATER), GLYCERIN, CETEARYL ALCOHOL, BEHENTRIMONIUM METHOSULFATE, SILK AMINO ACIDS, PANTHENOL, HYDROXYPROPYL BIS-HYDROXYETHYLDIMONIUM CHLORIDE, POLYQUARTERNIUM-11, AMINOPROPYL DIMETHICONE, AMODIMETHICONE, HYDROLYZED WHEAT PROTEIN, LACTIC ACID, HYDROXIPROPYLCELLULOSE, BUTYLENE GLYCOL, OCTOXYNOL-40, ISOLAURETH-6, METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE, MRTHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE, PARFUM (FRAGRANCE, LINALOOL, HEXYLCINNAMAL, CITRONELLOL, BUTYLPHENYL METHYLPROPIONAL, CI 17200 (RED 33).
Not sure what all that means or if there was anything I should stay away from in it, but I noticed the silk amino acids and wheat protein first when I read the ingredients. Those two ingredients made me purchase it.
Overall, this product was a good buy. I will continue to use.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Flat Iron Results
2:04p
After I deep conditioned my hair, I rinsed and shampooed with a small bit of ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo then followed up with HE HH. My hair felt great and I proceeded to try to attempt a version of the roller wrap. I grabbed a section from the middle and put them on rollers, then I blow dried the hair left all around the middle section. I realized soon enough that it wasnt going to work so I took out the rollers and blow dried all of my hair. I did use a heat protectant, Elasta QP H Two leave in and LTR leave in, with a bit of castor oil to seal it all in.
I flat ironed using my ceramic flat iron and the results were AMAZING. See for yourself:
After I deep conditioned my hair, I rinsed and shampooed with a small bit of ORS Creamy Aloe Shampoo then followed up with HE HH. My hair felt great and I proceeded to try to attempt a version of the roller wrap. I grabbed a section from the middle and put them on rollers, then I blow dried the hair left all around the middle section. I realized soon enough that it wasnt going to work so I took out the rollers and blow dried all of my hair. I did use a heat protectant, Elasta QP H Two leave in and LTR leave in, with a bit of castor oil to seal it all in.
I flat ironed using my ceramic flat iron and the results were AMAZING. See for yourself:
Ok maybe you are unable to tell from these pictures, but trust my hair is great. I have never achieved these results at home. A few weeks ago, when my cut was brand new, I was frantic because I didn't know how to style my hair. I think my problem is solved.
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