Blow Drying/Heat Styling: My Technique (Requested Topic)

Stephanie, a friend of mine requested that I share my technique when using heat, so here goes...

I always follow a few key steps before I apply any heat to my hair; always start on freshly washed hair, beware of heat damage, and prepare to devote the necessary time and labor for best results. 

Blow Drying

1. Wash, condition, and detangle as normal. 
2. Apply a leave-in conditioner and twist hair in 4-6 sections. 
3. Allow hair to partially dry. (about 2 hours) 
4. Take down one twist and detangle again if needed.
5. apply a heat protecting product of your choice. 
6. Use blow dryer on low heat setting with comb attachment.
7. Start and the ends of the hair and work your way up to the roots.
8. Apply a light oil and lightly re-twist.
9. Repeat steps 1-8 on each section.
10. Untwist each section and style.

Flat Ironing

1. Wash, condition, and detangle as normal.
2. Apply a leave-in conditioner and twist into 4-6 sections.
3. Allow hair to dry completely. (For me this is 10+ hours so plan accordingly)
4. Take down one section.
5. Apply a heat protector.
6. Take a small piece of the section and use flat iron on lowest setting for desired results.
• Bone straight hair will require higher temperatures.
• Try passing the flat iron only once or twice on each section.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 on each section.

Low/Medium Heat
11/2012

Low/Medium Heat
8/2011 (before second big chop)

Medium Heat
9/2012

Medium Heat
7/2012

Lowest Heat
8/2013

Tips:

• Never use temperatures higher than 450 degrees
• Always work with clean hair and clean tools.
• If your ends are split and damaged it will effect your results. (consider clipping before using heat)
• Always deep condition after heat use.
• Use heat sparingly, even at lowest temperature you may sustain heat damage if used too frequently.

Do you use heat? How often? What is your technique?

Length Goals, Rentention and Obsessions

I'm sure most of you have some sort of goal you wish to reach with your hair.One of my goals is waist length hair. For most people, hair grows about 1/2 inch per month. This means about six inches of growth per year. The key for growing hair to long lengths is to retain as much growth as possible. Some ways to aid in length retention are; protective styling, low manipulation, and safe handling while washing. 

Protective Styling: This means wearing your hair in style in which the ends are tucked away and protected from things such as weather and getting caught in clothing. Some ideas include buns and tucked up-dos. Here are some examples. (These are not my images).

        

Low Manipulation: This means when you do style your hair, handle it as little as possible. Try finger combing instead of using an actual comb to detangle or make parts, use a scarf to smooth edges instead of a brush and wear your hair in the style you choose until you need to wash again.

Safe Handling while washing: This means choosing shampoos and conditioners that work for you but are not too harsh. Products that cause drying will lead to breakage and split-ends,  Also be mindful of when you detangle. I usually suggest a detangle session before your wash. This will make your wash session much easier. If your hair is very tangled and matted use water and some conditioner with good slip. Once you begin to wash, keep hair in sections to prevent tangling. 

My personal growth: So as you all know I have been completely natural since 2010, however due to some bad choices I did another big chop in July of 2012. Here are some pics right after the cut:

      







And her are pics of my hair now:

         

This is about 10 months of growth since the cut, which should be about 5 inches. 
For those of you with hair goals, I would recommend only doing length checks every six months or longer. That way you will be able to notice the growth. Anything less than this will mean less than three inches of expected growth and will be harder to notice. I used to do a check every month and became absolutely obsessed, pulling out tape measuerers, rulers and everything else. Try to leave your hair be and just enjoy every stage of growth. Before you know it, we'll all be team #LongHairDontCare! 

My Wash Routine

I usually wash my hair with shampoo once per month. (Co-washing weekly). Here are the steps I follow:

1. Section hair into four sections for easy handling. 

2. Take down one section of hair. Spritz lightly with water. Detangle from ends to root being sure to remove any shed hairs. Repeat on each section. I have been finger detangling to prevent any unnecessary breakage, but I am not against using combs.

3. At this point I combine sections so that I have two for washing. Either one in the front and one in the back or one on the left side and one on the right. Wash each section separately. I apply shampoo to my scalp and massage. As I rinse my scalp the shampoo will run down the shaft of my hair and cleanse it.

4. I dry the excess water from my hair using a tee-shirt. With my hair still two separate sections I apply my deep conditioner. Cover with a plastic  cap for about 45 minutes.

5. Rinse the deep conditioner. 

I usually style my hair while it is wet so I don't towel or air dry. How do you wash your hair? 

The Beginning

Who am I?

My name is Zaakirah (Zaaa-Kir-ah), I'm 21 years old, a Philadelphia native and a natural hair fanatic.

Why I hated my natural hair:

One day in third grade a classmate said to me "tell your mom to fix your hair because its getting nappy." A boy next to me overheard and laughed so hard the teacher heard him. She asked why he was laughing and of course he announced to the entire class that he was laughing at my nappy hair. Most embarrassing moment of my life to date. After school, I marched right home and told my mom what had happened and demanded she do something. That weekend I got my first relaxer at age nine. I went to school on Monday feeling like a million bucks and no one dared called my hair nappy again.

Why I decided to go natural:

After years of getting a relaxer every 6-8 weeks and then turning into a lazy bum and relaxing whenever I felt like it my hair began to suffer. Dry, brittle, split and broken! One day in my senior year of high school I was fed up and decided I had enough. I was kickin' the crack and leaving relaxers in the past. I did not know at the time but this was the first step in my natural hair journey. 

The Struggle:

In my senior year I had no idea what it meant to be natural. I had no idea there was a huge online community equipped with video tutorials and How-to guides. I was transitioning alone. And hated every minute of it. The breakage got worse, more split ends, and on top of that, in the depths of my disgusting relaxed ends, I was once again dealing with my dreaded nappy hair. 

Revelations:

My first year in college was one of many discoveries. This included the world of natural hair. within a few months I was an expert. I  even learned new vocabulary like TWA, protective styling, co-wash, etc. I was in love. This is when I also met one of my close friends, Michelle. Like myself she was also transitioning to natural hair. I think I was very lucky to have someone who was going through exactly what I was with my hair. We shared advice, challenges, new things we loved about our hair and something even more important.

Big Chop:

One morning Michelle came banging on my dorm room door with soaking wet hair, conditioner and scissors. I was shocked but I knew what was happening. she pulled a chair in front of the mirror and just started cutting her relaxed ends. I stared in amazement, but said nothing. Watching her transformation was a thrill. I was high from excitement. When she was almost done, she looked at me out of the corner of her eye and said "You know you're next, right?" I started to panic inside, but just smiled and said "oh, I guess so." she finished and it was my turn. I took the scissors, but I couldn't do it. I wanted to do it but I was being a big baby as usual. Michelle took the scissors and started cutting my hair for me. I was in shock. It didn't help that the door was open and everyone on my floor was waking up and walking by. Some people even came to the door and watched. When it was all done I absolutely loved it. I couldn't stop touching it. Michelle changed my life! 

How did you journey start?