Category: flat iron

4 Month No Heat Challenge

Posted on by Michelle

Finally!  I’m gonna stop being stubborn and just own up to the fact that using heat on my hair is keeping me from achieving greater lengths.  I had my suspicions of this earlier this year but now I’ve decided to put myself to the test.  Even though I like the look of straight hair, I’m going to go without using my flat iron until February of 2014.  This may sound like a walk in the park to those of you who gave up straight hair a long time ago.  For me though, I’ve actually kept up with wearing my hair straight every other month.  Sometimes I even straighten twice in the same month.

Of course I saw how other naturals who were gaining two to three inches of growth every time they decided to lay of the heat for a 4-6 month break.  Still, I kept up with the same regimen hoping that maybe my light protein treatments would rescue my curls.  After having to trim some loose curls last month I decided that that was the final straw.  Using heat means I’m gonna be up for a trim so the more I use it, the more hair I lose.  I just can’t keep doing it so it’s time for me to step away from the flat iron and just style my hair in other ways.  Here’s a video discussing the, “rules,” for my personal no heat challenge.  Feel free to join in!

4 MONTH NO HEAT CHALLENGE

Re-Visiting My Caruso Steam Rollers

Posted on by Michelle
Using Caruso Steam Rollers on
my Straight Natural Hair

I recently wore my hair straight a few times and decided that rollers were the only thing that really gave me the curls I desired.  Overnight I used my Satin Rollers which I originally picked up at Walmart.  Sometimes though, I went to sleep protecting my hair only with a satin bonnet and woke up with hair that was just blah.  It was then that I remembered the Caruso Roller set that I practically begged my husband for over a year ago.  When I first got my Caruso, I remember that it was a little awkward working with the steam and rollers.  I’ve used it several times since then and it is a lot easier to use now.

How I use the Caruso Steam Rollers

Since I’ve always used it on hair that was straightened or previously stretched with rollers, I used to worry about reversion.  I think the only time this actually happened is when I left the rollers on the steam base way too long.  Soggy rollers on natural hair = reversion.   For this reason, I only place the rollers onto the steam base for seven seconds before promptly rolling the hair.  I also make sure that my end paper is already wrapped around the ends of the section of hair I’m working with.

The steam base
The Results
soft curls with no reversion

Another factor is there is always the possibility for frizz when using the rollers because of the added steam.  Using end papers helps to keep my ends smooth.  A light serum or coconut oil also helps to combat frizz.  The last thing I do is leave the rollers in for about 30 to 40 minutes to ensure the hair is completely dry before taking the rollers down.

In my opinion, the best way to style the curls is to use your fingers because brushing or combing will just result in poof (and we don’t want poof).  Using the Caruso Rollers can be tricky at first but they are a great alternative to styling the hair with direct heat.

Saying Goodbye to Heat Damage

Posted on by Michelle

In the last couple of videos that I posted to YouTube, I discussed my straight, heat damaged bangs and how I styled them so that they would blend in with the rest of my hair.  Shortly after posting those I started a six week Wash n’ Go binge and wore my hair curly the whole time.  For a while I was fine with pushing the straight pieces back or braiding the hair into a headband.  During this time I was also reading the Curly Girl Handbook by Lorraine Massey and learning more about my curls and how to work with them.  I kept looking at my damaged hair and wondered, why was I holding on to the straight pieces?

Using small perm rods to camouflage the straight pieces

After much contemplation, I finally decided to break out the shears.  I already knew that I had curly bangs in my future so why not just get on with it?  First, I wet the hair that I sectioned off for the cut.  This made it easier to tell where the textured hair met the straight ends.  Then I placed a long metal clip across that line of demarcation and cut.  I thought that would do it but the straight pieces were still another inch into the length of my bangs so I snipped again.  I was surprised to see a small, one inch section where my hair was just blah; not really curly or straight.  The rest of the bang was curling up the way I expected.  I ended up with a Betty Paige style look which for me was just fine.

AFTER
Short Bangs
BEFORE
Straight Pieces in Front

It’s been about a month and a half since the mini chop and I have to say that for the most part, the bangs are fine by me.  The curls are in good shape even after wearing my hair straight a couple of times.  I refuse to use my flat iron on that area because the 400 degree temperature is just too much.  Instead I use my Gold n’ Hot Curling Iron which only gets up to 300 at best.  I’m also liking the Paul Mitchell Super Skinny for my heat protectant these days.

I do wish the bangs were a teensy bit longer though so that it would be easier to braid them down into a cute headband.  Of course this is possible with a little help from my Eco Styler gel.  I’m also realizing that I won’t be able to slick all of my hair back for awhile.  For now though, I’m just enjoying the new look and loving the curls.

Used a metal clip to section off bangs
Bye Bye Heat Damage
Bangs before cutting a bit more
Check out my post on how I treated my Heat Damaged Hair

Finally APL and Holiday Hair Styles

Posted on by Michelle
My Holiday Make-Up Look
with Roller Set hair

The Holidays were fast and furious which left me feeling like I needed another break after it was all over.  Still, it was a lot of fun dressing up and going out with the family.  I especially enjoyed finally getting to see how long my hair was after the two Hair Growth Challenges I participated in over at K.I.S.S. 
last fall.

One of the challenges encouraged participants to start using Hot Oil treatments on a regular basis while the other asked everyone to start using a Growth Aid to help speed up hair growth.  I kinda fell off the bandwagon on the first one because since I sometimes have gel in my hair, I wasn’t too crazy about applying oils on top of that to do the treatments.  However, I do feel like the second challenge introduced me to an interesting growth aid that appears to actually work.  I’ll speak on that later on down the road.

The two challenges ended in December so I was really excited to see if my hair reaped the benefits of all that hard work.  I am happy to announce that I have finally reached my goal of APL length hair!  The top layers are still hovering around my collar bone thanks to that mini big chop I did last year but the back and bottom layers are doing really well.  Since I like to wear my hair in big curls I can see that I won’t be satisfied until my hair is around BSL or longer.  Right now with curls my hair sits just below my shoulders.

   I also needed a trim so I took care of that and decided to wear my hair down for the holidays.  Since I’ve been using roller sets to stretch my hair out I only ended up flat ironing the entire length of my hair once. The rest of the time I was able to enjoy a straight look with the help of my rollers and a little flat ironing at the roots.  My hair has reverted back and is going to be put away for awhile again but it was fun while it lasted.

Roller Set styled in a
Pin-Up Do with Back Down

Flat Ironed hair after
air drying in braids overnight
Flat Ironed Back View

Heat Damage Again. . .Really?

Posted on by Michelle
If you watch my channel, mitchellzee, on YouTube, then you probably already know about the heat damage I have in the front section of my hair.  When I do a wash n’ go, I just braid that part up to give it enough texture to blend it with the rest of my hair.  My hair just seems to be really fine in front so even after using 3 different types of heat protection every time I flat iron, I still end up with straight pieces. 

My hair after washing and deep conditioning
No curls; just a mess
So, I was pretty upset when I found even more heat damage after the last time I wore it straight for Easter.  I knew it wasn’t the initial press but a touch-up later in the week that did it. 
My rules for avoiding heat damage are as follows:

1.  Always cleanse the hair thouroughly prior to using heat
2.  Do a moisturizing deep conditioning treatment before and after the use of heat
3.  Always use heat protectant
4.  No more heat styling the rest of the time (i.e. styling by wrapping, roller setting, bantu knots and braids instead of using the flat iron again)

The first time I gave myself heat damage I broke rules #1 and #3.  I thought that I could get away with using heat after a braidout left my hair nice and soft.  I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool if I could just straighten it now without the blowdrying?”  Well, yes and no.  You can use braids to stretch your hair prior to straightening as long as you don’t use any oils which can cause damage when you apply direct heat.  I used a mixture of castor, coconut and olive oils to do the braidout so when I applied the heat….sizzzle!  Also, I didn’t even bother with heat protectant and ended up with a piece in front that not only did not revert back, but was straight like relaxed hair.  I eventually cut it off which is why I now have bangs.  This was 3 months after I did the big chop.

This time, however, was a huge dissapointment because I KNEW better!  I broke my own rule #4; no more heat the rest of the time I wear it straight.  I moisturized my hair and sealed it with coconut oil everyday so I knew for sure this had something to do with the new damage I noticed.  Not only that, I oiled my scalp with Wild Growth Oil and it ended up coating my strands from root to tip.  I could have used my Caruso Rollers, to style my hair but was pressed for time and pulled out the flat iron again.  After shampooing and deep conditioning, my poor hair was a hot mess!  I didn’t have curls just a shrunken puff ball (see picture above).  The damage looked like it was pretty serious and I was really scared that I wouldn’t see my curls again.

Find out how I got my curls back in my next post “Recovering from Heat Damage”