Everyone loves straight hair, but many are not born with it. Which is why they tend to go for different treatments such as Brazilian keratin straightening to make their mane look amazing and sleek. However, some like simplicity and use flat iron for straightening their curls. But does flat ironing damage the hair? Well, here is everything you need to know.
Does Straightening Hair Damage It?
Of course, it does! Anything with heat, manipulation, and tugging is going to damage your hair.
When you’re using a flat iron, there are a couple of things that you can do, like:
- Straightening wet hair
- Straightening hair at a very high temperature
- Going over the same section with a hot flat iron
- Straightening hair without applying a heat protectant
These are just some of the things that can lead to immense damage and you don’t want to be on the receiving end of it all. So, you must know how a flat iron and its wrong use can lead to damage.
With a flat iron, you can straighten your hair by sandwiching your hair between the two hot plates of the tool. This is already damaging your hair. Then add to that, the tugging, the manipulation, and the overall mishandling of the tool, and your hair will be done for.
Straightening hair at too high temperatures from the get-go is going to fry your hair instantly and you’ll be left with a damaged, matted mess of a mane, which isn’t ideal, rather the opposite.
How Does Flat Ironing Hair Cause Damage?
Well, you now know that flat ironing your hair can be damaging. But how is it caused? Here are some things that happen when you flat iron your hair.
Makes The Hair Dry
Flat iron uses a lot of heat and heat is never good for the hair. It can make the hair dry and brittle and it’s just not good for your mane at all.
Using flat iron regularly will make your hair dull and it will lose the shine you naturally sport. This is why it’s not recommended that you use a flat iron every single day, that is if you don’t want your hair to fall apart – literally.
Can Cause Hair Fall
Speaking of falling, heat doesn’t just make your hair dry, but it can also cause immense breakage and hair fall. This is something that a lot of people suffer from and it is frustrating.
When you flat iron your hair, and especially if you’re not taking any precautions while doing so, it is going to cause the hair to break from the middle. Not only this, too much heat and no protection will lead the hair to fall, because there is no life in them, since the heat has fried the hair to the point of no return.
Is Not Recommended Everyday
You might have a faint idea by now that hair straightening is not something that you should be doing every single day. This is not something that your hair can endure, even if it doesn’t show. You want to limit the use of heat to about once or twice a week.
This will ensure that your hair stays as healthy as possible and that you don’t drag your hair into the pit of damage by yourself. So, styling your hair once or twice a week is more than enough and you need to come up with a plan of sorts to stick to this routine because it will save your hair. When you don’t have straight hair, you can try new hairstyles by using hair extensions from a hair extensions salon Rockville.
How To Preserve Straight Hair After Flat Ironing?
Now that you know the grave effects of damage flat ironing can do, you can try these tips out to ensure that your style stays put for longer.
Wash Your Hair First
Before styling the hair, you want to wash it first. It’s always better to style freshly washed hair, but there is also another hidden benefit. You want to wash your hair before styling because you don’t want to wash it for as long as you can after using a flat iron.
Washing the hair can make the style look out of whack, and this is why you want to go on without washing your hair after the hair has been styled. It will only save your hair in the long run.
Always Use Heat Protectant
Whenever you’re using heat tools, especially a flat iron in which your hair is being sandwiched between two very hot plates of ceramic, you want to use a heat protectant and let it sit in your hair for a bit. You want to apply a heat protectant to your hair and then let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes while you’re preparing the rest of the stuff for styling your hair.
Heat protectant allows you to style your hair without burning the strands. It provides a protective layer between your hair and the hot plates of the flat iron.
Protect The Hairstyle
Once the hair has been straightened, the next thing you want to do is to protect it from getting all wavy and frizzy again. This is possible by opting for everyday hairstyles that don’t leave your hair with a bunch of kinks and knots.
This is why loose, flowy, and very easy hairstyles are what you want to go for. So, ponytails, loose buns, fake braids, and hairstyles like these will keep your hair looking straight and you won’t have to touch up anything for at least 3 to 4 days if you maintain the hair properly.
Lay Off On Styling Products
Styling products like creams, foams, and pomades are amazing, but you shouldn’t use them too much. They can secure the style in place, but they can also make your hair super greasy and you know what that means.
If your hair is greasy, then you’ll need to wash it more and if you wash your hair too much, then your straight hair will be history and you’ll have to go back in with a flat iron to make your hair sleek again, which is totally a vicious cycle of damage. So, just use a good hold hairspray and you will be good to go.
Protective Hairstyles To The Rescue
When you’re sleeping, that’s when you can turn your straight hair into a mess. So, to avoid that, you want to opt for protective hairstyles. This means that you have to go for the hair-wrapping technique that will automatically make your hair straight when you wake up.
Also, to go the extra mile of protection, secure your hair in a silk sleeping cap or a shower cap. This is going to prevent the hair from rubbing against your rough pillow case and everything will be contained. You will wake up with perfect hair with no need for styling it.
Conclusion
Flat ironing your hair isn’t the best either, but there are certain ways by which you can get straight hair with a straightener and not ruin your hair. You can also opt for hair straightening treatments that can keep your hair smooth for a long time by visiting a Japanese hair straightening salon Rockville.
