LAURENCE G. HAYNES - REVIEWS 2022
LAURIE KAY
Fashion and Beauty
by Research Analyst

Hairstyles, Cool Cuts, How to Style Your Hair

Articles about hairstyles, hair coloring, hair loss products, shampoos, and conditioners.

Fashion and Beauty

Fashion & beauty topics describe new products and techniques and how to use them for beautifying, preserving, or altering our appearance. Cosmetics have been around since the fourth millennium BC. Though fashion was once only a topic for the wealthy, it is now big business and a concern of even young schoolchildren. Being around others all the … Keep Reading →


Heat Training Natural Hair Straightening Tips

By Research Analyst

See all 7 photos
Grow Natural Hair with Heat Training

Transitioning to Natural Hair with Heat Training

Using heat to straighten natural hair is becoming a solution for not only changing the texture of the hair but to help the hair last longer in straight styles without the fear of the virgin black hair reverting from the changing climate or humidity.

Heat Training for Winter Natural Hairstyles

As a natural girl myself I find that excessive heat from flat irons actually causes breakage after repeat use for several months at a time, but I must admit I did not religiously keep my new growth straightened out so the breakage occurred when the heat trained hair connected to the course new growth.My experience is not typical and most heat training enthusiasts will say that they have found the perfect solution for achieving the look of a relaxer without the damaging chemicals.

One of the things about going natural is learning new growth styling tips.

The thing that happens with chemical relaxers is that it breaks down the hair and causes it to be thin, weak and stringy.

Those who decide to grow out the relaxer will find that the new growth is much stronger and usually is kinky coily curls that has a thick texture compared to the weaker straightened ends.

Some have turned to heat training to tame the unruly, frizzy hard to manage hair into a silky smooth straight finish.

By treating the new growth only one can save their hair from undue damage.

Hair professionals recommend using a heat protectant on clean dry hair as well as keeping the heat temperature control on the flat iron between 250 and 350 degrees.

Will heat training work for my natural hair?

Natural hair wearers who are getting used to their new hair texture may still like the benefits of wearing straight hairstyles.

This method of using thermal heat can allow for the best of both worlds, most of the time the hair will revert back when wet or shampooed to reveal the curly locks you enjoy.

Only when the heat is not used properly that you will notice that the hair stays straight even after being wet.

I experienced this after flat ironing my natural hair on a daily basis it lead to me losing my natural curl pattern as well as breakage once my new hair growth began to show.

In my case in order for me to keep my hair from breaking I would have had to continue damaging the new growth with heat and I did not want to do this because I wanted to retain my curl pattern.

If you want to really straight hair and you have been natural for over a year or more than you definitely want to try the Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium Flat Iron. Many rave reviews can be found online regarding this heat styling tool.

Kelly Rowland
Brandy Norwood

Picking the Right Heat Styling Irons

It is important to buy the right heat styling iron to avoid damaging your hair.

What to look for in the next flat iron you purchase

The cost of the flat iron is the first thing you should look at when thinking of buying a new heat styling tool. Just because the price is cheap does not mean it is a quality iron.

  • Prices

Most of the time a ceramic styling iron is affordable online from $29.99 or less. The problem with these types of low cost hair straightening tools is that they are made from cheap materials that will aid in damaging your hair on repeated usage.

The higher the cost of the cermac styling flat iron the better the quality of the non metallic material used to distribute heat, protect and produce shine to your hair.

  • Ceramic plates

Also you want to understand the difference between tourmaline ceramic, titanium ceramic, and painted aluminum plates that can be found at most local drugstores.

Some of the best and most expensive heat styling irons are made by Chi, Hairart, FHI and GHD the reason is that they are used by professional hair stylist and are made from the best quality materials for hot tools.

  • Heat settings

You should be able to see the heat settings and they should be adjustable. Make sure that it does not just say: low, medium and high or gentle and hot because you will not know how hot the iron is getting when straightening your hair.

Thick unruly curls need the right amount of heat to tame or train into manageability. So it is recommended to have your heat settings not set too high with the proper temperature control.

  • Swivel cord

As you are probably aware while straightening your hair it is best to have a flat iron with a swivel cord for ease of use and to prevent tangling and will allow you to flip, twist, straighten or curl your hair.

Vote for your Best Method

How Do You Straighten Your Natural Hair?

  • Flat Iron
  • Blow Dryer
  • Keratin Treatment
  • Stretching
  • Textlaxer
  • Wet Set Rollers
See results without voting

Black Hair Care Forums

Black Hair Science - Forum for black women who desire to understand the science of healthy black hair care and maintenance.

Nappturality.com - Black African American Natural Hair Resource for photos, style tips and salon information.

Long Hair Care Forum - Ultimate Hair Care Beauty Resource for women of color

Black Hair Planet - Black Hair Care Forum for Long Hair Care, Natural Hair Care, and African American Hair Tips

Black Hair Media - Online source for Hair Care and Beauty Information for Women of Color.

Will I lose my curl pattern after heat training?

Professional stylist say that you can use heat to train your hair to have a looser curl texture.

If you over process your hair with heavy greasy oils and too much heat it will stay straight.

Most girls with natural hair want to retain some wavy texture or curls for co-washes and wash and go's.

So it will be a thin line between staying naturally curly and also wearing heat trained hairstyles.

I guess it can be done but it will take some experience and proper care to achieve the results your looking for.

Using Heat Training as a Natural Relaxer

Some woman have decided that natural hair or always wearing their hair in a kinky, coily, curly, texturized pattern is not for them. Not everyone wants to wear their hair in a curly hairstyle.

It could be because of their busy schedules or career choices, whatever the case rocking a head full of curls just may not be everyones cup of tea.

That is why heat training is a option for those who want to alter their natural curl pattern without using chemicals.

It is believed that if the right amount of heat is used on the hair it can be beneficial and allow for straight hairstyles on a day to day basis.

Once the hair is straightened it can easily be wrapped and set under a dryer. After several uses of this technique the hair will retain its straight pattern even after being washed.

Not everyone agrees that heat training is good for the hair and some feel that it is just another way of creating a sexiness to heat damaged hair.

training your curly hair to be straight
Straightening Hair with Heat Styling Irons

Will hair relaxers make your hair grow or is natural hair better?

Apparently if your hair is straightened with chemicals or it is taken care of with stretching and heat doesn't make a difference. What makes your hair grow is dependent on how well you take care of your body.

Eating enough fruits, vegetables, grains, taking a multivitamin, relieving stress by exercising and drinking plenty of water along with using hair products that will retain the right amount of moisture plays a big part in your overall hair health.

The enemy to hair growth is hair styling products that causes your hair to be dry and brittle, which leads to breakage or damage and this can happen while combing, brushing or pulling on hair.

Proper hair care is the key to hair growth no matter what alternative hair straightening method you choose to use.

Is hair damage the reason for loss of hair growth?

Avoiding chemicals to grow healthy hair is why many African American women choose to go natural but is heat training the new natural relaxer?

Hair damage is the main reason the women of color have a hard time growing their hair long.

With the right hair treatment ethnic woman can grow long lengths of hair from shoulder length, bra length, waist length and even thigh length.

Some hair videos show natural hair enthusiasts doing length checks every 3 to 6 months and most will have achieved their hair length goals within 2 to 3 years.

Heat Therapy Protection from Heat Styling Appliances

You want to look for products that will protect hair from the drying and damaging effects of styling appliances. The goal is to prevent breakage for healthy looking hair.

  • TRESemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Protective Spray
  • CHI 44 Iron Guard Thermal Protection Spray
  • CHI Silk Infusion, Silk Reconstructing Complex
  • Nexxus Heat Protexx Heat Protection Styling Spray
  • IC Hair Polisher Heat Protector Straightening Serum
  • Sedu Smoothing Heat Protecting Boost

Some products will say that they are a heat activated thermo protector but that does not really mean much.

Heat Protectant for Heat Damaged Hair

Reduce the effects of over-processing your hair with chemicals or heat which can weaken hair proteins, dry out moisture and oil from the hair cuticles.

You will need a conditioning product that will coat the hair during hair styling with blow dryers, curling irons, and flat irons.

Is my hair damaged from heat?

Truth be told any heat that is applied to your hair is going to damage it.

The amount of heat in degrees on a flat iron or heat styling tool can be regulated and how often you use the heat can make a big difference in the overall health of the hair follicles.

But as I have mentioned before one will have to question if thermalaxing is any better than using chemical relaxers.

How to protect your hair from heat training techniques

Many who use this technique swear by it and state that they are careful not to damage their hair.

Some say that they use heat protectants or that they make sure the heat on the styling iron is not higher than 350 degrees.

Others will say that heat training is a technique that should only be done by licensed and trained hair experts.

Then you will see those who choose to do their hair at home and they have a method that they use to train or manage their natural hair without damage.

Some common heat protective products for hair

The best heat thermal protection for hair straightening starts with finding anti frizz polishing treatment sprays and serums.

Not all products that promise to protect your hair from heat damage actually work. The price you pay is always a way to tell if you are getting quality hair care tools.

As the saying goes you get what you pay for and this is also true when it comes to using quality fortifiers.

Ashanti

Alternative Hair Straightening Techniques

There are many ways to straighten coily, curly and kinky hair. Some of these are considered natural and healthy for the hair while others are considered damaging and harmful.

As you are probably aware the debate is long and many have their own opinion of what is best for natural hair. You will find that it is up to you to determine what will work best for your lifestyle and daily hair care routine.

What works for one person may not work for you. Misinformation and speculation makes it harder to know the truth.Hair experts, cosmetologists and chemist will often disagree when discussing what is best for our overall health and this is due to the profitability of many of these products and techniques.

Common ways of straightening naturally curly hair

Textlaxing/Texturizers: The use of a S-curl or texturizer is just another name for a mild chemical relaxer, these usually have the same ingredients as a regular relaxer it just is has less strength so as to keep a wavy curl pattern.

Natural hair curl patterns are altered or loosened by texlaxing to reduce shrinkage produce curl enhancing results.

Keratin Brazilian Treatments: The misconception is that this is a brand or chemical but the keratin itself is just a protein found in our hair, and nails. Like a coating for protecting the hair follicles to make it healthier shiner, stronger and smoother.

The straightening process uses harsh chemicals that can cause health issues if not used properly. It is best to repair your hair with keratin hair products that do not change your hair molecular structure.

Tyra with Straight Hair

Thermal Heat Straightening: With a heat styling tool or flat iron one can use the heat to train their hair to be straight even after being wet.

It takes time for the hair to break down from the continued use of heat products such as blow dryers and straightening combs but once you do it repeatedly the natural curl pattern will soon become straighter.

Hair Stretching: Many who have worn natural hair and do not like the shrinkage will start to use braid outs and twists outs to stretch the hair and after a few days to a week of re-braiding and re-twisting the hair will maintain a straighter smoother look that can be styled and maintained for a longer length of time between washes.

Wet Set Hair Wrapping: As long as you have a hooded dryer you can put your hair in big rollers while it is still damp and sit under a dryer once the hair is completely dry it will take on a smooth straight look which can be wrapped and secured with saran wrap to brush out into a preferred style each day.

The pros and cons can most often be seen from trial and error. You can not always think that you will get the same results as the next person because of many factors such as genetics, age, nutritional balance, hormones, environmental climate and day to day maintenance.

All of these factors must be taken into consideration when you are watching a video, reading a print magazine article or buying a book on hair.

How to flat iron new growth video by kellyekell


How to Use Vitamins for Faster Natural Hair Growth

By Research Analyst

See all 4 photos
Gelila Bekele Long Natural Hair

Herbal Hair Loss Remedies

Eating for instant hair growth

My journey lead me to finding a very interesting article about food and vitamins. Interestingly what we eat or do not eat can have a major effect on our skin, hair and nails.

The body will take all the nutrients from our food and make sure that our organs get them first, so our hair is the last to get any type of beneficial help from our daily diet.

It will take extra effort to feed our hair what it needs to grow long thick and healthy. It will be a major educational processes for those who are transitioning to natural hair from relaxers is to learn new hair maintenance skills. One of those being that the hair pattern is now going to be curly and it will lead to shrinkage.

Homemade Hair Recipes

With naturally kinky coily hair being so dry by default due to the oil from our scalp not sufficient enough to reach the ends each day, we personally have to add or apply moisturizing hair products such as cream based leave in conditioners and essential oils.

Rosemary: This perennial herb which plant is part of the mint leaves Lamiaceae. Rosemary essential oil to stimulate hair growth.

Saw Palmetto: An extract from a fruit, that is rich in fatty acids and phytosterols, used as food and medicine and believed to help with baldness.

Fenugreek: Is used as an herb and a spice. The plant has seeds that are ground to a powder, best known for relieving the common cold and nourishing the scalp for fuller hair encouraging regrowth.

Burdock Root: Contains potassium, calcium and amino acids, comes from a plant and can be used as a food or drink. it is a medicinal herb that can be used as an oil extract as a scalp treatment to improve hair strength, shine and reduce hair loss.

It is important to note that not all herbal remedies are safe for everyone, studies show that the herbal medicine can interfere with those who are taking prescribed medications, so it is recommended that you consult a doctor before taking any type of Botanical Dietary Supplements.

Learn How to Grow Long Natural Hair

For those seeking ways to increase the length of their hair it can be a challenge especially if you lack knowledge about how hair grows. One of the things that you will notice that once you decide to go natural and eliminate perms or chemicals from your hair care routine it is like learning a new skill.

Natural hair behaves differently than straight hair. With chemically treated hair the texture and manageability of African American hair changes due to the consistency of the thinning. For instance when the hair is wet it can be very fragile and if not handled with care can easily break off, leading to short hair that does not grow very long.

In my quest to learn about the hair and how it grows I read books and journals to understand what makes the hair strong. Your goal should be to retain length, what this means is that if you can save the ends of your curly hair from damage then it will be like preserving it each month.

Imagine if your hair breaks off or splits at the ends from dryness or harsh hair products then every few inches your hair grows it will not appear to be getting any longer. What we do to our hair on the outside as far as using styling tools and products can contribute to the health of our natural hair just as much as what we do for our body and overall health and nutrition.

Long Kinky Curly Hair

Adding Oil to Natural Hair

Some of the best essential oils for our hair comes in a vitamin based formula such as vitamin E, olive oil, tea tree oil or shea butter.

Studies show that our hair also should receive plenty of water. I know that this is a shocking discovering for many newly naturals because they ran from water for so many years to prevent their permed hair from getting messed up.

The freedom of having coils, kinks and textured hair is that there is no need to run from the rain or humid atmosphere, the curls love the misty mornings and wet days. So I recommend using a water bottle to spray your hair on a daily basis to add the extra moisture it misses.

Using a multivitamin for hair health

Starting with adding an multi-vitamin to each meal with a large glass of water to wash down the minerals, vitamin B complex and zinc, to help the hair grow full and maintain its shine.

The other thing that I found interesting was the fact that exercise actually helps the hair to receive blood circulation from the scalp.

So adding a workout routine along with a healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, plenty of water is the best way to grow your natural hair from the inside out.

I will give you a list of some of the best hair vitamins for hair growth to avoid the causes and symptoms of hair loss.

Best hair supplements for natural hair:

  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin B-1
  • Vitamin B-2
  • Vitamin B-3
  • Vitamin B-5
  • Vitamin B-6
  • Vitamin B-9
  • Vitamin B-12
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin D
  • Biotin
  • Calcium

Many of the foods that promote hair growth have these vitamins in them but because of stress in our lives or sweating out the nutrition we will have to add additional supplements to help with the progress of getting hair that is past shoulder length.

Protein iron and fatty acids can come from walnuts, fish, avocados, whole grains and dark leafy green vegetables.

Tips for Herbal Hair Re-Growth

Many times after successfully growing our hair long it can end up breaking, getting damage due to excessive heat such as experienced from flat irons or pressing combs.

Losing hair length is not always due to a chemical, it can be from not detangling the hair properly or using blow drying combs or even hair brushes, combs and styling gels.

My Experience with Hair Damage

I personally experienced this myself, after several months of growing my hair long in the front, it took me several months but I had finally reached chin length for my bangs. It was so great because I could pull it down past my eyes and flip my hair up with rollers.

Since I prefer big full hair with volume the look was very attractive, then I damaged the hair by flat ironing it straight everyday. Also I used a extra hold styling gel to lay down my edges, after doing this for a few months, I began to notice my curl pattern was loose it would not curl up when wet.

Next as my hair continued to grow, the new growth was thicker than my heat damaged ends, so to my disappointment the hair that was long in the front broke off. Right at the place where my thick new growth touched the straighter hair. It was a sad experience so I am in the process of regrowing the hair in the front of my bangs.

Maintaining Kinky Hair
Sabina Karlsson Long Red Natural Hair

References:

Advice for Growing African American Hair Long

o if you find yourself trying to grow back hair that was damaged from hair styling products then you will want to keep reading. It is time to nurture the new hair with moisture and herbal supplements to help the process go by faster by eating the right vitamins.

One of the benefits of taking flaxseed oil tablets is that they will allow you to get the omega 3 that really is good for naturally curly kinky hair growth. I noticed my hair grow faster and longer after taking them for a few weeks with each meal.

Many herbal remedies provide the needed minerals that our natural hair lacks, by helping it regain shine and elasticity. It is best to try and avoid letting your hair get dried out, if this happens the brittle ends will continue to snap off and make it harder to get the length of hair you seek.

How to Grow Back Damaged Hair

My goal is to have waist length hair, it will be a true high dream to reach, but I know that it is possible with dedication and keeping my hair protected with hairstyles that promote retention.

To grow african american hair long it will take learning what herbal supplements, vitamins as well as dietary nutrition plans are best to incorporate into your lifestyle to promote healthy growing hair from year to year.

It is a process and can take many years to achieve the desired length you seek, keep reading books, stay healthy with diet and exercise. Drink plenty of water along with a multi-vitamin.

Retaining Length is the Secret to Hair Growth

Practice protective styling to retain length of hair and avoid heat damaging hair products that can cause breakage.

Understanding how the hair grows and what steps are needed to maintain and manage naturally kinky coily and curly textured hair is a life long journey that is peppered with rewarding moments.

After committing to using only natural hair products that promote healthy hair it will lead to a new learning curve as your hair reaches different lengths of ear length, cheek length, chin length, neck length, shoulder length, bra strap length and beyond to waist length and past the back of your knee.

Most who have achieved the goal of long natural hair find that their daily routine consists of preserving their curls through care and having the right moisturizing hair products and protective styles.

Grow Long Hair Naturally