Tips For Maintaining Straightened Natural Hair Longer Than A Week

Taking a straight break, shouldn’t be stressful by any means but should be literally a time to enjoy your hair while limiting the need for manipulation.

If you are not quite ready to wash your hair and you want your style to go past the 7 day mark while still looking fab, here are some tips that will help you achieve just that.

1. Set the right foundation – The process of straightening will ultimately determine how long the style lasts. If using a blow dryer* use a blow dry cream that will help to loosen the hair a bit so that the amount of time used to dry the hair is reduced and frizz is eliminated. Sometimes using a flat brush or a round brush can also help to get that straight look you are trying to achieve when using the blow dryer*.

2. Use heat protectant* – If you decide to flat iron* the hair, always use a good heat protectant. Finding the right one will require some research but the good thing is that there are plenty to choose from.

3. Use an anti humectant – An good anti-humectant will keep your hair straight for unbelievable lengths of time. They literally repel moisture from penetrating your strands hence preventing reversion.

4. Protect and sleep – Be even more conscious about using a satin pillow case when sleeping or covering your hair with a satin scarf. The scarf and pillow will help the hair retain it’s moisture and won’t leave you with straight dry brittle strands prone to breakage. With that said try to set the hair somehow prior to sleeping.  You can opt for wrapping the hair or doing pin curls anything that will help maintain the style as you sleep.

5. Eliminate the grease – Sometimes the hair can get greasy or stringy looking after a long time. Instead of adding a water based product to ruin the straight style, opt for a dry shampoo that can reset the hair and eliminate some of the gunk that may be weighing the hair down.

Another thing to consider is to be light handed with your use of moisturizers and sealers while your hair is straight. When hair is straight it tends to hold on to moisture better than when it is curly so opt  moisturize and seal every second day instead of daily.

6. Keep your hands out – Try not to manipulate your hair too much with your hands. Frequent handling can sometimes create frizz and friction in the hair and increase the likelyhood of breakage. Although it will be difficult try to enjoy looking at how fabulous you look rather than touching it all the time.

7. Experiment with straight hairstyles– There are some hairstyles that just look better when your hair is straight right? Well now is the best time to try them out. Whether you want a side fishtail braid, a waterfall braid or an intricately designed cascading ponytail, now is the time to try them! Check out YouTube for some inspiration on what you can do with your hair now that it’s straight.

8. Change the style slightly after a few days – After the first few days you can get rather bored so in order to reduce boredom and keep the stretched look for longer, go from straight to semi curly or wavy:

Tip

– To create waves – Braid the hair using small sections for tight waves or in bigger sections for bigger waves. In the morning, release your braids for gorgeous waves all day.

-To create curls – Try a dry roller set, curlformers or a curling wand (after applying a bit of heat protectant* of course). Make the curls as big or as small as you would like to give you something different each time.

– Bantu knots- Bantu knots are a great heatless option for curling the hair. The bigger the knots the wavier the look, small knots create cute spiral curls that can last quite awhile