How To Flat Iron High Shrinkage Kinky Hair Without Blow Drying First

We loved TheChicNatural‘s technique because she was able to stretch her hair adequately enough without blow drying it first and she used just one pass of the flat iron* to get her hair straight.

Heat damage is real people so if you want straight hair it is probably best that you figure out ways to use minimal heat but still get that slick straight look. Who said you can’t have your cake and eat it too?

Here are five easy steps you can use to achieve this look:

Step 1 – Hair Prep

Wash and deep condition your hair using some protein for at least 30 minutes with heat. That was a mouthful but the foundation is everything, so make sure your hair is strong enough to withstand what you are about to do it.

Step 2 – Detangling 

Detangle your hair thoroughly in sections after adding some protein leave in conditioner* to each section. In the video TheChicNatural used a protein based leave in, ApHogee Keratin and Green Tea Restructurizer, which is especially good because it is heat activated. However there are many protein leave ins on the market, just pick the one you like.

Step 3 – Braiding or Twisting

Step 3 is done straight after step two because as you detangle each section, you should move right into this step which is essentially stretching your hair. In the video she uses goodie bands* to secure each section at the root and then proceeds to braid or twist the section all the way to the ends. Do the same thing as demonstrated until you have at least 5 separate sections, more if your hair is thicker.

Step 4 – Pinning

It might be easier to start pinning your twists after you have completed all of your sections so that you can see the best places to pin them. The point of this step is to really get that stretch in so pin each section into another section as far as your can stretch it to be comfortable.

Step 4 -Tie your Hair Down

It really is important to keep your hair smooth and tying it down with a satin scarf really helps. Once you are done head to bed and in the morning ensure that your hair is fully dry before moving to step 5.

Step 5 – Flat Iron*

Unravel all your braids and run your fingers through to smooth your stretched hair. We like the comb chase method of flat ironing because it does get the hair the smoothest without having to run the flat iron* through multiple times. We also highly recommend that you work in small sections and that each section gets a healthy dose of heat protectant to prevent damage.

Step 5 and a half – watch the video!