Now that we have gotten to know each other I feel like we can talk about things other than just waves. What we hate, what we love, what we wish we could do. We can talk about other options like doing a different curl pattern or even straightening. Yes I said it, straightening. I love having wavy hair and I love that I have fully embraced my waves, but I also like changing things up once or twice a week just to give me something different. I know to a lot of people straightening once or twice a week seems like a lot. But so many wavies get frustrated with their hair and only going straight once or twice seems like a miracle.
So let’s go through our true and false list now.
- Because you straighten your hair you can’t possibly embrace your natural style.
No! Wrong! I embrace my natural look and I am so glad I have it, but sometimes I just want to change it up. I want to run my fingers through my wonderfully soft hair and just be able to mess with it once in a while, something I can’t do when it’s wavy.
- You’re a hypocrite! You talk about wavy hair all the time and now you’re going the straight route.
First of all, if I’m going to be a hypocrite it is not going to be about this. I’ll save my hypocrisy for something good! And yes, I do talk about wavy hair and give product suggestions, but never have I ever said, “You must only wear your hair wavy and no other way!” That would be silly. Embrace change!
- Straightening is terrible for your hair and you will kill all of your wave!
It is true that heat damages your hair. However, just like you have products for your curly hair, there are also plenty of products that you can use to protect your hair from all of the heat. I’m currently using the John Frieda Frizz-Ease Straight Fixation Smoothing Créme, and I have noticed that it keeps my hair very smooth and healthy. There are several other products that you can use to keep your hair healthy while straightening as well. Concerning wave loss, it is true that the more you straighten, the more you convince your hair that’s how it should be. You want to be careful that you aren’t turning to your flat iron too often or you will notice that when you want to be natural, it will take a little more work. Remember, the less work needed=the happier you will be!
Now on to part 2 of this blog: taking care of your curls and waves. I make sure to keep my hair healthy because it’s the only hair I’ll ever have, and if you are going to straighten your hair, you should, too. I used to straighten my hair every day and now I only use my straightener once a week, if that. For a while I was not using anything to protect my hair and my head was covered in split ends. Like I said earlier in this blog, I am currently using the Frizz-Ease Smoothing Créme and since I have been using it I haven’t noticed any split ends, and I am the girl who sits in my college classes and looks for them. I have also used straightening products made by Chi, Garnier Fructis and Loreal. If you are going to straighten, make sure you use a product to protect your waves or curls from the heat!
Another source of heat you need to protect your waves from is a hair dryer. Several curlies and wavies blow-dry their hair before they straighten to help loosen the curl simply to make the hair a little more manageable. I have to do this because if I let my hair air-dry there is no straightening it. The best way to dry your hair, if you have to, is the same way you would diffuse it. You want to put it on the lowest setting and use cool air, but you still want to put a heat protector on your hair. Just remember: because you straighten, or someone you know does, doesn’t mean that they don’t embrace their natural hair and if you are going to straighten your curly locks, protect you hair! So the moment has come. You have all seen my wavy hair so now let me show you my straight hair! I’ll let you be the judge of what you like better, because I like them both about the same. I used to think that straightening was easy and that taking 30 minutes to do my hair was normal. I will say, now that I have embraced my waves I don’t spend more than 10 minutes doing my hair and I can now use my straight look as a change up.
