do you straighten your hair? if so..how?

[Lovely Rita]

i had really damaged hair too - honestly i think my head hated me! i dyed it purple, red, green, blue, and blueish-green within the space of six months. i bleached it every time i changed colours (thats five times), and the "unnatural" colours wash out very quickly so i had to re-dye my hair every two weeks to keep the colour perfect (perfectionist here! :p). i damaged it so much that it wouldn't bleach properly anymore - it turned a psychadelic orange colour instead (which is how the blue/green happened, but thats another story).

throughout that time, i just straightened my hair as i dried it in the morning - took about twenty minutes and it had a wonderful shape to it! but here's the shocker folks - throughout that time, my hair was smooth, glistening, and soft. it was never dry, frizzy, or straw-like. all my teachers and my mom were super jealous, and i admit that i like to show off pictures of my hair at that time because it looked so great, you'd have though that purple was my natural hair colour :p! but the ironic thing is that if you look at the pictures of me in my gallery my most recent style is super curly, which is my natural hair. it is almost entirely my natural colour now too (except for the red streaks). i stopped with the straightening because my style now is totally no-maintenance - i wash my hair every night, and when i wake up it's perfect :D. its frizzy and tangled, but the curls are bouncy and shiny. i really love it now, i can't imagine why i ever wasted time on straightening it before!

good luck with the straightening - hair is too much hassle, eh?

 

[Checkers]

The GHD (Good Hair Day)!!! Its the best straightener i think. I have really poofy frizzy hair normally and it straightens it out with one slide. Apparantly its the one Jennifer Aniston uses, and her hair is really straight

 

[C-Sally]

I use Alterna Straightening Starch and a flat iron. Works like a dream!

 

[carole]

GHD straighteners work best for me

 

[alohaboxer!]

I had the CHI system done in November......still loving the straightness
BUT I did have virgin hair when I did this. So you might want to make sure your hair is in good condition before you do it. I can swim, sweat , shower be in our HIGH level of humidity and my hair remains straight!!!! When my hair does start to grow out more, I'm definately getting a CHI flat iron, It makes my hair feel soft as silk.
Hey this is fun....girlfriend chat with perfect strangers!

 

[Az Boxr Lovr]

Okay, I'm a wee bit confused! I straighten my hair with a flat iron I bought at Sally Beauty Supply. What is the difference between that and a CHI iron? I've never heard of that before. Thanks in advance.
Cheryl

 

[Cami]

CHI stands for CERAMIC HAIR IRON.

I am a hair designer and have owned multiple straight irons over the years and BAR NONE the CHI is #1. It is more expensive than any of the others that I have used but it is well worth the money. Heat up time is 6 seconds. The ceramic heats evenly VS metal which doesn't. These have a lifetime guarantee, even if you drop the thing and it breaks, no questions asked, they will replace it for free.

The idea of using ceramic for straightening is that it does not damage the hair. The ceramic uses the heat to impart into the hair the natural moisture that the hair already has (healthy hair is 30% moisture). It will not dry out the hair like metal irons do. Of course, you can't let it sit on your hair for 30 minutes, the natural moisture will dry out eventually from the steam that gets created.

There is a new product out that is similiar to the Japanese product technique in the fact that it will straighten the hair BUT with far less damage and it doesn't take 8 hours, just usually around 2, perhaps 3 for longer hair. This product is wonderful but not all salons will have access to it. You have to attend a class to learn the application technique and to be allowed to use the product.

For the life of me I can't recall the name of the product! I usually charge $250.00 for short to shoulder length and up to $350.00 for the longest hair I have done. The hair ends up in a totally straight form. But you can have alot of curl and opt to only "tame" it down to a more managable wave. Most people opt for completely straight. After this process all you have to do is blow dry with a brush, styling in the direction that you want the hair to fall and use a silicone based product prior to add shine (usually would be added with the use of a straightening iron). This will last until the hair is grown out and cut off. All you have to do is maintain the roots, depending on how fast your hair grows this usually occurs every 4-6 months.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Az Boxr Lovr]

Thanks for the clarification Cami! I have a CHI iron and didn't even know it!

 

[Cami]

CHI is the name of the company that originally created a flat iron made of ceramic. There are multiple brands now that also make ceramic irons. CHI irons are not sold at Sallys and can only be purchased thru a hair salon and here lately thru e-bay!

 

[tasillo]

Wow

I just bought a CHI....wow....i am amazed...me hair has never been so shiny and straight before in my life....it takes no time to heat up, in 5 minutes or less i am done
It was expencive... $155.....but well worth every penny..they had some cheaper ones....the hairsalon did half of my hair with the 155 one and then half of my hair with the cheap one....belive me when i tell you it is worth every penny to spend a bit more..i am going to have good hair days from now on