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straighting hair
like i have super thick hair. and its pretty long to it takes me like 1hour and a 1/2 to straighten it is it bad to straighten your hair like twice a week? what does it do? my friend told me that she straighted it like twice a week and now it is easier to straighten. is that true?
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I have very thick hair too but it doesn't take me a long time beause my hair is naturally straight. Once you start straightening it, it could turn unhealthy or stay healthy. Use a flat iron and make sure that you are very careful when you straighten it. If your hair starts to turn a weird color or falls out more then usually, only straighten it once a week
♥ Kendall
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Many people say that straightening is bad for your hair, but I have been straightening mine every day for about a year, AND I color it, and it's perfectly healthy. As long as you are using a good quality flat iron, you should be fine.
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not true.
its only easy because you're getting use to doing it.
i straighten mine everyday and it takes just as much effort as it did the day before.
it is bad to straighten it alot because it will cause split ends and/or eventually fry it. but if you buy a shampoo/conditioner that helps with damaged hair and moisture, then you should be fine.
♥
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i've got long big thick hair, so i know your predicament well! ^_^
there are several things you can do to make it easier on you. (there is always the salon chemical-straightening option, but i wouldn't touch even that idea with a 10-foot pole, so if you want that quicker/probably-worse-for-your-hair answer, then don't read on. if you want another way, go dive into this lengthy answer i've given, but be prepared for detailed/helpful/useful answers).
first, if you're not extremely opposed to it, think about getting your hair thinned out a little and maybe layered a little the next time you have a haircut. it may feel like all of a sudden you have so much less hair, even if the stylist didn't take much off, but you get used to it, and your hair will thank you when it stays healthier and more manageable for longer.
second, shampoo and conditioner. i use garnier fructis long & strong, which works really well with long thick hair. it keeps hair clean, works to strengthen it, and smells really good too. ^_^
ok, i go a little nutso here, but trust me, i'm being specific because it works!!
because my hair is so long and thick (and because i'm not a morning person), i almost always take my shower at night. again, trust me, i have reasons for all this, and it works. ^_^;
some tips for before you get in the shower: brush/comb out your hair, starting from the ends, and working your way up till you can brush through it all easily. use a little water if it'll help brush through it easier, either wetting the brush/comb or wetting your hands and then running your palms back over your hair in long strokes.
some tips on washing: get all your hair good'n'wet, especially the top of your head, down to the roots (people like us with really thick hair will sometimes tend to not soak all of our hair down to the underside). get like half-a-handfull of shampoo and, starting with the top, work it through and lather it up on your scalp, making sure to massage it well into all of your hair, especially the roots and the ends. get a shower-ok brush (here's a good static-free one for in- and out-of-shower use: [Link](Mouse over link to see full location))
and, starting from the ends, comb through all of your hair until it brushes through easily (don't rip your hair out or pull too hard! ^_^). rinse with warm--not hot--water, starting with the top of your head and working your way down, brushing through your hair every now and again as you go along.
some tips on conditioning: as soon as you get all of the shampoo washed out, get maybe a little less-than-a-handfull of conditioner (depending on how dry or greasy your hair can get). start with the ends, putting a fair amount of the conditioner on them by rubbing it in on the bottom 2 inches or so, and work your way up, combing it through the rest of your hair with your fingers, not getting too much on any one spot (especially the top of your head), but be sure to get a tiny bit extra (again, depending on how dry or greasy your hair gets) massaged into the roots. brush through it all in long strokes once or twice with your fingers, and then again once or twice with the brush. clip it up (i usually take all of my hair like i'm going to ponytail it, and twist it to the right and up, then clip it near the top, so i have a kind of loose short ponytail) or put a hairband with no metal piece on it around it and make a loose bun. go about whatever else you do for the rest of your shower (as long as it doesn't exceed up to 10 minutes, but if your hair tends to get greasy, don't leave the conditioner in for more than 5 or 6 minutes; you might consider rinsing the top of your hair a little while its up before you go on to your other showering tasks). once you've done everything else, take your hair down and rinse it with as cold of water as you can stand (it doesn't have to be icy, just not warm or luke-warm). this'll help with frizzies and the crazy involuntary volumising. brush through your hair while rinsing it. don't rinse for more than a minute or a minute-and-a-half, or you'll rinse out the conditioner you want to stay in. once you've turned the water off, run your palms back over your hair, starting at your forehead and hairline and going to the tips, and squeeze out a little more than half (2/3rds or so) of the excess water. brush through you hair once more before you get out of the shower.
don't take more than 5 minutes or so to do whatever you do after a shower (you still want your hair to be fairly damp) so we can move on to...
the third thing: PRODUCT. i go a little crazy again (all right, really REALLY crazy and specific) but, here's what i use, in order of when i put it in after my shower, and how i use it. (i usually get on my knees with my head bent down and foward over a towel, and brush my hair downwards so it's smooth and straight before i put any product in.)
1) BEDHEAD-TIGI- headrush adrenaline shine. first off, let me say that bedhead products do not only posses awesome titles and wicked packaging but mad crazy hair-shaping skills as well. ^_^ i spray this all over my hair, especially on the ends. you don't need to use half the bottle, just a fair amount. then i brush it all through with the same brush i use in the shower.
2) fructis long & strong anti-split ends treatment, a creamy smoother. i use about 2.5-3.5 squirts of this, rub it evenly over all of my palms, and comb it through with my fingers starting at the ends where i use it most and going up. brush it all through!
3) BEDHEAD-TIGI- after-party smoothing cream. i use about 2 or 3 pumps of this (or whatever a little bit less than what i used of the fructis treatment is). same basic procedure as #2 hereafter. make sure to brush it all through.
4) possibly a little more bedhead headrush. ^_^ also, if my hair is acting up somehow (extra frizzy, extra scraggly, really dry, really limp, etc.), this is where i usually put on products that i'm trying out, like hair serums for my ends and such.
5) my favourite thing to do is being undressed. um. yeah... just kidding. ^_^ that's the name of one of THE BEST hair products i have ever found. "rusk! being undressed". one little tub will usually last me about 3 or 4 months. i only use a little bit, 'cause this stuff goes a long way. it's a waxy almost-pomade type of product, so i start with just a little bit on my fingertips, then i rub it around evenly on my fingers. i use the majority of it on my ends, then the remainder (plus mabye a little more) gets finger-combed through the rest of my hair. make sure that you don't goop it on your fingers too thickly, if used incorrectly the results can be disastorous!! not really, heh, a piece of your hair might just dry stiffly. finally, brush it all through again, and maybe spray on some more bedhead headrush for extra shine.
afterwards, i usually wrap my hair up in a towel and sleep in it. if i wake up in the middle of the night, i might take it off and lightly brush through my hair once or twice, then wrap it up again or just go back to sleep if my hair is dry enough. sleeping with your hair in the towel helps to keep all of the stuff in and to let it soak into your hair and strengthen it and make it soft and shiny. and smelling good; i can guarantee that your hair will smell good after all this! ^_^
ok, so now, finally, in reference to what you actually asked, the fourth thing: straightening. especially when dealing with big think hair, DO NOT under any circumstances be possessed by the anti-hair-fairies and use a metal straightener (sorry, i have no idea where that came from...). i know it can be a little pricey, but straighteners with ceramic plates are the best. a relatively affordable one can be purchased at walgreens.com (ceramic double-ionic straightener by conair).
twice or thrice a week, regularly, should be often enough to keep your hair relatively straight and manageable. use a static-free brush to gently brush through all of your hair, starting from the ends and going up. get a bunch of little clips, hair ties, etc., so you can seperate the pieces of hair you're going to straighten. you don't have to, but it sometimes makes it easier to do two layers, one around the top of your head and one below that. in each of the two layers, seperate sections of hair into little ponytails. you don't want to have the sections be too big or the straightener plates won't get all of the hair.
take the clip/hair-tie out of the first ponytail (it's usually easier to start with the front one on the top of your head). start at the top of the section, as close as you can get the straightener to your scalp without burning yourself, and clamp down gently on the hair. the ceramic plates will work a lot faster than metal ones so immediately start gently pulling downwards, alternately holding the unstraightened and straightened hair (careful! the straightened hair you just left behind will be HOT), and go all the way to the tips of the section. you can lightly comb through it with a small toothed comb if you want to go over the hair with the straightened once or twice again. once it's good enough for you, set down the straightener and clip/tie the ponytail back up (here is where a clip is useful, because you don't want to snaggle up the hair you just straightened). you want to keep your finished work seperated from your unfinished work.
continue on, repeating the process, with each of the ponytails on the top layer. once you've finished the top layer, you can gently gather all of those ponytails and carefully twist and clip them, or just clip them, to the top of your head (or even in front if you can manage). next, do the bottom layer, repeating the above process. finally, take out all of the clips/ties and gently brush through all of your hair. if you feel like it, you can lightly go over a few pieces with the straightener again. here's another place where bedhead headrush is really useful. spray it over all your hair and then brush through it. brushing through the headrushed hair is what makes the shininess start working.
wow, this has been ri-DIC-u-lously long. i apologise. u_u; but on the bright side you've gotten a lot of tips from another big-thick-long-haired person. ^_^
some websites and products for you to explore and experiment with...
afforable haircare and hair-styling products:
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
a wide variety of amazing versatile hair stuffs:
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
good haircare products (mostly check out the "being" section of "haircare products"):
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
burt's bees is all-natural and earth-friendly (and it smells/tastes/feels good to boot!), this is the haircare section, but be sure to check out all the other burt's bees stuff too!:
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
nifty fruity haircare:
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
again, i'm sorry this was sooo long, but i hope that you got something out of it. ^_^ go ahead and try these things, experiment with them, tweak 'em, whatever. good luck, my fellow big-hair person!
~*kitty*~
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Well actually it doesn't make it easier, but it is better to straighten it twice a week because it can damage your hair if you straighten it everyday. TRhere are chwmicxals that can make your hair straight but if your hair os still wavy a little then its stioll easier to straighten but idk. I wassh my hair every other day and straighten it and my hair is very thick but idk i think it woul;d be worth a try to try the chemicals ki mean what do you have to lose? iight well thanks for asking bye<33
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Its probably just easier cause cause once you get use to doing it it becomes easier. I think it would be fine to straighten it twice a week. I do it almost every night and my hair is okay. You just have to make sure you use the right products. Put something in your hair before you straighten it and sometime i do hot oil treatmeants wich keeps it from dyring out.
-Jess
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i would say its accually easier to straighten it if you do it less mainly because the more moisture in your hair i guess you could say (not dried out) the straighter you hair is and less frizzy it is etc.. it may become faster because you are doing it more but you will get better results by doing it less and it should be easier
i would try switching your straighter if you are having a realy prob. like my hair is semi think and a few inches below my shoulder (well before i got it cut a few weeks ago) and i had my hair straightened easy in 15 min (my hair is a lose wavy curl kinda deal)
i use a helen of troy straighter too if that helps
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It's just easier to straighten because your getting practice and your getting better at doing it. It's not bad to straighten your hair twice a week but three or four times a week will really mess up your hair. Just make sure to try different styles once in a while like scrunching your hair so your hair has a break from all that heat. Also, make sure you cut off those split ends so your hair is more healthy. =)
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No, that is not true. There are times that I straighten my hair three times a week. Straightening your hair even once a week still causes a little damage to your hair. Straightening your hair gives you split ends and just dries up the ends. Alot of people straighten their hair; you just have to take better care of your hair. Make sure you put something in your hair before you straighten it.
♥
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