Flat Ironing (mixed hair)

princessdi

Active Member
Okay, for those of you who flat iron weekly, what do you do to your hair to keep it in good condition. I only flat iron 3 times per year but have a daughter, who is mixed and has very fine hair, who does it weekly and her hair seems to be suffering something terrible. I just had to cut off about 1 ½ inches of hair. She was not very happy. Her hair use to be BSL but now it’s more like APL and she really wants to get that length back and thicken up her hair.

She hasn’t been deep conditioning, so my plan is to put her on a weekly DC regime and try to get that moisture/protein balance down for her. Because she is mixed, she can’t use a lot of oils because her hair will become very oily. If the mixed chicks can respond as well and let me know what you do it will be greatly appreciated but comments from all you wonderful girls will be helpful.
 

LunadeMiel

Well-Known Member
People with fine hair (whether mixed or not) should take care not to flat iron at temps that are too high. Maybe your daughter could dry flat ironing less and at lower temps.
 

leiah

New Member
What type of hair does she have?

I'm mixed and I have fine 3A hair. I always thought I couldn't use oils, but now I use them daily; just a little bit on wet hair.
Flat ironing always destroyed my hair, but I'll admit I used a high temperature and nothing to protect my hair. I just completely gave up flat ironing and haven't done it in years so I don't know how to do it without causing damage

If she has big, loose curls, she may not need heat to get them straight. It doesn't give me the bone straight look, but if I put day old flat hair in a bun for a few hours, it gets relatively straight

Right now she probably needs protein. My hair loves the aphogee 2 min reconstructor.
 

Whimsy

Well-Known Member
She should try to ease up on the flatironing since her hair is so fine. (PS same goes for non-mixed fine haired folks)

try airdrying in rollers perhaps? or even under the hood/bonnet dryer?
 

CrownCola

New Member
I agree with your intent to do more deep conditioning and occasional protein treatments.
Have you tried roller setting, or any other methods of pre-straightening to easily cut down the heat? (or even eliminate the need)
Weekly heat usage is a lot of stress & will make more frequent trims inevitable (@ least in my case).

Sent from my T-Mobile G2
 

Fhrizzball

Well-Known Member
She can try rollersetting and just seran wrap, flat iron or blowdry her roots if she wants it sleeker.
 

blackpearl81

Well-Known Member
She should try doing a silk wrap...which is basically a rollerset and then a wrap under heat....I'm not too good at explaining things lol youtube is great! I've been doing it with the same results as flatironing, minus the damage
 
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Flawlis1

Well-Known Member
Like other ladies have mentioned, she should not be using a high temp setting. I'm not mixed, but my younger sister is(black/el salvadorian) and I tried flat ironing her hair once and her hair got singed, I used the same setting as I do on my relaxed hair which is 320 degrees, but that was too hot. A setting of 250 degrees would be more suitable for that hair type, and it's always best to flat iron in smaller sections to get a better straightening. Have your daughter lay off of the heat for about a month or so to give her hair a break. Use protein treatments (I prefer Aphogee) to help her strengthen her hair, and get life back into it.
 

cheryl26

New Member
i don't know if blow drying with a brush is as damaging as flat ironing but that's what i do sometimes and it gets my hair pretty straight. it's really fine and breaks easily, the flat iron burns off my ends even on medium heat. i'm not fond of oils either cause it makes my hair look nasty but tresemme makes nice conditioners. i use the one with the green leaf on it.
 

princessdi

Active Member
Thanks ladies. All of your responses have been really helpful. I'm going to try the silk wrap; hopefully that will keep the heat out of her hair. I'm not sure what hair type she is (I don't even know mine) but here is a pic of both of her hair natural (1st pic) and flat ironed (2nd pic - middle). The last pic is of her and her sister. What hair type would you say she is?




 

LunadeMiel

Well-Known Member
pricessdi it's hard to type her hair in the first pic because it looks like she has a lot of heat damage. Does she have any pics of her hair wet?
 

hola_lo2002

New Member
well, I think that your daughter will have to stay away from the flatiron for awhile. Instead, try to rollerset her hair to make it straighter if that's what she really wants.

Once her hair is back to a healthy state, you might want to try to heat train her hair if she wants to wear it straight all the time. To treat her hair, you should start with protein treatments alternating with deep conditionning combined with either steam or a hooded dryer.

You don't really need oils, just make sure her hair is well moisturised.
 

1QTPie

Elder Sim
I agree. A good rollerset will get her pretty straight. The she can wrap it. She can tap the roots with a flat iron, but I would suggest not getting into that habit because it's just going to continue the damage.

Make sure she deep conditions every time she washes and occasionally does some sort of light protein treatment.

Tell her to moisturize her ends constantly. Like the last 3-4 inches.

Your daughter is cute! :)
 

curlicarib

Lovin'' All of Me
To get my hair straight, after washing, I wet bun my hair the first day, combing it out and re-bunning at night to sleep. The next day my hair is pretty straight - not flatiron straight, but not curly either. As long as it's well mositurized, it looks shiny and healthy. Just make sure to super moisturize and oil the ends. Then be sure to smooth them and tuck them into the bun.

If she wants that flatironed look, the suggestions the other ladies have made are pretty much all work for me.
 

FlowerHair

Reclaiming my time
Flat ironing weekly will destroy the hair eventually, that's the sad truth - regardless of texture.

Roller setting might be better and sitting under a hood dryer.

The best thing is to braid it or twist it and keep it moisturized without straightening it every week. Once a month or so might be okay...

Good luck!
 

FlowerHair

Reclaiming my time
To get my hair straight, after washing, I wet bun my hair the first day, combing it out and re-bunning at night to sleep. The next day my hair is pretty straight - not flatiron straight, but not curly either. As long as it's well mositurized, it looks shiny and healthy. Just make sure to super moisturize and oil the ends. Then be sure to smooth them and tuck them into the bun.

If she wants that flatironed look, the suggestions the other ladies have made are pretty much all work for me.

That method works well for me too :yep:

This is what it looks like (pic attached) after combing it out and bunning it for a day or two. No heat required!!
 

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Vshanell

FKA Pokahontas
I'm not mixed but my hair is very fine. In it's straightened state I can't use much product either or it will get weighed down...I literally use like a drop of moisturizer or oil on each side lol. To get my hair straight I do silk wraps. http://public.fotki.com/Pokahontas/2010/my-silk-wrap-process/

They are time consuming but well worth it and don't require direct heat. Fine hair just can't take a lot of direct heat and flat ironing weekly would be too much for even normal strand ladies.

ETA....I also do what I call a ponytail wrap. It gets my hair semi-straight but not flat iron straight. I can imagine if you did the silk wrap method after the hair dries it would get much straighter but i haven't tried that yet.
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=468350
 
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rririla

New Member
I'm not mixed but my hair is very fine. In it's straightened state I can't use much product either or it will get weighed down...I literally use like a drop of moisturizer or oil on each side lol. To get my hair straight I do silk wraps. http://public.fotki.com/Pokahontas/2010/my-silk-wrap-process/

They are time consuming but well worth it and don't require direct heat. Fine hair just can't take a lot of direct heat and flat ironing weekly would be too much for even normal strand ladies.

ETA....I also do what I call a ponytail wrap. It gets my hair semi-straight but not flat iron straight. I can imagine if you did the silk wrap method after the hair dries it would get much straighter but i haven't tried that yet.
http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=468350
@OP....Don't mean to hijac this thread but I have a quick question which may benefit ur DD as well OP...LOL

pocahontas.....I tried to see how you do ur silk wraps but I am getting an access denied message when I click on the link....I was just wondering how you keep ur hair from sweating out and getting curly at the roots from the saran wrap....no matter how many minutes I try I still get curly roots I started at 15 minutes and have done a minimum of 5...all with similar results. Any suggestions would be appreciated...thanx in advance
 
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BostonMaria

Well-Known Member
Your daughter is very cute! Fine hair can't take flatironing like thicker hair can. I have two daughters, both mixed, and they have no problems with the flatiron so its not because your DD is mixed. She can most definitely achieve that straight look with just rollersets and doing a doobie to keep it straight. I would recommend deep conditioning and also hot oil treatments.

BTW Do you ever use Amla? Weekly Amla treatments has thickened up my DD's hair. I highly recommend that as well.
 

Vshanell

FKA Pokahontas
@OP....Don't mean to hijac this thread but I have a quick question which may benefit ur DD as well OP...LOL

@pocahontas.....I tried to see how you do ur silk wraps but I am getting an access denied message when I click on the link....I was just wondering how you keep ur hair from sweating out and getting curly at the roots from the saran wrap....no matter how many minutes I try I still get curly roots I started at 15 minutes and have done a minimum of 5...all with similar results. Any suggestions would be appreciated...thanx in advance
Sorry, I changed my fotki so you can view...I forgot I had it set so only fotki members can view.

I really don't do anything special for the silk wraps. I do ponytail sets to straighten the roots (have that in fotki) then for the silk wrap I just do one layer of saran wrap and sit under for 15-20 minutes. I don't sweat in my head so that could be the difference. Try doing ponytail sets so your roots get straighter. In the pics you will see my roots are crinkly before I do the saran part and after you will see how the saran smooths them out.
 

rririla

New Member
Sorry, I changed my fotki so you can view...I forgot I had it set so only fotki members can view.

I really don't do anything special for the silk wraps. I do ponytail sets to straighten the roots (have that in fotki) then for the silk wrap I just do one layer of saran wrap and sit under for 15-20 minutes. I don't sweat in my head so that could be the difference. Try doing ponytail sets so your roots get straighter. In the pics you will see my roots are crinkly before I do the saran part and after you will see how the saran smooths them out.


Thank you for letting me see your fotki, and I will give the ponytail roller sets a try.....unfortunately I sweat in my head a lot so I won't be able to do silk wraps....:nono:
 

kblc06

Well-Known Member
Thank you for letting me see your fotki, and I will give the ponytail roller sets a try.....unfortunately I sweat in my head a lot so I won't be able to do silk wraps....:nono:

rririlaI sweat in my head as well and to get the best silk wraps, I use 3-4 layers of saran wrap, making sure that my hair is not touching any part of my skin. I push the saran wrap to the very edge of my hairline. I then cover the saran with a doo-rag (BSS brand) making sure it is as flat as possible and sit under the dryer for no more than 10 minutes. The key to getting a good silk wrap is to make sure that it is secured tightly and there's no room for your hair to expand- if that makes sense.
 
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rririla

New Member
rririlaI sweat in my head as well and to get the best silk wraps, I use 3-4 layers of saran wrap, making sure that my hair is not touching any part of my skin. I push the saran wrap to the very edge of my hairline. I then cover the saran with a doo-rag (BSS brand) making sure it is as flat as possible and sit under the dryer for no more than 10 minutes. The key to getting a good silk wrap is to make sure that it is secured tightly and there's no room for your hair to expand- if that makes sense.

Omg! Thank u so much...I can't wait to try this out!!! I really hope it works for me because I would love to have straight hair without the flatironing! I will keep u posted! THANK U THANK U THANK U!
 
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