By stufflovely
Be careful not to make them overly taut, and continue wrapping the elastics all the way down the section of the hair, creating a rope-like effect. It’s a great, heat-free way to stretch those roots, but it’s also time-consuming — it’ll take you a few hours, if not a few days, to get the hair fully dry without sitting underneath a hooded dryer, but if you’re avoiding heat, it’s best to use the banding method.
The Straightening Process
Once your hair is clean, moisturized, detangled, stretched, and ready to go, the fun part begins. Grab your rat-tail comb, heat protectant, your handy-dandy flatiron, and get to work. Section the hair into four parts, clip each of them, then start working from the back of the head to the front. You’re going to want to work in small sections — the larger the section, the more passes you’ll have to do, increasing your likelihood of experiencing heat damage.
Spritz each small section individually with a light mist of heat protectant spray — you don’t want your hair to be soaked, causing it to revert to the curl pattern you just carefully blew out. Use your rat-tail comb at the base of the root and holding it taut, clamp the flatiron over the section in front of the rat-tail comb and slide both through. The comb helps keep the hair even straighter. Repeat all over the head, and you’re done the work.
How to care for your straightened hair
Once your hair is all straightened, you’re going to want to make sure you’re taking care of it so it stays smooth and sleek for as long as possible. To maintain your amazing results, wrap your head and hair in a silk or satin scarf at night before bed to help eliminate unwanted frizz and breakage. How you wrap your hair is really up to you — some people may not be experts executing the “doobie wrap” of our childhoods, where hair was brushed around the head and set with bobby pins. While that does help keep the hair flat, pulling it back into a low, loose ponytail and tying a silk scarf around your head can help keep your style intact. If you can’t stand sleeping with a cap on, invest in silk or satin pillowcases. Looking for a bit of movement and texture? A few days after flat ironing, braiding the flatironed hair or placing it in pin curls will give bring your style back to life.
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