by
Chinwe
By Chinwe of Hair and Health
Who says you need a flat iron to achieve a sleek, straight look on natural hair? Check out these three heatless methods for going from curly to straight:
1. Roller Set then WrapÂ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4b2Xh0404M
For this method, you will need rollers, a brush, bobby pins, satin scarf, and a serum – but no heat tools whatsoever. Check out the tutorial for more details on achieving this super sleek look!
2. Banding then Roller Set
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISc3ucPypp0
Now, this tutorial may be useful for those who need to stretch their natural curls prior to roller setting and wrapping. You will need several hair ties (for banding) and rollers (for setting).
3. Curlformers then Wrap
This tutorial is similar to the first one but Curlformers are used in place of the rollers. This method is ideal for those who are not comfortable with or skilled at roller setting.
Ladies, will you try any of these alternatives to straightening with heat?
72 Responses
The wrapping method worked very well for me and Im a 4a in the back and 5z everywhere else. lol
Ladies, my beautiful 10 year old Zambian daughter is adopted and she has very thick 4c hair. I am white with very straight white girl hair,:)so I had a LOT of learning to do over the years about her hair. I love the versatility and beauty of her natural hair and so does she. I have learned lots of different styles, and we have a good hair routine to keep her hair healthy, I think. Right now, her hair is at Arm Pit Length, but I feel like we are a little stuck there. I can’t see many split ends and her hair is soft and easy to finger comb when it’s a bit damp and has a bit of detangler in it, and I don’t see a lot of hair coming out, either. Any ideas on what might be the problem? Or IS this a problem at all. Does this mean it isn’t actually as healthy as I think?
Secondly, she has asked me to try and straighten her hair naturally before and we have done various things, stretching with African threading or banding, twist outs, curlformers, flat iron, etc. Each time, her hair got straight, or somewhat straight, but there was no movement. It wasn’t “flowy” like she imagined it might be. I’m wondering if that is really possible for her hair type, or not. I see pictures on this site of natural girls who have straight hair that looks “flowy” to me. She and I were just wondering if that’s possible for her. If not, I think she’ll be just as happy rockin her beautiful curls. Any wisdom you ladies have would be MUCH appreciated! Thanks!
I have 4b/4c hair and I have problems with getting that “flowy” hair. To be honest, I think it’s quite common and I’m just as eager to hear the responses to this.
The only “flowy” hair I’ve seen has been with “Dominican blowouts”. The closest I’ve come to flowy hair has been on relaxed hair, when I would pincurl my nearly-dry rollerset hair and finish drying the curls under a hooded dryer for 15-20 mins. Alternatively, you could try blowdrying the dried set or following it up with a silk/(Saran) wrap instead. I used to set my hair with Infusium 23, a little conditioner, and only a tiny amount of setting lotion, if any. I have yet to try rollersetting my natural hair.
Take her to a Dominican hair salon and ask for a blow out. Make sure settings on blow dryer not too high so won’t get heat damage. Her hair will be flowy. Lmao
My hair is too tightly coily. I do try banding, and my hair just ends up looking awkward. Someday I want to try curl formers, but they are just too expensive for me now at the moment
You can get knock off Curlformers on Amazon for around $15. I just got a set and they done an amazing job!
I like these techniques and know they would work on my hair, but my question is about the dreaded humidity. What do people use to keep the hair from frizzing when the weather is humid? I live in Hamburg, Germany, which is rather rainy, and I would hate to go out in the a.m. with straight hair only to be rushing home in the evening like Cinderella before it totally frizzes to twice its volume.
I would love to try this! Sometimes, I desire straight hair even though I am super comfortable with my natural tresses!
I use flex rods on my wet hair a lot, and let it air dry. The only issue is my hair knot up after it dries and I take the rollers out.
hey 4bs and 4cs. What do you think of blowdrying on COOL, before either wrapping or rollersetting. Would a blowdryer be a more powerful, effective tool, while avoiding heat? Then you can finish it off with like a rollerset or a firm head wrap?
That would work, but for some of us blow dryers cause mechanical damage on our fine strands as well as potential heat damage. I have to limit my usage of blow dryers for that reason.
As a multitextured natural, I agree with others upthread who stated that this method will not deliver straight hair for those with tighter textures. I’ve only ever gotten a good stretch with a roller set. So what? Straight hair is a bit boring 🙂
if its on COOL, there shouldn’t be heat damage, but I see your point about mechanical damage.
I agree with you about straight hair being kind of boring. I get more life looking at Naptural85’s hair than at ULuvMegz(whom I love!)
I knew the “it doesn’t work on 4c hair” comment would come up. I agree with this so some extent. I regularly stretch my hair with curlformers and I always comb it out on the first or second day. My hair is one giant afro, but I want it like that. Unless there’s a way to wrap an afro, I don’t think you can get totally straight hair with curlformers and a wrap on 4c hair.
agree with you, you can’t and if people are saying you can well I have 5G hair, lol
Perhaps it would be better to say it doesn’t work on YOUR 4C HAIR! Hair is different and what may work for some, may not work for others.
I wish I knew how to wrap my hair.
o.O
Every time I try, it turns out to be a huge mess.
i don’t even try. i never did it when i was relaxed, and now that i’m a re-convert to flat ironing i still don’t bother. i could never get it to work.
Looks like most are starting out with wet hair. Ive had better success on my 4b/c hair when it was dry and fully detangled and prestreched from say a 3 day old braid out or twist out. I would use mist with some aloe juice and smooth down the hair shaft a bit then with a light hand apply some type of shea butter or castor oil for some extra weight. Then I would curl with some hard rollers.
African threading works very well to stretch the hair.There are many tutorials on you tube.
but would these methods work with 4c or 4b hair?
Try it out and see! And if it doesn’t work, I’ve linked plenty of 4b/4c related posts in the earlier comments (scroll up). :o)
I definitely like the 1st one and, if done correctly, I think all hair types can achieve this look. I wish the type 4s would stop hair discriminating. It may take more work, you may have more rollers in your head, but its achievable bc I work with a 4b/c who does it quite successfully. As a multi-textured gal (3c/4a/4b) I am rather curious to see how this works. From the look of it my hair is way more dense than hers so I know I need more rollers lol Also, do you have to use those particular comb rollers (thats what I call them lol) because I only have satin rollers
It’s not discriminating and it’s not ridiculous to give other 4b/cs the heads up on the fact that our hair requires different methods to achieve certain styles and looks. If we all had the same kind of hair with the same type of versatility and styling capabilities, no one would be following hair typing. I remember an aha moment while watching Jouelzy where she said explicitly to 4b/c “stop trying to style your hair on wet hair” that’s just one of he many differences between many 4b/c and people with 4a and 3 type hair. It’s not a sin to point out that our hair has different needs. Even many 4b/cs within these comments are questioning the methods for OUR hair type not those of you with other hair types AND hey there explained how she’s tried these methods and they didn’t work for her 4b/c hair. I’m not going to be a guinea pig to prove you wrong when I know that these methods are not for my hair type but may be great for YOUR looser curled hair.
Not sure why looser curly girls take offence to what 4b/c say about what works for our hair and doesn’t work. It’s much harder for me to experiment with this type of stuff and then salvage it when it inevitably goes wrong and I still have to go to work in the AM. It wasn’t meant to be an offensive comment. It is just how it is for my hair and obviously that of many others that share tighter textured afro hair types.
Say it I get where you are coming from. But you have to understand that not all type 4 hair reacts the same due to density or how thick or thin the texture is. It is a fact that fine hair no matter the curl/coil pattern stretches and straightens better with light effort. All the ladies in the videos have fine textured hair. Those with thicker hair may not see similar results. I think its not the texture that’s coming to play here but the fact that all have fine hair. Maybe someone with thicker hair can confirm this.
I believe that even if you have thicker strands, using smaller sections and rollers that are large enough to get the job done (per my post above) could give similar results.
Also per my original post, let me be clear: I have fine strands and the straight I get from these methods is definitely not the same straight I’d get from a flat iron. Given that I haven’t flat-ironed my hair in 10 years, my definition of “straight” probably isn’t the same as most people’s. 🙂
I saw that Jouelzy video too and while I completely understand her (and Say It’s) point I have to argue the value of keeping an open mind.
One reason why I keep mentioning YouTuber cynthiarf on this blog is because I was very much a set-in-her-ways veteran natural when I first started watching her videos. I may have even commented on one of her earlier videos that she was wasting her time trying to make curls out of no curls (I said it more politely than that, I think) and she needed to accept her hair texture. My experience (well over 10 years at that point) had told me that I couldn’t do daily WNGs on my mostly-4b hair past about 4 inches in length…so in my mind, if *I* couldn’t do it, nobody else could. I’m simplifying, of course, but seriously: How arrogant was I?
When I did my last BC I had every intention of keeping my hair short — 4 inches or less — because I loved the ease of the TWA and the WNG. But I got bored with short hair (again) and when I decided to grow it out this time I wanted to see if I could have that same ease on longer hair. That’s how I ended up back on cynthiarf’s channel and long story short…with some tweaks for me and MY hair I am now able to do a modified WNG at longer lengths.
If people don’t have time to experiment and need reliable results, that’s perfectly understandable, but that’s not the same thing as saying something *can’t* be done. I opened my mind, took the time to experiment, and it paid off for ME.
I agree with Jennid. In this very thread there are 4bs and 4cs saying these above methods would work for them. Its not all about curl type.
Hey JenniD, I think the difference you are pointing out is dense hair versus less dense hair? People interchange strand diameter with hair density all the time, but it can actually be confusing to some people. For instance, I have a ton of hair. Some people would say I have thick hair. Really, I have fine hair strands. I’m just hairy lol!! I recently got my hair professionally blown out for the first time since being natural. I knew my hair was fine, but that blowout really taught me how fine my strands are; it’s the reason why all along I have had to be so careful with breakage. My hair strands were floating in the wind; they were so fine!
SO, I think the results in the videos depend on hair texture, the curl shape, rather than strand diameter or even hair density. I think people with tighter curls will struggle to do this style because it is very hard to get a tight curl to stretch completely without heat. These methods rely on tension. One would need a lot of tension to straighten a tight, spring curl of 4c hair.
Your vocabulary is a little mixed up, imo. Texture, which many mistake for curl pattern, is actually about thickness/diameter. So coarse hair vs fine hair is actually texture. Curl pattern is curl pattern.
I also think these styles are much more about texture than curl pattern. Coarse hair is well known as the most difficult to get into a style. Even with straight haired white women.
I have fine hair. It doesn’t straighten easily. I’ve used curlers and curlformers. African threading stretches my hair but not to what is considered straight as in the above videos. I understand that not all 4b/cs have a texture or coil that prevents them from doing these styles but I do think it’s true that many 4as etc can do these styles(I’ve seen Nap85 do it) many more than those with 4b/c hair. I think blakizbeautiful(sp?) is a classic case of a 4b who can do these styles precisely due to her texture. I don’t doubt that there are some tighter textured women who can do it.
For LBell – yes when you have a job you do need reliable results, time becomes a major factor in hair care. Many of the experimenters on YT don’t have jobs or are students. It doesn’t mean I or anyone else hasn’t tried but for me 5 day hair is more doable than a failed curl that I then have to restyle.
Anyway I see everyone’s points and as usual hair care is complete trial and error. I just have realistic expectations of what that trial may come out like for my hair type and I wouldn’t rush to say to another woman, ‘try it you never know’ unless she is prepared for that trial and error and has realistic ideas of what it will look like for her head.
these women are simply showing you what worked for them. All of us should already know by now that we don’t know if it will work for us until we try it. At least give something a go, and move on if it didn’t work. There’s no hard and fast rule with hair, as each individual head will respond differently to different things. My hair is different from these ladies as well, but I’m excited to try something new, with my own modifications, as inspired by their methods.
Say it if it sounds like you know your hair. That’s a good thing. And though I may disagree I appreciate you keeping it real. Its always good to hear both sides of things instead of saying something is or isn’t for every one. You also bring up a very good point that sometimes its best to just go with what you KNOW will work versus experimenting when you don’t have the time. Especially for work. I’ve been there and it sucks lol. Nothing wrong with experimenting but know your hair and know your schedule.
I’m not sure we can say that the YouTubers are all students and/or unemployed, but that’s another topic for another day. I agree with the rest of what you’ve said, though. It reminded me that the first year of my being natural was also the year when I was highest-up on corporate America’s ladder, and I kept my hair short and (fairly) conservative. I got off that ladder by choice though; if I were still on it it’s likely I might have stayed in that hair lane more regularly.
One more comment and then I’m out:
Back in the early 2000s when I was still a member of NaturallyCurly I discovered that for us textured-hair folks (and I’m talking about everybody, regardless of race, who’s not a type 1) the most commonly-taken path to having reliable and consistent hair results on a daily basis seems to be straightening, whether it’s with a blow-dryer and a round brush every day or with a relaxer application every few weeks or months. The flip side of that discovery was that part of embracing one’s natural hair texture was understanding (if not completely accepting, lol) the fact that your results can differ from day to day based on a variety of factors, only some of which are within your control.
When I did my last BC I purposely told the stylist to shape it so that I had more length on top (about 3 inches) and less on the sides and back (faded down to almost nothing). I did that to compensate for the drastically different rates of shrinkage on my head. Ever since then I’ve been styling with those shrinkage rates in mind because I know I’ll get different silhouettes based on how wet or damp certain sections are. My back and sides can air-dry with less “stretchage” but if I don’t want a mullet I have to let my top dry in a more stretched state.
Again, I know certain things aren’t within my control, but I’ve gained a measure of serenity over that. 😉
now what? how are type 4c textures being discriminating? give me a break
It seems all roads lead back to straightened hair…lol…
But that’s the beauty of black hair, our hair can do and look like any texture we choose. I think its amazing that my hair can shrink up to my ears but can be stretched down my back 🙂
I don’t necessarily want straight hair, but its nice to know safe alternatives if i ever want a different look sometimes.
Really cool tutorial. Love the results!
Banding is the best! It is the only way to eliminate shrinkage in my opinion.
Thanks for the article. I am planning on going heat free in 2014. So all 3 of these tutorials have been very helpful for me. I will try all 3 methods. I already have using curlformers down, I did my first African threading last week with great success, I haven’t tried roller setting in years but I’ll give it a go. As an African who knew nothing about doing my own hair or anyone’s hair, until I returned to my natural hair and wanted to make sure it was well taken care of, I really appreciate such articles and all the lovely ladies who share their skills on YouTube and other forums. Thank you.
oooh no heat!! sweet. I had blow dried my hair and started to straighten my bangs, I think i straightened a few strands before I got bored. I’m not that crazy about straight hair, obviously. And I thought it was not worth the risk. But if I can do it this way, then freaking yeah! I’d probably jus straighten it just to wear it in a ponytail, So that it could be smoother and a longer lasting hairstyle. However, I wonder if this is probable with shorter hair?
Is this more-so for people with type 3 hair?
I have mostly-4b hair and both rollersetting and banding get my hair pretty straight. I haven’t tried wrapping afterwards but that’s only because I’ve never been really good at wrapping. Been practicing though… 🙂
The key for both is to make sure the hair is as detangled as possible. For rollersetting, find the largest roller you can that you can wrap your hair around at least once completely. Don’t make the sections too big, and ideally the hair should be wet. Also (and this goes without saying) don’t take the rollers out until the hair is completely dry.
Exactly what I needed. I’ve been dying to straighten my hair to see the length but I am so afraid of heat damage since my hair is very sensitive to heat. Thanks!
Will #1 work on 4b/c hair cause her hair is loose?
Give it a try and see! :o)
Roller-setting gets my hair pretty stretched. I haven’t tried wrapping it afterwards though.
Have been wanting to straighten for a while but haven’t bc I’ve been afraid of getting more heat damage. I like the 1st option. Now lets hope this method works for my hair.
I am so inspired to try this. I will probably try the 1st and 2nd method. My mom has been hinting that I should straighten my hair to see the length and I didn’t want to undo 10 months of transitioning with heat damage. I love this post. Will it work on a fexirod set?
Probably so, but rollers might be better. :o)
all three are fabulous methods that I can’t wait to try! I saved them all as “likes” on my youtube channel.
sorry, no
“no” what?
And NO is correct, Not one of these will work on my 4C hair. Maybe if I blow dry my hair and THEN, use curlformers, but that might fail as well. Another thing, the women in this video has a looser type curls.
I think this is for looser hair types. I notice that most of the hairstyle posts by this poster would be better suited to looser hair types. Maybe BGLH can get someone else to cater to 4b and c hair needs. I think even 4as can follow this. I just feel like we are becoming the forgotten readers around here.
“This poster”? “Forgotten”? Funny. :o)
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/04/4-styles-for-long-or-short-4b4c-natural-hair/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/12/how-to-use-rollersets-to-stretch-4b4c-natural-hair/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/11/7-tips-for-length-retention-of-type-4b4c-natural-hair/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/10/4-hair-tools-that-4b4c-naturals-should-avoid/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/08/5-natural-hair-styles-that-embrace-shrinkage/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/08/6-cute-updos-for-stretched-or-twisted-natural-hair/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/08/does-4c-natural-hair-mean-limited-styling/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/07/3-protective-style-regimens-for-maximum-length-retention-of-type-4-hair/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/05/4-great-detangling-conditioners-for-4b4c-natural-hair/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/03/4-more-ways-to-style-twists-on-natural-hair/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/03/3-youtubers-with-type-4-long-natural-hair-and-low-manipulation-regimens/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/02/4-amazing-products-for-type-4b4c-natural-hair/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/01/5-tips-to-combat-knots-and-tangles-in-type-4-natural-hair/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2012/12/4-fun-protective-styles-for-cold-weather/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2012/12/does-the-curly-girl-wash-and-go-method-work-on-kinky-type-4-hair/
Also, many of the styles I post contain a 4b/4c natural or can be modified for 4b/4c hair. These are just a few:
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/11/6-gorgeous-and-easy-ways-to-wear-a-bun-on-natural-hair/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/11/6-beautiful-ways-to-style-natural-hair-for-formal-events/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/10/5-cute-protective-styles-for-the-fall/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/09/6-gorgeous-updos-for-short-to-medium-length-natural-hair/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/09/4-cute-and-quick-hair-styles-for-naturals-on-the-go/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/08/6-cute-updos-for-stretched-or-twisted-natural-hair/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/07/5-cute-styles-for-naturals-in-the-awkward-in-between-stage/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/07/3-quick-and-easy-marley-hair-bun-tutorials/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/05/3-cute-and-easy-styles-for-twas-and-short-natural-hair/
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2013/04/4-spring-styles-for-short-and-medium-length-natural-hair/
Like times 10000
I’ve tried roller setting on 4b hair and it is effective for stretching. My hair doesn’t become silky smooth but it is significantly stretched. With wrapping afterwards you could probably achieve results very similar to a blowout or flat ironing with light heat. Don’t knock it til you try it
allrighty then…
Many of these are not hair styles. I’ve been following this blog since the old format, since before you were a poster. You’re not schooling me. I just noticed that many of your posts would be suited to looser hair and asked that we get someone as dedicated to finding hair styles that will work on tighter textures. It wasn’t an insult. I’m sure you are helping those with looser curled hair to achieve 3-6 easy, cute styles.
wellm maybe you can try to come up with a heatless method for stretching your type of hair, and then come back to us. Not being sarcastic at all. I think many here would appreciate your findings.
Sigh so transparent!
Don’t knock it till you try it. I’ve gotten my hair fairly straight with curlformers as a stretching method and I have 4C hair as well.
Well i can safely say I’ve tried all these methods in the past (I’ve been heat free for nearly 4 years) and not ONE of them have successfully straightened my 4B curls. Stretch? Maybe. But imho, simply stretching and actually straightening the hair are two different things. These methods are wonderful, but they’re also most successful on looser curls….That’s just the truth. For my hair to actually get *straight* using these methods, I still need a miracle and a tourmaline flat iron.
I should also note that I do have more than one curl pattern on my head. In the front, where my head is more 3c/4a, the methods WORKED. In the back, which is predominantly 4b, this things were a huge fail.
LOL!!!! I know my hair. After 4 years of trying everything!! And I mean EVERYTHING, I’ve learned what works for looser type curls will NOT work for me. I’m done with trying something new, unless it’s someone with my exact curl type, and I’m talking about 4C (P.S the one with the dirty dusty color *I do love my hair by the way, just wanted to give a visual lol*) Sometimes what work for theirs won’t work for mines, but that makes the fail a bit bearable. I’ve worked with hair from straight to 4C and I can honestly say these method in the videos won’t work for type 4 hair, 3 and up? yes.
Have you tried all 3 before you concluded it is not for 4 type hair? You may not get the exact same results but it is better than risking heat damage if you want to rock straight hair once in a while. Which is why I guess we all clicked on this article. I have a crazy mix of hair types, 3b in the back, 4b in the crown and 4c in the sides, plus some 4a types in some areas. African threading and curlformers help to give me a straightened look when I desire to rock it.
so #1`(who I follow on youtube) is saying she needed to rollerset her hair first, in order to loosen her curls before doing the wrap thing?
I believe so. That’s the impression I got. :o)
Yes the object is to smooth our you curl pattern, she just used rollers. I have tried her method but with irod and larger rollers and can tell you the rollers she used probably would work much better, the smoother you can get your hair to wrap around a roller, expecially your ends, the better. You want to avoid puffy hair, whihc is what I had even though my curl pattern was smoothed out but it was so har to wrap. Plus my hair is much denser than hers. But brushing my ends out after a roller set and curlformers it got puffy and big and was a real chore to wrap
Love #1. I’ll try the technique and incorporate a serum. In the past I’ve used setting lotion but that has been hit or miss.
I was so inspired….no heat and nice curl revert…I loved CurlyFarah’s vid a lot