SilkenDove: heat styling

Showing posts with label heat styling. Show all posts

Monday, June 6, 2016

Hair Tool Review: Straightening Brush (Straightening Attempt #2)

Hey, beautiful people! I have been saying for awhile that I would try straightening my hair again after my last epic fail. If you are as hair obsessed as I am, then you have probably noticed that the new thing on the market is straightening brushes. They range in price from $30 to $99. I saw one on Groupon, and decided to try it. I figured, at $26, I could trash it if I hated it.

To start off, I washed my hair with Carol’s Daughter BlackVanilla Shampoo, and conditioned with Herbal Essence Long Term Relationship Conditioner. Next, I used Oyin Hair Dew as my leave-in. Finally, because I am in the middle of a battle of the butters, I used Camille Rose Coconut Water Style Setter on the left side of my hair and Camille Rose Almond Jai Twisting Butter on the right. I braided up my hair in two cornrows and let it sit all day Saturday and Sunday to dry.

On Sunday night, I detangled my hair section by section with a wide tooth comb first, and then with my large square paddle brush. As I have learned from others, detangling is crucial. For my heat protectants, I used Carol’s Daughter Chocolat Blow Dry Cream and It’s A 10 Leave-in. Then, I used the straightening brush, running it slowly down each section, and holding the ends taunt until the brush reached near the end. I started using the straightener at 210 degrees Celsius (410 Fahrenheit), and then decreased to 200 degrees (392 Fahrenheit) when I realized that I got the same results.

Overall, I love the ease of using this tool. It is as easy as brushing your hair, and I got my whole head done (including thorough detangling) in an hour and a half! It did not get my hair silk press swinging straight, but it did get it very straight with just a little bit of texture, and it is incredibly soft. Some people are able to get the same results from a blow dryer, but I never have because I am blow dryer challenged. So, this is a win for me.

The only downside to this tool for me was the cheap nature of the materials. It took about 4 tries for me to get it to turn on. Then, when I did, it kept turning itself off periodically. Also, one of the brush sticks and 11 of the little red nubs fell off as I was straightening my hair. One of the nubs even fell down the back of my shirt (not pleasant). I also didn't realize that the degrees would be in Celsius when I purchased this.

I do plan to do this again, but I may buy a new straightening brush before I do. Some of the ladies on Long Hair Care Forum have gotten good results from this one.

====

Blog Post Addition (6/19/2016) - For those of you that asked, I ultimately purchased the Acevivi Hair Straightener Brush because it does not have nubs. When I try it out, I will post a review. Also, in case you are wondering, yes, my curls came back when I washed my hair.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2015 Personal Hair Goals

Hey, beautiful people! Happy New Year! As 2014 is coming to a close, I’ve started thinking about my hair goals for 2015. Here is what I’ve come up with:

Strive for a healthier body. A healthy body leads to healthy hair, so I need to focus on both. This doesn’t mean that I can’t have dessert and cheesy appetizers every once in a while, but I can’t have it every day. Also, now that I’ve had my baby, I have a size goal (not a weight goal) in mind, so I’m going to start exercising again to get to that goal. Don't worry, I don't want to be stick skinny. I like my curves. I just want them a little firmer.

Drink at least 64 oz of water every day. Proper water intake helps with moisture retention levels (more on this later), and it just helps the body function better. While I was pregnant, I got dehydrated very easily, so I started different techniques to help me drink more water. One of those was to buy 32 oz plastic mason jars. I’ve found that if I fill up the jar morning when I get to work, and then fill it up again mid-afternoon, I easily get my 64 oz in without thinking about it.

Maintain healthy hair practices. I am less than 6 inches away from mid-back length (MBL) / bra strap length (BSL). As I’ve said before, I am not setting length as a goal, because I want to focus more on healthy hair practices than length. But, healthy hair practices, such as weekly deep conditioning and baggying when needed, should get me to this length in 2015. One day I do want to be waist length and it would be great to get there in 4 years (2016). The distinction, however, is that I won’t ever avoid a necessary cut to preserve length over healthy hair.

Continue to narrow my staple products. In a previous post, I listed my product favorites for 2014. I will always be a product junkie on some level; but, in 2015, I want to continue to shrink my product stash and strengthen my list of staple products. I also want to avoid another incident where I go completely overboard again on product purchases.

Continue my hair styling exploration. In this past year, I stopped wearing my wigs as often, attended a hair styling class, tried out a few new styles including twists, did a ton of buns/puffs, and discovered that I’m a lazy natural. With my hair getting longer, I do want to have a few more go-to styles for work and become a little more adventurous for special occasions. Also, I want to try to straighten my hair again since I did such a horrible job the last time, and I'm not big on failure.

What are your hair goals for 2015?

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Ingredient Investigation: DMDM Hydantoin

Hey, beautiful people! I’m still continuing my investigation of suspect ingredients. Another suspect ingredient that I frequently see in drugstore products is DMDM Hydantoin.

DMDM hydantoin is used in some products as a preservative to prevent microbes (i.e., bacteria, mold and mildew) from growing in the product. The main issue with this ingredient is that it is a formaldehyde releaser. Yes, the same stuff used to preserve dead bodies. In fact, it works so well as a preservative because the released formaldehyde makes the environment less favorable to the microorganisms.

While DMDM hydantoin only releases formaldehyde in low amounts, this can be an issue for people with sensitive skin or allergies because formaldehyde can be an irritant to the skin, eyes and lungs. It may also create a formaldehyde allergy.

Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives in a product that also includes amines, such as triethanolamine (TEA), diethanolamine (DEA), or monoethanolamine (MEA), can create a carcinogenic substance, called a nitrosamine, that can potentially penetrate skin.

For now, while pregnant, I’m staying away from any product with DMDM hydantoin; but, after pregnancy, I may be ok with DMDM hydantoin products, as long as the product doesn’t also contain an amine. I've been wanting to try TRESemme Heat Tamer Spray, but it has DMDM hydantoin and TEA, among other suspect ingredients, so I'm avoiding it. Call me overly cautious.

Do you use products with DMDM hydantoin? Which ones?

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Update 5-27-14: Rollersetting Fail

Hey, beautiful people! My hair has been in desperate need of a trim for a couple weeks now, so I decided to take advantage of the long holiday to finally do it. There are a number of ways to trim, all involving the use of small sections. I decided to trim my hair in its curly state in sections small enough for my extra wide Curlformers. That way, I could trim and style all at the same time. This was also a great time for me to try out the It's A 10 Miracle Leave-in that I have heard so much about.

Here is what I did:
(1) Deep conditioned overnight with Silk Dreams Vanilla Silk
(2) Washed hair with Dr. Woods Pure Black Soap
(3) Conditioned / detangled with Hairveda Moist Condition Pro

Because I wanted to test out how well the It's A 10 worked, I used just It's A 10 on the left side of my hair and It's A 10 plus Carol's Daughter Chocolat Smoothing Blow Dry Cream on the right side.

Before putting a curlformer on a section of hair, I would put on my leave-in(s), comb it through, and then stretched my hair between two fingers to trim off the last 1/4 to 1/2 inch. I was ok with trimming off this much because I haven't trimmed my hair since my big chop. My goal was not to make my hair even. I just wanted to get rid of the ends. It took about an hour to put in my Curlformers because of the added trim step. After putting in my Curlformers, I sat under the dryer for an hour, in my favorite dryer pose, until all of the curls were dry.

After taking out the Curlformers, my hair was was amazingly soft on both sides, but the curls had almost no hold. The side with just It's A 10 had a little curl, but was mainly just poofy. The It's A 10 + Carol's Daughter side held the curl for a about an hour or so before puffing up. By the end of the day, all I had was a curly fro. It was potentially cute, but not the look I was going for at the time.

I think this was the first time I've had my Curlformer set poof out. Even my set with Oyin Hair Dew didn't poof out. Next time, I think I want to try a mousse/wrap lotion for a firmer hold.

What do you use for your sets?

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Flat Iron Attempt #1

As a follow-up to my last post on avoiding heat damage, I finally took the plunge and flat ironed my hair. Here is what I did.

First I did an overnight deep conditioning treatment with moisturizing and protein deep conditioner. I mixed Darcy’s Botanicals Deep Conditioning Mask, Curl Junkie Repair Me!, honey, grapeseed oil, and avocado oil. My hair felt wonderful and strong when I rinsed it out.

I cleansed my hair with co-wash (She Scent It Blueberry Co-wash), and then detangled with another moisturizing protein conditioner (Hairveda Acai Berry Phyto Conditioner).

Then, I applied more protein as a leave-in (Aphogee Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer) and heat protectant (Carol’s Daughter Chocolat Blow Drying Cream and Grapeseed Oil).

I airdried for several hours so that my hair was not soaking wet, then blowdried on the medium setting using a modified version of the tension method. I first tried to use a comb attachment, but it was rough on my ends, so I immediately stopped.

Finally, I flat ironed at 300 degrees with more heat protectant (IC Fantasia Heat Protectant spray in the pink bottle). Then I banded my flat ironed hair.

If I had it to do again, I would use Curlformers to dry my hair first. Blowdrying was unnecessary, took a lot of time, and didn’t get my hair that straight. However, I doubt I will be flat ironing my hair that often. I did not get it that straight because I used such a low setting, but I did not want to go any higher and risk heat damage. At the end of the day, if I really want a bone straight look, I can always wear a wig.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Avoiding Heat Damage

Hey, HHJs! Since I went natural, I have had a fear of heat damage. As a result, I avoided heat straightening my hair altogether. However, this summer I figured that my fear was silly and that I simply needed to get over it. It has taken me a good 6 months, but I am finally straightening my hair.

As with anything else, I immediately started to research the best tips to prevent heat damage. Here is some of what I already knew from healthy hair journey and what I’ve learned:

Moisturize and your hair before applying any heat. This may seem counterintuitive because water reverts straightened hair, but it is important to keep the hair moisturized because using heat will evaporate water from your cuticle. When too much moisture evaporates from the hair or if the moisture evaporates too quickly, it can cause the hair to become brittle and crack. Moisture also helps absorb and dissipate heat through the hair. Thus, a good moisturizing conditioner is important.

Strengthen your hair before applying heat. Use protein to reinforce your hair strands. Heat damage comes from a loss of structural integrity to the hair strand, which is made up of protein.

Make sure your hair is thoroughly clean before applying heat. You would not want to bake in any dirt that is sitting on your hair. Also, clean hair heats more slowly than dirty hair.

Buy Reputable Heat Tools. It is good to be frugal, but don’t be so cheap that you burn all of your hair off in the process. Your flat iron should have a temperature gauge on it so that you can adjust it to the proper setting. Your blow dryer should have multiple settings, including low and cool.

Use heat tools on the lowest setting possible. If your hair is unhealthy you should not be using heat; but, even if it is healthy, you have to be careful. Healthy hair normally burns at about 450 degrees, but damage and scorching can occur at lower temperatures. This risk is increased if you have fine strands. JC of The Natural Haven has an interesting article on what happens to the hair at various temperatures. Based on her article, the hair's structure begins to change at 320-347 degrees, well before burning.

Minimize the amount of heat used. If possible, do not use a blow dryer and a flat iron. Rather, airdry first, then use a flat iron. Blow dryers “flash dry” the hair, which can make the hair dry, brittle and more prone to cracking. Doubling up on heat also increases the risk of heat damage. Also, limit the amount of passes that you do with the flat iron and try not to keep the flat iron on your hair for more than 3-4 seconds. I’m sure you’ve seen the Youtube video of the girl, who did not know this lesson (if not, here it is).

Use heat protectant. Christina of The Mane Objective has an article with a good list of heat protectant ingredients. Beauty Brains also talks about what to look for in a heat protectant for blow drying vs. a heat protectant for flat ironing. For blow drying, look for glycerin and propylene glycol because they slow water evaporation, and hydrolyzed wheat protein polysiloxane copolymer (a protein-silicone hybrid) because it decreases the risk of cracking. For flat ironing, look for conditioners that can penetrate the hair strand, like cetrimonium chloride.

Take Your Time. Thoroughly detangle beforehand, which will make straightening easier and it will ensure that you do not rip your strands if using a comb attachment. Make sure your hair is dry before using the flat iron so that you do not boil your strands from the inside.

What tips do you have for healthy heat styling and avoiding heat damage?