Since I took Marlie to the salon in March, and she had her hair blown out and flat ironed for the first time, she has insisted I do that EVERY TIME I WASH HER HAIR. And honestly, since it is sooooo much easier to keep the tangles under control when it's flat ironed, I've complied to her wishes. It's a fun time when we do her hair. She sits on the counter of my bathroom vanity while I do her hair. Sometimes we talk about fairies. Sometimes we talk about God, Heaven and her deceased Ethiopian parents. Sometimes we sing songs from The Sound of Music.
Flat ironing her hair is certainly much kinder on the fingers than braiding. It has been soooooooo long since I left her hair free (in its original state) that it took quite a bit of convincing, but she agreed to leave it curly the other day. Well... I don't know if it's the fact that the flat ironing allowed her hair to get longer without breaking under the combing out of tangles, or if her hair itself doesn't want to be curly anymore. Because it is now no where near as curly as it was before we started flat ironing it. Perhaps someone with more experience flat ironing hair can weigh in on why this is.
I used to be able to get a seriously awesome 'fro out of her, but now it's just long and wavy. It's very cute. I like her hair in all it's forms. But then we had the attack of the tangles again and it reminded me why I've been doing all the flat ironing on her hair. So we're back to flat ironing.
Today she asked for pigtails. This was the first time I've done them with her flat ironed hair.
After I finished her hair, she declared that she loves loves LOVES her hair and she wants it to be in pigtails every day for the rest of her life. *snort* She's such a girl. Anyway, it's absolutely insane how blowing out her hair and flat ironing it, will take her hair from thick and tangle-prone to thin and silky. It's like magic.
9 comments:
When you are blow-drying the hair and constantly straightening it; you loosen the natural curl pattern. And yes, it is a heck of a lot easier to maintain. But when she gets tangles, mist with a leave-in and comb from the ends towards the scalp. Took me years to learn. Lol
Love love love how u love her hair. U r doing a great job. But yes straightening it often will change the structure of the hair. Since AA hair is straightened when we perm it the heat of the flat irons act the same way. Many ppl will boast about being "natural" and perm free and yet get their hair pressed or flatironed so often it becomes limp and lacks the curl pattern. If u went an equal amount of time without the heat and misting it it would probably resume. I love it all! Such a cutie!
Unfortunately, repeated use of heat can alter the curl pattern. If it has not been done that often sometimes the pattern will return but more often than not that hair is considered "heat damaged" or in kinder terms "permanently altered" and will not revert.
Thank you Gallifry, Robbin and D for answering my question. I knew the answer was out there and I appreciate you guys sharing your wisdom with me!
Her pigtails are too cute...! So is her fairy shirt, I'd so wear it. Sigh. I wish I could, lol
When you flat iron hair do you put anything in her hair after you are finished straightening? You do a great job on your daughters hair it's grown alot since March. How often do you wash her hair?
Thank you Anonymous, I use the Thermafuse Dry Oil treatment in her hair both before and after I flat iron it. You can see a picture of the product here:
http://marlieshair.blogspot.com/search/label/Flat%20Ironing
How do you get it flat right down to the roots without burning her? I've just started trying flat ironing with my Haitian dd who has 4b hair. It took me 2 hours from washing it, detangling (not as hard now I've got a system),blow drying and flat ironing. The roots are still poofy and are hard to get a comb through. Any tips?
Patience, I get as close to her scalp as I physically can, but I do it just for a milisecond before I move the iron down the hair. So I'll often do that upper part more than once. Also I concentrate on the scalp area when I'm blowing it dry and that helps loosen it up some.
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