If you have curly hair, the struggle of keeping hair straight is not unknown to you. We always find it difficult to find a suitable routine for making our straightened hair last longer. This is why many of us opt for regular heat styling sessions with our hair straighteners.
It’s normal to feel the urge of making your hair look straight and sleek if you are not a fan of curly hair. We often find many women who wake up in the morning, take a shower, and immediately start their heat styling session. And that too on a regular basis.
But how beneficial is it to actually do that, and have you ever wondered what happens to your hair when you straighten it frequently? Let’s know in detail and determine how often your hair should be straightened by applying heat.
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What Does a Hair Straightener Do to Your Hair?
Whenever you are using a hair straightener to straighten out your curly hair, you are using a comb and your straightener to make sure the styling is proper. Now, as you keep on straightening the same piece of hair continuously, it causes damage to the cuticle. Also, the immense amount of heat creates an adverse effect on the cortex of your hair, which results in hair breakage.
This is why you will notice that your hair becomes dull and susceptible to breakage when you use your hair straightener on a regular basis.
How Can I Keep My Curly Hair Straight for Longer?
Those with coarse, curly hair know the struggle when it comes to keeping their hair straight. Without following the right steps, it becomes impossible to keep the straightened-out look intact. This is why many of us do the mistake of using a hair straightener frequently, which causes ultimate damage to our strands.
If you want your hair to look straight for a longer amount of time, you need to maintain some basic things.
First of all, ALWAYS start the straightening process with completely clean hair. Make sure that your hair is free from any types of buildups or product residues to make the best out of your straightening session.
When you are straightening your hair, make sure not to go over 400 degrees. After you have completed the straightening process, your next step is to ensure that the style stays longer. For that, here are a few tips that might help you along the way:
- Grab a dry shampoo to keep your scalp clean and refreshed. Washing your hair with water will ruin the straightened look, so you need to part your hair and rub the dry shampoo in. It will help to take care of the greasiness and keep your scalp feeling fresh.
- The next thing you need to do is take your hairbrush and brush out your hair properly to make sure there’s no tangle.
- Once it’s done, take a little amount of smoothing serum and apply it to the ends of your hair and the edges.
The final and most important thing is to wrap your hair before you go to sleep. Take your small-tooth comb and start wrapping your hair around your head. Use a satin scarf to secure the wrapped hair in place. You can also use an added layer of protection if you want to keep things all tight and neat.
Following these simple steps will help you to keep your hair straight for a longer amount of time, and the frequency of using your hair straightener will be reduced.
So, How Often Should I Use My Hair Straightener?
The best way to determine how often you should be straightening your hair actually depends on the condition of your hair. For those with severely damaged strands, it’s better not to go for frequent heat styling sessions because your hair needs to rest and settle. So, not straightening your hair more than once a month is recommended in this case.
However, if your hair can really handle it, you can switch it to no more than once a week. If you find that your style is not up to the mark the very next day, then just switch back to your natural hair look.
Other than that, we have already mentioned how you can keep the straight look intact for longer, so make sure to follow those steps.
Tips to Avoid Heat Damage
The reason why you cannot use your hair straightener regularly is because of the heat damage that’s going to ruin your hair. So you need to know the tricks to avoid damage in order to protect your precious hair. Here is our short guide to doing so:
- The first and foremost thing, and we cannot stress this enough, is to use a heat protectant spray on your dry hair before applying the heat. This product works to protect your hair from the damage of heat, so it’s essential.
- The next important tip is not to hold your hair straightener in one place for a longer amount of time. If you have done this before, never repeat it again because you are severely damaging your hair in the process.
- Do not go over the same piece of hair again and again while you’re straightening. Just take small pieces of hair into account, hold your hair straightener, and then using your hair comb, straighten down the length. This helps to avoid repetition.
Final Thoughts
Hair straighteners have captured a large amount of the hair industry, and their popularity is not going to end soon. But that doesn’t mean you are going to compromise the health of your hair for a temporary moment of beauty. Because using hair straighteners regularly will cause your hair to become dull and damaged in the long run, and no one wants to end up with strands like that.
So, as we have mentioned above, avoid straightening your hair frequently and let your hair breathe and be free. Make sure to deep condition your hair even if you are opting for lesser hair straightening sessions, and never forget to keep a heat protectant spray on your vanity. Rather, make it your best friend for the upcoming days!
