straightening help? questions/concerns

[dainaleeo2]

Ok, I've been around here & lurked long enough to know that most people on here don't advocate the use [or frequent use] of blow dryers or straighteners.
But, I'm...slightly in a crisis. My hair, which i just got cut to about...i'd say it's between jaw & shoulder, so that area, right above the collar. I haven't touched it with any kind of color in 2 months, & dont really plan on it either other than the occasional honey lightening. the ends are still a little thin, & a little dry/velcro-y, but then again they always will be since my hair is pretty fine.

However, it doesn't dry in any sort of manner that would make it nice to leave the house. i either need to try to scrunch or straighten. the scrunching looks odd since it's so short, so i wind up with a poofy afro type look, & if i straighten it looks good, but i know the ends are still dry & this isn't helping, even though i baby it.

i oil frequently, before i co-wash, & dry to deep condition as much as I can, or use protein so i dont over moisturize. its growing, but is straightening going to be the worst thing to ever do to it? i use copious amounts of heat protectant & other products to try to make sure its lessened, & oil the ends slightly after straightening [i dont straighten with the oil: i know thats horrible xD].
i just want to know if there are any people out there like me who have hair that just doesnt look nice naturally, & since i can't afford to have my hair always looking like an utter disaster, do you heat style? i wish i didnt have to but i wasn't born with nice hair :\
actually i was, but after so many years of dying/bleaching/heat styling...yea xD now i dont have nice hair.
i'm hoping once it grows out with my virgin color that'll help, since not coloring will minimize damage...i wish. i just don't know what to do.

[pepperminttea]

Not sure if it's possible for jaw-shoulder length, but hair-wrapping (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=514327&postcount=37) might be worth a try?

[HintOfMint]

There is a way to straighten without heat, it's called hair wrapping.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=51781

Maybe you also could blowdry on low heat or even cool instead of flat ironing? Since you seem to want it straight on a regular basis, I'd advise you to stay clear of flat irons. Normally I'm pretty chill about flat irons if they're only once in a while (heck I'm planning on using it in less than two weeks), but on a regular basis they're pretty much one of the most damaging things you can use, short of chemical treatments like perms.

[dainaleeo2]

I dont know how well hair wrapping would work, since my hair is basically about an inch, maybe an inch & a half, past my jaw. so it's not that long & from the looks of it you need a bit longer hair to do that. But, i might give it a try!

thanks for the help. i know its horrible, but i try to make it stretch, & don't do it every day. just maybe once or twice a week. sometimes i go longer & just scrunch it regardless.
my straightener is at least high quality, so its not the one you get for like 10 bucks, which i guess makes it a bit better. i know its still not awesome but i just really like it straight the best, & thats kind of the only thing i can do. i don't blow dry, since i let it air dry, but eh. :\

ETA:

actually, in response to both of you who suggested the wrap setting..i actually looked it up & started watching a ton of videos, & i think i can actually manage to do it! it looks really simple the more i look at it, & so i wanted to say thanks for the tip! it wouldnt hurt to give it a shot :)

[UltraBella]

I would recommend the hair wrapping or a Caruso Mollecular Hairsetter. The steam is non-damaging and you could use the smaller curlers for curling or the jumbo rollers for smoothing. The largest size worked for smoothing out my daughter's hair until it got to shoulder length.

[dainaleeo2]

I would recommend the hair wrapping or a Caruso Mollecular Hairsetter. The steam is non-damaging and you could use the smaller curlers for curling or the jumbo rollers for smoothing. The largest size worked for smoothing out my daughter's hair until it got to shoulder length.

I'm going to try the wrapping & see if that'll work. as long as it's even a bit smoother & actually looks as if you can define what type of hair i have, i'm set haha.
i'll look into those rollers as well. i generally don't curl my hair but i could use them for smoothing as you said. might have to wait on it though since money is short this month [ah the joys of being a broke college kid]. thanks for the advice!

[x0h_bother]

Blowfrying on a lower setting is always better for hair than flat irons. Unless you have my stubborn hair, in which case you can blowfry with a round brush all day and you get waves. (Hair dressers don't believe me, attempt to do a blow out, then they 'get it' and end up flat ironing after anyway.) But most people do just fine with a blow out. And also I wonder with your 1b/c hair if you would do well with gel. My friend has hair your length and she does the 'beachy' scrunched look with gel which gives her more polished waves. GL!

[KittyLost]

I did hair wrapping on my hair when it was about your length or maybe a bit shorter in a POB and it came out great. Straight with a bit of a flick and volumious :) I had a problem with the parting, I had to change it a bit to make it sit right but I wore it all day. I found the actual wrapping part difficult and someone suggested wrapping in two different directions to make the hair curl under but I couldn't master that and my hair grew enough for me to start tying it back so my experiment with wrapping ended. I only have pictures from my first attempt not properly brushed but I hope they are of some help to you :)

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b237/ValhallaVixen/LHC/NinjaMask1.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b237/ValhallaVixen/LHC/NinjaMask2.jpg

[dainaleeo2]

Wow that's awesome! & that is basically exactly where my hair is at. so it's good to know that it can work for shorter hair too! :)
your hair come out really super smooth looking & very straight. i'm impressed! wow! i'm going to try it today, since i'm about to take a shower, so i hope all goes well.

did you just leave it in the wrap overnight? or just all day? i might do both, depending on how long it takes to dry. i have a silk scarf too luckily so i've been watching videos on youtube of how they all tie it up :)
thanks for the pictures! i'm really amazed!


Blowfrying on a lower setting is always better for hair than flat irons. Unless you have my stubborn hair, in which case you can blowfry with a round brush all day and you get waves. (Hair dressers don't believe me, attempt to do a blow out, then they 'get it' and end up flat ironing after anyway.) But most people do just fine with a blow out. And also I wonder with your 1b/c hair if you would do well with gel. My friend has hair your length and she does the 'beachy' scrunched look with gel which gives her more polished waves. GL!

yea i can do the scrunchy waves with gel or mousse, but my hair is so short at the moment that it just ends up looking...kind of like Meg Ryan's hair, but shorter haha. its not a good look on me.
& i would try to do the blow drying with the brush, but i also have zero skill in that department. i guess i'll just flat iron as a rare occasion kind of deal, since the wrapping has really caught my attention. thanks for your input!

ETA:

ok, first wrap a success! or at least i'm hoping!
i was watching videos & saw a lot of those girls, mostly african american girls, using a boar bristle brush to smooth hair after they had used a wide toothed comb. i actually did that, just to smooth it, since my hair is quite short & wouldnt have wrapped nicely without its aid. i hope it isn't too terrible for the hair, since i of course know better than to brush when wet. it babied it as best as i could!

pre-oiled overnight using coconut oil, then shampooed with neutrogena gentle cream cleanser [sulfate free! i needed a good shampoo...its been a month of only co-washing], then some neutrogena deep daily conditioner + a bit of suave professionals almond & shea butter condish. :)
then put in some neutrogena split end mender, suave sleek anti-frizz cream, super skinny serum [thought it might help my hair dry a wee bit faster since i'm letting it air dry] & then a drop of jojoba oil on the ends.

here are some pictures after i wrapped it up & then into my nice silk scarf :) [forgive the quality: computer camera. & i just got out of the shower xD ]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/tHeo2BiZ/IMG00250.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v316/tHeo2BiZ/IMG00252.jpg

[KittyLost]

I left mine wrapped for a few hours :) It wasn't fully dry when I took it out but it was more or less dry. I didn't have a scarf or anything to wrap with to protect it while I slept so I took it out before bed.

Good luck with your results :)

[CrisDee]

I discovered that wrapping thread at the beginning of August, and now I'm totally addicted to it! I shower and CO my hair before bed every night, wrap it in a scarf like the girl in the video, and by morning, it's dry and smooth! My avatar is a good representation of the way it usually comes out.

[dainaleeo2]

@ Kitty: yea, i luckily found some scarfs, that i used to wear a la nicole richie, tied around my head, but when my hair was longer. good to know i kept them!
mine dried in a few hours, ish. i used some of that paul Mitchell super skinny serum since that helps it dry a bit faster.

@Cris: i know!! mine came out SUPER smooth & shiny, so soft i was amazed. my roommate had no idea that i had 'straightened' it this way. i was literally shocked.

though, for both of you since you have shorter hair, did you find that when you wrapped it, one side was a bit bent? i part my hair to my left, so i wrapped it around that way. my hair is short so it was harder to get the back hairs to come around & smooth down, but i realized that the right side had a bit of a weird...bend to it. since that was the part that was going up, i guess, it just seemed to stick up a bit more than the left side, to which i was wrapping. i did have to run the flat iron over that or else i would have this wack bend, but i guess it beats having to labor over it for a good half hour with the flat iron! :) much, much less damaging to run it over once than a million times haha.

[lundmir]

I'm very glad this technique worked so well for you! I am curious to try it, but my hair is stick straight already. So there wouldn't be an effect, haha.

[dainaleeo2]

I'm very glad this technique worked so well for you! I am curious to try it, but my hair is stick straight already. So there wouldn't be an effect, haha.

Well, might not hurt to try anyway! it added a lot of nice shine & softness for me, dunno why, but maybe because of the added boar bristle brush. but it is much, much softer than if i let it air dry, & much softer & silkier than if i straightened. so try it! :)

[lundmir]

Ooh, I just might! I love texture and I'm on a neverending quest for the softest hair ever. That's good to know!

[KittyLost]

Yeah I ended up with a kink too. I just did what you did to fix it haha.