Heatless straightening? For CURLY hair!

[Wotanstochter]

Hi Ladies!:o

I'm new here! Nice to meet you all!

I'm a curly head (3b). I'm trying to grow my hair but since I used to straighten it with the hairdryer, it is quite damaged and it keeps breaking when it reaches my armpits more or less.:mad:

My problem is that I really don't like myself with curls (especially when they are so short, cause the are too voluminous). But I really want long hair and so I must stop using heat.:rolleyes:

Has any of you any "secret" for straightenig the hair without heat??

Lately I let it dry in a low tail, and it becomes very straight on the top but behind the neck is just curly and messy.

Do you have any other method? I'm desperate!!!shudder:

[OhSuzi]

As wavy whurly whos hair could go in either direction, my suggestions may or may not work for an intenese curly.

Whilst hair dryers on high heat arent great, you could try using the hair dryer on on cold.
If I want straighter hair I stick heat protecty frizz ease oil in it just 1 or two squirts & rub into hair esp on the ends.
Clip it up and dry it on Cold section by section, starting at nape & working way up & around to the sides & the crown & then the front. Drying in the direction of my hair & brushing very gently & pulling it straight gently in the direction I want my hair to lie with either my fingers or a wide toothed comb - so I don't get too many tangles & im not ripping or strethcing my hair too much like you might with a narrow comb.
Takes ages but it does make my hair straight & shiny as the hair follicles are closed & lying in the right direction by the cold air.

& then I run 1 more small blob of hair frizz ease type oil stuff through my hair now its dry - pretty light handed with the stuff though or it can just make your hair look greasy.

Its a very soft version of straight hair - and if it rains / gets too steamy - If I do sweaty exercise then some wavyness is going to start to come back.
It would be even flatter straighter and shinier if I went over it with the straightners - but then you're applying heat & defo gonna end up damaging your hair!


Im sure some real super curlys may have better techniques.


You could try embracing your curls? I love the curlyness in my hair & prefer it on the curly days to the straight wavy days - many straight hairs covet your curliness too & I personally always think what you had naturally colour & thickness & wave pattern wise tends to suit a person better than anything they try to force upon thieir hair.

Short voluminous curls sound super lovely to me.

[Simsy]

Welcome aboard, pleasure to meet you. :wave:

So the trick with curls is to get them before they are dry...since your main problem with your curls seems to be the length, all we need to do is get you to a length that they start to behave a bit better for you. You have a few options and I’m actually going to suggest something a little counterproductive, heartless curling.

One of my biggest problems with my curls was that they never dried in the same pattern twice at shorter lengths. So by using a heartless or overnight curling method, what you get is nice, even curls/waves that lay nice against each other. I’m a fan of braid waves myself, French of Dutch braid for all over waves; or just English braid for gentle waves at the bottom. The more braids you do, the small the wave.

The headband method is another really good option, wrap a soft headband or length of fabric around your head, and wrap your hair around it in sections. Result is pretty, “beach” waves that look really nice. Give YouTube a shot for more options, most will suggest lightly dampening your hair so the styles sets better. How damp you need to be is entirely up to you; and you will need to experiment a bit.

[lithostoic]

You could wrap it around your head. Best to do this wet.

[AutobotsAttack]

You could wrap it around your head. Best to do this wet.

I was going to suggest this too.

A lot of ladies with my hair texture either dry or wet wrap to get it reasonably straight. Preferably wet wrap. If you (OP), can get your length all the way up, and secure it with some clips or bobby pins it should fair up in the morning when you take it down. Maybe put a light serum on the middle areas and ends to keep it from reverting?

[*Wednesday*]

Have you thought about entering a new relationship with your curls? I know it’s hard and we with textured hair are trying to “fight the power.” It backfires with hair breakage and you lose length at some point.

There are a lot of products for defining curls and making them “pop.” Have you considered?

[Hairkay]

I have heard of people doing a roller set on wet hair then when that's dry they wrap the hair around the head to "set" for a while. Others have tried African threading.

[Wotanstochter]

Thank you for all your responses!
I'm gonna try with wrapping the hair around my head and let it dry.. will see what happens!
I just want to avoid any damages and let it grow!

[tangocurl]

You could wrap it around your head. Best to do this wet.

I agree. I used to do this before my hair got long enough for me to like the way it hangs.

Drying it in low pigtails also helps relax it into waves, and because the hair is divided into two sections, each section dries a bit faster than a single segmented ponytail or braid. I also find this helps preserve a bit of body at the top of the head (you can pin it into place with Bobby pins first) and keeps the hair from collecting in a mullet shape (some curly hair tends to do that, especially if the front is a bit shorter/thinner/more fragile).

[tangocurl]

Have you thought about entering a new relationship with your curls? I know it’s hard and we with textured hair are trying to “fight the power.” It backfires with hair breakage and you lose length at some point.

There are a lot of products for defining curls and making them “pop.” Have you considered?

Good advice too — I couldn’t accept my curls until they hit at least APL and worked with me not against me!!

[AceOfCurls]

If you want permanently straight hair without the damaging effects of heat, I would suggest henna'ing your hair. I have 3B hair and henna completely straightened it (Though it does take multiple applications over a period of a few months). But if not, I'd also suggest coming to terms with your curls and trying to work with them. When I was regrowing my hair out curly, I found pretty decent products that made my short curly hair amazing.

[Harini]

Not a curlie so I haven't tried this, it's just a theory based on what you said.
If putting it into a low pony makes the pony-ed part straight, maybe try putting into the low pony and every 1.5-2" or so doing another hair tie so maybe it'll come out as soft waves? It wouldn't be stick straight but I think it would be much looser than your current texture.
Just an idea. Good luck!!

[FrayedFire]

A rope braid might work until it's almost dry, and then brushing it as the last of it dries so it's straight?

[proo]

30 second wrap, no pins:
Comb hair down all around cousin itt style
Put hairnet on lunch lady style
Swirl/wrap hair around head, tucking it into the hairnet as you go until all ends are tucked.
Twirl hairnet around head a couple times to tighten.
Put on close fitting lightweight cap, again twirling it a couple of times in direction of wrap
Leave on for desired stretch
This is done on dry hair

[tangocurl]

If you want permanently straight hair without the damaging effects of heat, I would suggest henna'ing your hair. I have 3B hair and henna completely straightened it (Though it does take multiple applications over a period of a few months). But if not, I'd also suggest coming to terms with your curls and trying to work with them. When I was regrowing my hair out curly, I found pretty decent products that made my short curly hair amazing.


About how many applications got your hair straight? If you recall :-)

[curlily]

The other day, I braided my damp hair (which had leave-in and a little mousse, for staying power) into a low side braid. The result was that the top was straight and shiny, and the bottom came out in loose waves. It looked like a lot more length than usual!

[LadyCelestina]

Going to be brutally honest: long curls are such a hassle on their own that I think you'd be better off just learning to like your hair curly.

Not to mention that even the gentlest straightening methods can be damaging over time, due to manipulation and stretching.

The other option is getting it permanently straightened (keratin treatments and the like.)

[LadyCelestina]

btw, I looked at your routine - have you heard about the curly girl method? it's a good starting point for curlies and wavies learning to work with their hair, and there is a pretty good summary on wiki.

[AceOfCurls]

About how many applications got your hair straight? If you recall :-)

I think I did about 10 applications over three months.

[amiraaah]

my mom used a certain method and it works.i saw a youtuber doing it too so here is it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWHG4m16rCM
i hope it works for you:love:

[Wotanstochter]

I think I did about 10 applications over three months.


Did you use neutral henna (Cassia) or coloring henna?
I ask cause I dye my hair with henna (a mix of Indigo, Lawsonia ,Amla, Bhringara and Neem) every three weeks more or less.

Could you be more specific please? :o

[AceOfCurls]

I used the coloring henna so the red raj or jamila henna. I used it once a week for about 6 weeks then every other week until it was straight. BUT It is permanent so the grow out process was hard. I would not recommend it unless you are serious about having straight hair. It's my one regret in my hair journey. If you change your mind, you'll have to regrow out your hair and having curly roots and straight hair is a bitch. My hair was uncomfortable and I struggled a lot until about this year when it finally reached waist and it started looking beautiful. Having 3b hair is a struggle. I completely understand what you are going through and all I have to say is it's very hard especially in Germany. I lived in Berlin and man was it hard finding hair products that worked with my hair. Do you find that you have that same problem?

[tangocurl]

I think I did about 10 applications over three months.

Thank you; interesting! I think that would be too dark for me and I’m satisfied with where I am now, but it’s a good metric to know.