…I decided to go ahead and flat iron my hair. I was on a No Heat Challenge until June of this year but once I thought about it, I realized that’s insane. I live in Humidity City, USA and by June things will be completely out of hand. Plus I want to get back to the pool by June, both for training and for fun with the kids!
As usual I did things differently than the last time I flat ironed. Honestly, I am still trying to perfect this process. Since I only flat iron every few months, that doesn’t give me a lot of practice. However, I’m improving with each try. Below is what I did this time around.
- Shampoo’d with diluted Suave Clarifying Shampoo
- Deep conditioned with Organix Coconut Milk Conditioner
- Rolled hair with large flexi rods and air dried
- Applied Garnier Blow Dry Perfector Straightening Balm, Sleek and Shine, 5.1 Fluid Ounce
- to each section and blowdried (more to add on this product below)
- Applied scant amounts of Aveda Brilliant Anti-Humectant Pomade
- Flat ironed with GVP Flat iron
Here are some pictures of the process
After blow out
I put it up in a ponytail because the roots were still a bit damp and I was waiting for them to air dry.That's when I noticed that my edges still had a bit of conditioner in them that I'd neglected to wash out. It was causing a flaky residue.
I ended up having to rinse my edges (very carefully!) to get the product out. I was rewarded with these little ringlets. As you may have read, my edges are recovering from post partum shedding. The area is thin but has had pretty good growth considering that they were near bald at one point
Close up
The product that I used from Garnier was just something I picked up in the grocery store. My main goal this time around was to use a ton of silicones in my products. I normally use a non- silicone deep conditioner and then use ‘cones in my heat protectant or leave in. I figured I might as well use them all the way through. That was my first change.
My second was using flexi rods, which have been under my bathroom sink since Moses was a baby, to stretch out the hair before blow drying it. I think the last time I straightened my hair, I did a rollerset with an attempt to get it as smooth as possible. This time, I was just trying to stretch the hair out and get it mostly dry. It was faster than rollersetting the other way and I just wasn’t in the mood.
Back to the product from Garnier. What I used is called Garnier Blow Dry Perfector Straightening Balm, Sleek and Shine.
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This stuff really put doubt in my mind. First, it said that it lasted up to 7 shampoos. That sounds like some kind of relaxer or Brazilian Keratin Treatment to me. And I’m scared to death that one day one of these companies is going to sneak some kind of relaxing agent into their products. Also, there are warnings not to use it on relaxed hair, bleached hair, and you need to wear gloves when applying it? Heck no! Something ain’t right!
So I get home and read the reviews. I dodged a bullet. The reviews on Amazon are HORRIBLE! People’s hair falling out, texture forever damaged. It’s scary what some of these companies will put on the market. Anyway, please don’t confuse what I used with that kit.
Anyhoo, here is the finished result. I have to say, it turned out nicely. I pin curled my hair to wear it down but mostly I’ve been wearing it in a bun.
Pin curls
I pinned kind of big sections because I've found that if I use smaller sections, it creates more volume.
Would it be triflin' if I wore this out somewhere? 
Pulled my curls forward
Even thought it turned out nicely, I was still a little disappointed that my hair hasn’t appeared to have grown much since the last time I straightened it. Excuse me, I hadn’t retained much length since the last time I straightened it. At any rate, here is my length check.
As my hair gets longer, it gets harder to take pictures. This photo is courtesy of my 5 year old. I knew he'd start earning his keep around here! lol
This was almost a year ago vs today
So I see a little growth. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty happy with my length but I would love to see waist length just to say that I did it. I know that I’ve not been pampering my hair as I should so this is my own fault.
All I can do is try again…no regrets, right?
{ 13 comments }
I wouldn’t call you necessarily “wrong”, just that your reasoning does not apply to me.I do understand where you’re coming from because I was of the same mind when I first considered going natural.
So, that’s about it. I have a feeling I may be stopping work sooner that I anticipated. I love being close to my new little one, but miss being myself…relatively pain free. I can’t wait to get back into my running and biking…and of course, my races.
