The question how to straighten natural hair is of concern to many women. Fortunately, today there are many ways to achieve the hairstyle of your dream.
In this article, I have collected the most popular and effective ways of straightening natural hair. You will learn how to straighten natural hair without heat or with it, how to straighten natural black hair, how to straighten natural short hair and many other secrets.
Contents
Method 1. Hair Relaxer
Hair relaxer is a type of a strong cream or lotion, aimed at permanent straightening of a particularly thick, very curly and tangled hair. It is one of the best ways to straighten black natural hair of the so-called Afro-American type because of the capability to alter their structure and make them less elastic.
Hair relaxer composition can include sodium hydroxide or ammonium thioglycolate. These active substances influence hair shape. People whose hair has an elliptical shape, are the owners of very tight curls. Hair relaxers change hair shape to round and thanks to that it becomes straight.
The advantages of this method include:
- Rapidity. Hair relaxers are kept on hair no more than a half an hour, and that is enough to make hair straight.
- Almost 100% efficiency. The compositions manage to cope even with thick and frizzy curls. Those who want to straighten natural black hair without heat (which doesn’t provide a good result each time), it’s a win-win method.
- Long-lasting results. After hair relaxer, strands remain perfectly straight, until roots grow, that is, in a period of 8-10 weeks. Then, you should repeat the procedure, but the composition should be applied to the regrown areas only.
However, hair relaxers have a few rather serious drawbacks:
- A high risk of scalp burns and poisoning with aggressive chemicals.
- A hazard of serious damage to hair including partial alopecia.
- The need for careful preparation for the procedure and long hair recovery after straightening.
Despite the shortcomings, this method attracts those who want to straighten naturally curly hair without heat. Today, instead of applying hair relaxer some professionals offer more gentle and safe molecular straightening.
Method 2. Blow Dryers and Combs
The use of a hair dryer and a comb is suitable for those who wish to straighten natural hair without chemicals and in a relatively safe way.
This method is one of the oldest and well-known, and there is hardly a girl who has never tried it. For straightening, you will need only three tools – a hair dryer, a round brush and a flat brush. The procedure is performed in several stages:
- wash the hair with a shampoo, apply some hair balm;
- comb the hair and apply some styling mousse for the strands evenly;
- divide hair into strands, fix them with hairclips, releasing them one by one within the styling;
- twist your hair over a round brush and slowly pull it out from roots to ends. Direct a jet of air from the hair dryer, following the movement of the brush. Repeat 4 or 5 times with each strand;
- carefully brush all strands with a flat comb, fix the styling with hairspray if necessary.
The advantages of this method are the following:
- safe with the correctly selected temperature of the air jet made by the dryer;
- low cost of the procedure as a whole;
- an easy styling.
Among the disadvantages are:
- low efficiency on frizzy curly hair;
- short-lasting results;
- a risk to overdry the hair with too frequent use;
- the duration of styling.
The use of a hair dryer is optimal for those who would like to straighten natural hair without a flat iron at home. The method is also great for a short curly hair.
Method 3. Flat Iron
A flat iron is one of the most popular tools for hair straightening. The device has two plates that are heated to a certain temperature and smooth each hair strand like an iron. Those who decided to straighten natural hair with a flat iron, face a rather difficult choice, because today there are a lot of models introduced at the market. The main criteria for choosing a flat iron are the following:
- Materials for the plates. They can be metal and ceramic, tourmaline, titanium, tungsten or Teflon-coated. Most ceramic and tourmaline flat irons have the function of ionization, comfortable and safe when using at home. Models with plates of tungsten and Teflon coating are the most expensive and effective, compatible with styling products, and are usually used by professionals in salons.
- Width and shape of the plates. The denser and thicker the hair is, the larger width the plates should have. If you want perfectly straight hair, choose a rectangular pad. Strands curled at the tips are obtained by using plated with rounded edges.
- The gap between the plates. The hair is effectively straightened if there is no gap at all. The maximum distance between the plates is no more than 2 mm.
The use of the flat has a lot of PROS:
- convenience of use;
- beautiful, smooth and shiny strands throughout all the length;
- quick results;
- safety when using quality tools;
- high efficiency. Expensive professional devices can even help to straighten natural black hair without chemicals.
If you cannot decide which flat iron to buy, I recommend examining CHI hair straightener.
The disadvantages of a flat iron include the risk of hair overdrying or getting split ends. It is therefore important to apply moisturizing products for the hair with regular use of the tool.
Method 4. Straightening Brush
A brush for straightening hair is a great alternative to a flat iron. Its form and size resemble a regular brush. However, due to the special heating element, it provides the heating and hair straightening. Bristles and base of these brushes have a ceramic or tourmaline coating which ensures the safety and smoothing the strands thanks to the influence of ion technology.
There are a lot of reasons to consider a straightening brush to be the most effective and convenient method. The PROS include:
- result in just 10 minutes;
- beautiful straight shiny hair;
- the impossibility of entanglement;
- protection from burns;
- removal of static electricity;
- compact and easy to use.
Among the few CONTRAS are the following:
- low efficiency at very frizzy and extremely curly hair;
- the complexity of the optimal temperature selection;
- the inability to use a hair protecting, moisturizing or styling products during straightening.
Method 5. Natural Ways
Both hair relaxers and hot tools have one common serious drawback as the risk of damaging your hair. If you want to straighten natural hair without heat damage or chemicals, you should try some safe methods. They include the use of components created by nature, which gently affect the structure of the hair, gently straighten it carefully, and nourish it with vitamins, giving it beautiful natural shine. The most effective hair straightening components are the following:
If you want to straighten natural hair without heat damage or chemicals, you should try some safe methods. They include the use of components created by nature, which gently affect the structure of the hair, straighten it carefully, and nourish it with vitamins, giving it beautiful natural shine. The most effective hair straightening components are the following:
- Natural oils. Olive, castor, burdock, and almond oil are especially good for you hair. They make strands rather straight, smooth and shiny. The oils are also safe enough to straighten kids natural hair if it is damaged and tangled.
- Herbal rinse. If you regularly rinse the hair with chamomile, burdock, and nettle decoctions, you’ll see the result within two weeks.
- A mixture of apple cider vinegar, almond oil, and lemon juice. Use it as a conditioner after every shampooing. You don’t need to wash the mixture off after the application.
- Gelatin mask. Mix gelatin with water and some hair balm suitable for your type of hair, and apply the mixture on your hair avoiding the roots. Soak it for an hour, and then rinse your hair with warm water. The result is perfectly smooth healthy shining locks without frizzing or tangling.
As you can see there are a lot of ways to straighten your hair. Both fans of gentle ways and the supporters of radical methods can find means that will be good for them. So, which method of hair straightening seems to be the perfect one for you?
