Straight to the point!

At the end of December 2011, we decided to participate in a No Heat Challenge. This challenge was like a promise to ourselves that we would not flat iron, curl, blow dry, or use any other heating tools on our hair for as long as possible. We would only curl our hair using natural methods and we would also do more natural hair styles. But eventually, we both ended up straightening our hair so we wanted to give you all an update on how that went. . .

Robbin's Hair, Natural(left) vs. Straightened(right)

To Straighten we used the following:

Shea Moisture Organic Coconut and Hibiscus Curl & Shine Shampoo

Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner

Silver Bird Conair Pro Blow Dryer with Concentrator Nozzle

Round Brush

CHI 44 Iron Guard

CHI Ceramic Flatiron

CHI Silk Infusion Serum

Rat Tail Comb

Wide tooth Comb

Hair Clips to Section

Bobby Pins for pin curling (optional)

Keon's hair; Natural(furthest left) vs. Straightened(center, right)

Procedures:

1) Wash hair with the Shea Moisture Organic Coconut and Hibiscus Curl & Shine Shampoo. We usually co-wash but when flat ironing, we find it better to have clean hair so that your hair will not be weighed down and so that it will have a weightless feel and look.

2) Apply the Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Restorative conditioner while your hair is wet. Gently detangle your hair with the wide tooth comb while the conditioner is still in your hair and afterwards completely rinse out the conditioner.

3)Spray the CHI 44 Iron Guard throughout your hair and make sure you apply the product to your ends. Comb the product through your hair to ensure that the heat protectant has been applied all over your head.

4) With the blow dryer on a medium heat setting, use the round brush along with the blow dryer and the concentrator nozzle to dry your hair (the technique used at Dominican salons). We find that when we use this method we get less breakage versus using the comb attachment for the blow dryer. This method also gets your hair very straight so we don't have to go over our hair with the flatiron more than two times. The Silver Bird Conair blow dryer gets very hot so we didn't have to use a very high heat setting. Blow drying your hair using this method will take more time but it shouldn't be that way because of the heat setting being too low. Your blow dryer may be different so you may need a hotter setting but do be aware of how much heat you're putting on your hair and be sure to take the proper precautions in protecting your hair while using large amounts of heat.

5)  After blow drying your hair, lightly mist more of the CHI 44 iron guard over your hair but not to the point where you hair starts to shrink again. Section your hair and flatiron using the method of your choice.

6) Take about a dime sized amount of the CHI Silk Infusion and apply it throughout your hair. You don't need a lot of this product; a little does a lot.

Everyone has different methods of flat ironing and this is ours. Straightened hair lasts as long as you allow. At night you should sleep on a satin surface i.e. satin scarf, pillow case, bonnet etc. Also, after straightening neither of us had any heat damage or breakage; our hair returned to its healthy natural state.

Thanks for reading! We hope you enjoy and don't forget to comment and tell us what you think!