How To: Straighten and De-Frizz

I love my big hair. But, like most women, I want what I can't have. Having curly hair is both a blessing and a curse. My hair decides that after using a product that works for a few months, said product will no longer have the same affect...WHAT? I've tried countless of products to tame my unruly hair. Some days are great, some days are good, and some days are bad...so bad. When I straighten my hair, I shave about 15 minutes off getting ready in the morning. I can use the same products, and since I don't straighten my hair everyday, those products go a long way.

When I first started straightening my hair when I was 16, I had no idea what I was doing. It would take me 4 hours to straighten, and because I was so impatient....don't kill me...I would flat iron my hair while it was wet! Ugh! I know, how did my hair not fall off in chunks? I continued to straighten my hair occasionally, 4 hours of straightening really deters one from doing the task often. I did pick up blow drying, but had not been introduced to the world of heat protectant products. I even went as far as relaxing my hair once my freshman year in college....trial and error.

I straighten my hair in the fall and winter months only now, and I've worked a technique that allows me to blow dry and flat iron my hair in 45 minutes - 1 hour. [Much better] Humidity is not my friend, and after going through the process from curly to straight, to have my hair blow up due to frizz...nuh-uh!

So this is for you ladies, who can't seem to get the desired straight look. Or maybe you can, you just need the products to fight the frizz.

How to straighten and fight the frizz:

 



I received a $10 off coupon from Beauty Brands, and in the last hours of use, I snagged the CHI Straight Guard styling cream. I have never used CHI products before, aside from my styling tools, and wanted to see if it was worth all the rage. So far...it's working nicely.




1. Find a hair treatment

Beauty Brands used to sell Liquid Keratin, but do not any longer...made me very sad :( Liquid Keratin's 30 day treatment, fights the frizz, treats, and protects my hair from heat. Keratin is a restorative treatment, strengthening and making the hair more resilient [Borday]. After washing my hair with Liquid Keratin shampoo, I flip my hair over, apply the treatment, and wrap my hair in a bun. This treatment must sit for 30 minutes before heat is applied. After 30 minutes I use a round brush and hair dryer to seal the treatment to the hair follicle.

 

You can find the 30-day treatment here, and Liquid Keratin's new 60-day treatment, here. You can also find the starter set, here.

 

2. Blow Dry

For those of you that are lucky, and can end their straightening experience here...I envy you. My hair goes from a curly mess, to afro. I separate my hair into two sections, and blow dry from root to end.

3. Heat Protectant and Flat Iron

I go back to separating my hair into two sections, and applied the CHI Straight Guard. Separating into two additional sections, pig tail style, secure the side you aren't going to begin with. Start with the underside of your hair and work your way. I take about a half inch to an inch and a half of hair, starting from the root, pull down to the end, and repeat. I repeat this step twice per strand. It's really hard to take a picture of this process when no one is home. But this is what I have...

I hate using clips...although I should. I usually put the section of hair I haven't gotten to into my mouth. Do what works best for ;)

And there you go...no afro, no frizz...straight!

Additional Products I use:

Once the straightening process is complete, I use a dime size of Redken Smooth Lock [which can also be used as a heat protectant] to tame the flyaways, and keep my hair smooth and soft. I bought mine when Beauty Brands had their BOGO product sale, and one has lasted me nearly two years. You can also find it, here.

 

To top it off, I do a quick once over with Mark Hill's Bedazzled which you can find here. It adds shine, smells wonderful, and of course...protects against humidity. I know...that's a lot of humidity protection...but here in NC, it's necessary.

 





Hope you all have a great night!













My morning routine

Because it takes me about 30 minutes to drive to work every morning, I've created a routine to ensure that I am ready and in the car by 9:00 a.m. I have to set multiple alarms in the morning because I'm terrified I'll oversleep and show up to work late. I set three alarms starting at 7:00 a.m. with the last one set to go off at 7:30 a.m. I like to give myself time in the morning to wake, so I browse my phone for 30 minutes checking Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Blogger and sometimes Youtube. Once I'm ready to rise out of bed, I pick what I am going to wear for the day. I also pack my backpack with workout gear, makeup remover wipes and water for days that I attend Zumba. You can find my last post on Zumba, here.

Here is what I wore today:

Dress: Ross // Cardigan: American Eagle // Sandals: Target

NAIL:

My mom was wearing a beautiful coral color that I loved and I had to grab the color myself. I ran to Walgreen's last night and bought the color by Wet n' Wild called Blazed which you can find, here.

I really love this color. Although the polish itself is a little watery, I went over each nail twice and so far so good. I would have applied a third coat, but it took a little while for the polish to dry. 

But..for a dollar, I like it.

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POST SHOWER:

 I dry and apply.

My skin tone is extremely uneven and I have dark spots to boot. I have found that using Jergens has really helped get rid of those pesky dark spots and evened the tone of my skin.

Hair: 

With it being so hot out, I've left my hair curly. To tame the curls and fight the frizz, I use Marc Anthony's "Strictly Curls" and Pantene's "Beautiful Lengths." So far this combination seems to be working.

Make-up: 

Doing my make-up is my favorite part of the morning. I am extremely oily, and much like my hair, I have to try a combination of products before finding something that seems to work.

What do you do to keep the oil at bay? 

No7 "Beautiful Skin T-Zone Rescue"// Smashbox "PhotoFinish Primer"// Benefit "Stay Don't Stray Eye Shadow Primer"// Too Faced "Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar" [used for eyebrows and eye shadow]// Maybelline "Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation" [#310]// BareMinerals "Matte Foundation" [W30]// Maybelline "The Falsies Mascara"

What do you do to keep the oil at bay?

Have a great night all!

Easy hair tutorial

I have a love/hate relationship with my hair, as I am sure most people do. I have religiously checked Pinterest for ideas on how to do my hair each day. Why you ask? Well, let me tell you....

• Reason #1: To find ways to tame my hair on those curly unruly days.
• Reason #2: To have something different to do with my hair instead of leaving it stick straight.

For the last week and a half, Pinterest has been extremely helpful. This week, I have flat ironed my hair and used these two tutorials.

So I attempted them....

As you can see, I only have the braid. The curls fell out by the time I arrived to work. It was unfortunate, it looked really good! It's funny that I have naturally curly hair, and yet while straight, my hair refuses to hold a curl. Punishment I suppose. Luckily, these tutorials were very easy to follow. I have seen numerous Pinterest fails and was hoping I would not be among them. I would grant this a success; curl fail and all. 

Have a great night all!