Blog Hair Care Tips Hair Stylists Tips: What To Put On Natural Hair Before Flat Ironing? By Marilyn Atkins Posted on April 20, 2018 0 Woman with beautiful natural hair Straightened hair is a dream of every woman having natural hair. It makes women attractive and sexy! Boys do love such hairstyle. Most women often ask what to put on natural hair before flat ironing. You will get the answer in this article. It’s fairly easy to straighten your natural hair at a beauty parlor, but not so easy when you try to do it at home. You will find several horror stories where most of the girls damage their hair from excessive heat while straightening their natural hair. Well, these stories are true and you can be the next victim unless you take proactive measures to protect your hair. In this article, I will talk about how to protect your natural hair while flat ironing using some products on your hair. I will not talk about how you can straighten your hair though. It’s more like a safety guide for women’s natural hair while flat ironing using a high-quality flat iron. Common Fear of Flat Ironing Natural Hair Flat ironing involves heat; to be more frank – excessive heat! No doubt, excessive heat will damage your hair. So, if you are too much afraid of heat damage, you have two options available. First, don’t straighten your hair at all since it involves heat. Two, put on the right products on your hair to protect it from excessive heat. I believe you choose the second option. Because straightening hair is so much desired dream of every girl. Possible Natural Hair Damage Scenario Before going to the point what to put on your natural hair, let’s see what damage may happen unless you put those hair products and follow this guide. Regular shampooing your hair will weaken your hair instead of making them stronger. It’s scientifically proven that shampoo breaks the essential proteins from the hair. If you comb your hair excessively, it may break your hair as well. Using conditioner unnecessarily may lead to the rise of hair cuticle and eventually lead to hair breakage. Using heat styling to your wet hair will totally destroy your hair. Too much heat straightening your natural hair is damaging and your hair will start to break. What To Put On Natural Hair Before Flat Ironing? If you are a newbie on flat ironing, this is a frequently asked question that is going on your mind for so long. It’s so natural that you have lots of questions especially when you heard about lots of horrifying heat damaging stories online. But if you follow some precautions and put on the right product on your hair before flat ironing, the chance of heat damage is very low. So, before flat ironing next time, make sure you follow these following tips and put on my recommended products on your hair: Understand The Heat Of A Flat Iron: There are lots of flat irons available in the market and maximum of them has the highest heat level of 450F. At this heat level, natural hair starts burning or at least denature. You must understand what heat level your natural hair can absorb. Luckily, almost all the flat iron comes with adjustable heat settings. As you have the natural hair, you should only use the medium to the lowest heat settings. Read the Hot Tools Flat Iron Reviews, to learn more about flat iron. Understand Your Own Natural Hair: Before introducing heat to your hair, you must know your own hair. It’s more like know thyself. Since everyone’s hair is different, so the heat tolerance will be different as well. If your hair is already damaged, it’s unwise to use the excessive heat. The situation will get worse further. You can understand your own hair by examining its texture, softness, and elasticity. Once you know your hair, you can set the right temperature in the flat iron. Prepping Your Hair For Action: Before you expose your hair to heat, you need to prepare your natural hair. Deep conditioning and moisturizing will strengthen your natural hair. You hair cuticles will be closed and coated as well fa or smooth look. It’s proven that before you heat style your hair, a deep conditioning adds natural proteins to the hair. Many hair stylists recommend using coconut oil as well because it prevents damage to the hair as well. Using the Right Heat Tamer: The heat protectant actually works as the block between the heat and your hair. This is a Image Credit: HSI must have product that you should put on your natural hair while flat ironing. Getting the right heat tamer is a challenging job. Some heat tamer contains argan oil as well. I have written elaborate heat tamer reviews for you to get the right heat protectant. Avoiding Bubble Hair: It happens when you flat iron your wet hair. People call it bubble hair because the water from the hair forms bubbles when heated with the flat iron. It’s so damaging to the hair. When you touch your bubble hair, you will feel roughness and humps. The hair breaks so easily as well in such conditions. Damp hair is okay but not we hair for flat ironing. Limit the Heat Exposure: Since you have a natural hair, you should only heat straightening it once a week. If your natural hair is already damaged, less is good. Set the heat settings at low first and check how your hair reacts with that heat level. You can gradually increase the heat to the medium level as well to check the reaction of your hair. But never ever try the maximum heat settings for your natural hair. However, if you try keratin treatment at home, you need to set the highest heat settings. Go To The Professional: If your hair is already damaged and you are not confident enough to flat iron yourself, go to the hair stylist and let her do it for you. Last Words on Protecting Natural Hair I believe if you follow the above-mentioned tips, you will not damage your hair further while flat ironing from excessive heat. This article is reviewed by professional hair stylists, so have confidence in what I have just said in this article. Just remember the one last thing: Once damaged, it takes a long long time and a huge amount of money to get back to the natural state again (even if you are lucky!). So be careful with your hair.