Hair Straightening Tips?

Hey all, so I have a slight waves in my hair and I sometimes like to straighten them out with my hair straighter but I'm never quite happy with how it looks and it doesn't hold very well.
Sometimes I use my hair spray (Osis + Elastic Flex Hold) or my molding gunk (TIGI Rockaholic Punk Out molding gunk) to try to help it keep it's hold. It doesn't really go over all that well, it looks fine but it's not really worth the time.
So I was wondering if you guys had any tips to straighten my hair and keep it looking pretty, ha ha. Maybe some magical straightening spray or something?

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19 replies since 7th March 2011 • Last reply 7th March 2011

Reply #1:

If your hair is anything like mine (pain in the butt) then straightening looks lovely, but is a painstaking, time consuming chore.

The only advice I can give that works for me is to wash and condition, add straigtening/protective spray, blow dry it straight, blast with cold air to set, section it and straighten it on the heat setting that is one below the maximum temp (if that makes sense). Use a fine comb to take very small sections and run the straighteners over it twice. Continue till head is done.
When done, leave to cool and use a tiny, weeny amount of hair serum to smooth the cuticle and help with gloss and lustre. I normally find this will last 2 to 3 days before I need to do it all over again.


Hope this helps.

K/x

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Reply #2:

I used to use Dangerously Straight from Herbal Essences and it actually worked. I mean it didn't make my hair pin straight, but it helped a lot. Also like Kimmi said take small sections, that will make it easier. As for getting it to stay I'm pretty positive I used to use the Aussie Opposites Attract hair spray and it would hold, but now I use the Set Me Up from Herbal Essences and that works for me, but you have to make sure you brush it out or else your hair will be like a rock.

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Reply #3:

My hair is such a pain in the butt to straighten.
But I found that if I do it in small sections, it usually winds up looking better.
I just any hair straightening/heat protector spray I have lying around (none have really stood out to me though as working better then the other).
Then I lightly spray the section I just worked on with hair spray, go over it with the straightener again, then spray it again with hair spray and brush it out to stop it from getting hard.

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Reply #4:

Wow! Thanks so much for the tips guys! Happy
I'll definitely try these out. :3
Wish me luck!

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Reply #5:

Good luck! Hope everything works out for you!

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Reply #6:

One of the most important things to check so that your hair turns out better is to see if your straightening iron is too hot. You can tell if it is by placing a piece of white paper between the iron pads when they're hot. If they yellow the paper, you need to turn the temperature down.

I have curly hair naturally, but I can usually get it to be pretty straight by using Pantene's Medium-thick hair styling gel and a bit of Aquanet 3 hairspray. I comb or brush it after gelling and spraying and let it dry naturally, but I'm sure a hair dryer on a warm setting would straighten it out even more.

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Reply #7:

I'm keen to get tips also - as my hair is 'almost straight' but has those annoying kinks!! My straighteners (GHDS) aren't all they cracked up to be (they were a gift) - anyone have a suggestion of good straighteners for very thick very long hair!?

Thanks
Sadie Happy

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Reply #8:

make sure u section it off, because if u do to big of chinks it wont straighten as well. Also spritz with hairspray but not to much. i dont even use it.

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Reply #9:

i wash, condition, air dry. then i section off 1/2 inch pieces. those pieces each get a small amount of serum...i mean small. i use smooth n' shine, loreal ever pure or john frida frizz ease. i straighten using close to the highest temp on the dial of my straightener. i have very curly hair and this method lasts for 3 days even in humidity. i never use hair spray when straightening before or after. when i was reading your process, i wasn't sure if you were using the products with your straightener. i don't think hairspray or the wax would help you use heat to straighten your hair...you need oil/serum.

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Reply #10:

i use suave sleek anti frizz cream

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Reply #11:

i use suave sleek anti frizz cream

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Reply #12:

my hair used to not hold at all until i started using heat protectant, try that

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Reply #13:

I recently got my hair cut and I have semi short layers in the back of my head and i like when its all poofy but after I wash my hair it gets all spazzy and I have very fine hair and very short bangs and slight waves which I HATE and I set my straightener to a pretty high temp. but the waves and the weird spazzy layered parts dont completely come out i use hairspray atferward but it doesn't really do much. Any advise? Thanks!!^-^

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Reply #14:

I have semi-wavy hair so straitening is always tricky... heat protection spray (I use tresemme)will help keep it smooth and the ends from splitting and frizzing. I section my hair layer by layer starting with from the bottom and working my way up. I also brush the section with one hand and follow with the straightener in the other in one motion.

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