Author Lainee Read
Post Originally Published on SamVilla.com
If you straighten your hair, you know it takes both time and skill, and you often wish you had more of both. We have this crazy idea; the faster we go over the hair with the flat iron, the quicker the process will be. We tend to believe in this philosophy when we blow dry as well; we shake the blow dryer around frantically and end up with out of control, frizzy hair. If you want to know the real solution - SLOW DOWN TO SPEED IT UP... trust us!
Here are a few tips for the fastest way to straighten hair:
- Clean hair straightens better, so start out with either shampooed hair the day of or night before, or use a dry shampoo to prep your strands. When the hair is dirty, it's more likely to smell when compressed with an iron. If hair has excess oil, this can actually be beneficial; oil adds slip and helps protect hair.
- Always work with a heat protectant product anytime you are using hot tools, because heat can cause damage. Products are not an option, they are a necessity to protect hair, reduce frizz and add slip - especially on medium to coarse hair textures. We suggest applying Redken Align 12 protective straightening lotion to each section before compressing.
- Wrap dry (brush in X pattern with blow dryer directing heat directly behind the brush) hair with the Sam Villa Professional Ionic Blow Dryer and Sam Villa Paddle Brush, stretching hair to reduce curl pattern and help smooth (if hair is already dry, skip this step).
- Section hair in half above the ear, leaving the crown/top layers pinned up and the rest left down. Use your Sam Villa Sleekr Straightening Iron to iron to work through the bottom section. The size of your section can be a little larger here, (1/4" - 1/2" thick) depending on the density of your hair. The width of your section should never be wider than the plates on your flat iron. Using medium compression and slow-to-medium speed, work through the hair and don’t worry about being super precise, since this hair is typically not seen.
- Take down a section from the top half (this is the hair that everyone does see) and pass the iron slowly through the hair, and remember, slow down to speed up. Hair texture will come into play – coarser textures will take require more compression and a slower pass while finer textures need less compression and time.
- Stay in control of your sections for the best possible results. Continue working through the top section, repeating the process we just mentioned above, until the entire top half is straightened.
- Finish with Redken Control Addict 28 Strong Hold Anti-Humidity Hair Spray. If your hair is dry or damaged, we recommend applying Redken Diamond Oil Shatterproof Shine after you flat iron your hair, to add back a little moisture and shine.
Your favorite Sam Villa goodies to get the look are on sale in the Bangstyle Store! Be sure to pick them up to get straight hair in no time flat!
We absolutely love hearing from you and always appreciate new tips, so please feel free to leave your favorite way to straighten your hair in the comments below! & be sure to follow us on INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK and YOUTUBE and stalk us on Bangstyle for more tips and tricks.
