Air dry/flat iron

shtow

Well-Known Member
I have seen a lot of videos with some ladies with beautiful hair who air dry over night and flat iron in the morning. I'm pretty sure their hair is not completely dry in the AM based on the length and thickness (from the videos and pics I have seen). What are the pro's and cons of this? Any ladies who do this care to discuss? I'm thinking of trying it out.

Opinions please :grin:
 

tiffers

Whisper "bleep boop" to yourself when you're sad.
I did this the last time I flat ironed. Well, it wasn't overnight, it was two days later. The results were really nice!

Shtow, you look so purdy in your siggy! Your hair looks great! Have you tried the Kenra Platinum Shea Butter Reconstructor yet? :D
 

Simply_Kelz

New Member
I used to do this, however, I prefer to blowdry first just so I can get it relatively straight, and speed through the flatiron process.

Pros- Less heat. I retained alot of length doing this.

Cons-More time flatironing. I'm impatient and like to get it all of out of the way at once.
 

shtow

Well-Known Member
I did this the last time I flat ironed. Well, it wasn't overnight, it was two days later. The results were really nice!

Shtow, you look so purdy in your siggy! Your hair looks great! Have you tried the Kenra Platinum Shea Butter Reconstructor yet? :D

Hmmm I have read on here some people say your hair will be dry because your hair preserves the most moisture on wash day. But I'm thinking that since my hair takes forever to dry, it will be more moisturized the next day in comparison to blow drying. Did your hair still feel moisturized, and for how many days?

And thank you on the purdy comment :yep:. I love your infiniti bun and new color! Wish I could bun like that! Im so lazy I rock the clear girl buns I just throw the hair up any ol' kind of way! :lachen: I have not tried the reconstructor yet. Is it still working for you? I was scared it was gona do me like Kenra MC does me and work sometimes and just sit there other times:lachen:. I surprisingly haven't tried any new products in hot minute (=a month on LHCF:lachen:), Im too busy eying that PM flat iron:drunk:
 

shtow

Well-Known Member
I used to do this, however, I prefer to blowdry first just so I can get it relatively straight, and speed through the flatiron process.

Pros- Less heat. I retained alot of length doing this.

Cons-More time flatironing. I'm impatient and like to get it all of out of the way at once.

I have come to the conclusion that I have no BIDNESS blow drying since my hair is bonelaxed and dries straight as all get out (it just takes forever and a day). Rollersetting is out of the question, been there, done that. My new blow dryer does not dry my hair out and since switching to it my breakage is pretty close to zero. But we could alll use more lenght retention lol
 

Soliel185

New Member
I airdry overnight. How dry the hair gets depends on what style you put it in to dry.

I do it b/c I'm laaaazy and 16+ months post. After I DC, detangle, rinse, add products and then re-detangle section by section I'm exhausted. :lachen:

I do it in two low pigtail/buns b/c my crown and the center of my head us usually in the middle of a regular bun, so it takes forever to dry. If you don't have anywhere to go the next day, you can do more sections and expose more of your scalp overnight to get it drier.

The next day my hair is 90% dry, and already pretty straight because it was stretched overnight. It's also tangle free. I go through in large sections, making sure it's detangled, and then I'll either hit the roots with a paddle brush, or comb through it with the blow dryer for a few seconds. This isn't necessary (unless the roots are still really damp), but it makes getting the roots straight easier, and it makes sure my hair is fully stretched, so I only have to go over ea section once with the flatiron to get it straight.

ETA - I flatiron usually at the end of the next day. I usually wake-up, go about my business, and then finish when I get home, or I wait to do it until the day before I have off so I can take my time.
 

shtow

Well-Known Member
I airdry overnight. How dry the hair gets depends on what style you put it in to dry.

I do it b/c I'm laaaazy and 16+ months post. After I DC, detangle, rinse, add products and then re-detangle section by section I'm exhausted. :lachen:

I do it in two low pigtail/buns b/c my crown and the center of my head us usually in the middle of a regular bun, so it takes forever to dry. If you don't have anywhere to go the next day, you can do more sections and expose more of your scalp overnight to get it drier.

The next day my hair is 90% dry, and already pretty straight because it was stretched overnight. It's also tangle free. I go through in large sections, making sure it's detangled, and then I'll either hit the roots with a paddle brush, or comb through it with the blow dryer for a few seconds. This isn't necessary (unless the roots are still really damp), but it makes getting the roots straight easier, and it makes sure my hair is fully stretched, so I only have to go over ea section once with the flatiron to get it straight.

ETA - I flatiron usually at the end of the next day. I usually wake-up, go about my business, and then finish when I get home, or I wait to do it until the day before I have off so I can take my time.

My crown and middle take forever to dry too. Im thinking I may do 4-6 ponytails overnight :yep:. You and your hair are very pretty!
 

ajacks

Well-Known Member
Air drying and then flat ironing left my ends a raggedy mess. I wonder what I am doing wrong.
 

CHECKMATE!

New Member
I air dry overnight and flat iron the follwing day as well :yep: I find that it leaves my hair much thicker than roller setting...I really only flat iron the ends for straightness :yep:
 

Ivonnovi

Well-Known Member
OP, (shtow) thanks for the Thread;
Soliel185 I agree with your method;
I prefer to AirDry too. I acutlly got scared into it from reading a post about how we can damage our hair by improper use of the blow dryer. ( know I was guilty using of excessive heat here, and it not being dry enough there)

With that said. I wash & Dry in sections. I even flat iron most of the length and ends before taking the sections down to smooth the whole shaft.

I feel my hair is healthier as a result of avoiding heat this way.
 
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vainღ♥♡jane

ღ♥♡honey chile♡♥ღ
i had to stop air drying before flatironing. it was ruining my ends, and i noticed more breakage when i did that. now i rollerset and just flatiron my roots. my hair likes that much better. i'm still afraid of the blowdryer but i'm thinking of getting one because i don't want to do rollersets all the time. i'm too impatient lol.
 

leona2025

Well-Known Member
When I flat iron this is what I do, but it's mainly cause I'm lazy, lol. I put the blow dryer down 2 years ago and I haven't use it since. My hair dries faster hanging straight down.
 

RadiantBeauty

New Member
Hmmm I have read on here some people say your hair will be dry because your hair preserves the most moisture on wash day. But I'm thinking that since my hair takes forever to dry, it will be more moisturized the next day in comparison to blow drying. Did your hair still feel moisturized, and for how many days?

And thank you on the purdy comment :yep:. I love your infiniti bun and new color! Wish I could bun like that! Im so lazy I rock the clear girl buns I just throw the hair up any ol' kind of way! :lachen: I have not tried the reconstructor yet. Is it still working for you? I was scared it was gona do me like Kenra MC does me and work sometimes and just sit there other times:lachen:. I surprisingly haven't tried any new products in hot minute (=a month on LHCF:lachen:), Im too busy eying that PM flat iron:drunk:

You betta go get that flat iron! :poke: Lol! :lachen:
 

fyb87

New Member
When I flat-iron I co-wash my hair in the morning and part my hair in the middle and put it in two pigtails and then braid. I usually do this on Saturday. Then I do all my chores and errands. If it's Summer/Spring I will also sit in the backyard with my dogs and read a book and it will dry in a couple hours. If not it's usually dry around 7pm-8pm. Then I will flat iron. I will only use one heat source on my hair. Following that method has kept my hair healthy. Also, since I've gotten it healthy (basically since I've been natural), straighten only a few times a year and only use the ceramic ionic flat-iron I don't use any heat protectant, styler or shine/sheen product. It will look like I used something but, I didn't. I love it. I always had to use a serum or pommade to get shine when I was relaxed.
 

MsBoinglicious

Well-Known Member
I put my hair in bantu knots and let them airdry over night. When i bantu knot, twiring the hair and wrapping around itself, it makes my ends SUPER straight. i can never get them that straight with a blow dryer. the pics in my siggy are air dried hair results (i flatiron in the morning). I like this method better than rollersetting as well.

ETA: i use Tressemme heat protectant.
 

shtow

Well-Known Member
I put my hair in bantu knots and let them airdry over night. When i bantu knot, twiring the hair and wrapping around itself, it makes my ends SUPER straight. i can never get them that straight with a blow dryer. the pics in my siggy are air dried hair results (i flatiron in the morning). I like this method better than rollersetting as well.

ETA: i use Tressemme heat protectant.

lol your lucky. If I put my hair in bantu knots it would still be soaked in the am :lachen:
 

MsBoinglicious

Well-Known Member
lol your lucky. If I put my hair in bantu knots it would still be soaked in the am :lachen:


lol oh trust and believe my hair holds water like crazy! each bantu knot i ring out and blot with a paper towel or a terri cloth type towel. i don't bantu on dripping wet hair (it would take a week to dry). the hair is damp. and i will maybe sit in front of the fan and watch a movie to get the hair drying before i go to bed.
 

Ivonnovi

Well-Known Member
I'm very lazy and my hair goes limp really fast. With that said, I rarely use a heat protectant, I've tried Chi's; I mostly just spray an Oil Sheen on my hair and brush through before flatironing. I like thr results with the oil sheen better.

To everyone who has posted: what heat protectant are you using? Sabino?
 

Tylove101

New Member
Air drying and then flat ironing left my ends a raggedy mess. I wonder what I am doing wrong.
hmmmm... it was total opposite for me.... air drying and then flat ironing left my ends perfectly straight but if I blow dry first then flat iron :nono: my ends are a hot mess and my hair don't get as straight and silky as when I let it air dry. Since I've started my journey in '07, I've only flat ironed twice... the first time was with blow dried hair and second time was air dried... My plans are to straighten again sometime this year and I'm going to try the air dry method again since it worked so good last time.
 

Traycee

New Member
I always air dry before flat ironing..I do it 2 ways ...Either air dry overnight ..I let my hair hang loose with a scarf tied just around the edges...Then in the morning I sit under a hooded dryer for 15 to 20 mins and make sure my roots are dry..

Or if I'm rushing and don't have time to airdry...I let my hair hang loose and dry my hair under a hooded dryer then flat iron...I gave away my blow dryer ..I don't use them at all and my hair is so much thicker because of that
 

TriniStarr

New Member
I air dry for the day and blow dry on warm to get my ends in order and lastly flat iron. Air drying for me and not blowing after doesnt work.
 
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