by
Cassandre
Pictures of my waist-length natural hair blown out semi-straight always garner a lot of likes on social media. And I get it. Blown out afro-textured hair is a fun and sexy look that makes for inspiring ‘hair porn’.
But I grew out my afro-textured hair at a time when there was far less information online and a lot more work and woes.
I remember my third year being natural living in a region where the water was particularly harsh on my hair (although I didn’t make that connection initially.) I cut my hair 3 times because of incessant spit ends. I’m pretty sure that set me back at least 2 years!
Despite challenges like this I accidentally stumbled onto waist-length hair two years ago. And while I attributed that retention to the long term protective styling I’d done (faux locs, twists, etc.) I suddenly felt trapped. How would I continue to maintain this length? Because, let’s be honest here, big natural hair with great length and body looks fabulous, but takes a lot of work and time to maintain.
So I entertained the question naturals aren’t supposed to…
What if protective styling isn’t the only way to retain massive amounts of length?
And that’s when it dawned on me that, in some ways, my hair has always been its own biggest enemy. I style my hair regularly and regardless of how much I detangle, it always seems to find ways to snag onto itself. Protective styling minimized the snagging and manipulation breakage, but I didn’t want to be in perpetual protective styling mode.
I found the answer to my problem with monthly heat styling.
What do natural hair experts think about this?
Audrey Davis-Sivasothy author of The Science of Black Hair writes, “relaxed fibers are not as prone to manipulation breakage becasue the individual bends and kinks along the hair fiber have been chemically removed, making manipulation easier.” Although she’s speaking on chemically straightened hair, I imagine this also applies to heat-straightened natural hair.
The trade off, of course, is that applying heat can make natural hair strands fundamentally weaker.
However I’ve been able to straighten my hair on a monthly basis without compromising its length or health.
So far these are the perks;
The biggest challenge so far has been keeping my hair moisturized in a way that doesn’t cause it to revert back to its naturally coily Type 4 state. And I will keep you updated as I figure that out.
Ladies, would you ever consider straight natural hair as a length retention and maintenance strategy?
33 Responses
I totally agree with this article. I am natural, but I recently came to the conclusion also that heat stretching is best for me. I like my hair straight, and it’s so much easier to manage.
I need to reduce the manipulation. All the twisting and braiding and remoisturizing while trying to keep it stretch by PULLING ON IT is just too much. That’s probably worse than a little heat once a week to once every 10 days.
I’m thinking that if I start off with a blow dry base after deep conditioning, I won’t have to pull on it as hard etc to twist. I’m experimenting. But I had a much better week with heat, fewer issues with shed hair tangling healthy hair (time for trim) as it was coming out. And some products melt into my hair better with heat.
The comb attachment on the blow dryer is the problem from me. I think I just need a new method — hold the hair taut with a denman brush
I’m not looking for straightness, just stretched. I think I’ll be able to moisturize my ends every other day. If it curls up toward the end of the week, I bun it up. But repeated twist outs and braid outs while moisturizing it is killing my time and abusing my hair. Hands In Hair Syndrome has to go. I think some heat is the path
JUST TRY NOT TO BLOW DRY ON WET HAIR DAMP HAIR IS BEST
Yes! I’ve been blow drying my hair every 3 weeks for the past year or so and I’ve been retaining length just fine. I have type 4 hair as well and it’s just sooo much easier to deal with when it’s in a stretched state. Plus my braid outs are bigger which is always welcome 😀 I feel like as long as you’re using heat protectant when you blow dry, you should be fine. I’ve recently started using a straightening brush to achieve my blow out looks. It’s a lot faster than the tension method and it leaves my hair feeling smooth and soft.
Hi! Just interested in what straightening brush you use if you don’t mind sharing. I really like the concept but the one I tried left my hair stretched for like an hour before it started poofing again smh.
Its the Red Pro straightening brush. It does poof up pretty quickly lol but I just use it to stretch my hair so it gets the job done.
Thank you for posting this article (I realise I’ve come to it rather late). The usual ‘protective styles’ are OK but I have found that braid /twist outs leave my hair very dry after the second day and a simple bun or pony tail drys out and tangles the hair on my crown, and breaks it half way. I have had a full blow dry with straighteners about once o month this year – obviously absolutely terrified of weakening my hair but I have to say that when my hair gets wet and curls up again, the growth and condition seems to have improved – fewer split ends, better curl pattern and shinier than when I used braids or braid outs. I should add that I have two hair textures atm, 8 inches of Brazilian blow out at the ends and 3/4 inches of natural 3C. Good to hair unpopular opinions – debate and sharing are essential.
I’m so glad I found you. Your hair looks fab!! I have been pondering this exact same question as I am completely tired of “perpetual protective styling”. Don’t get me wrong I love having a break from my hair but I am also tired of snags and tangles even more so that I’ve found myself acquiring more when I run low on energy between work, school, and a 2 year old with waist length curly unruly beautiful hair that is a job to handle in its own right. I’ve been good with stretching a flat ironed style via a tension brush that makes my hair lay better than any relaxer I’ve ever had for 3 to just about 4 weeks and still look silky but I’ve not tried this on a regular monthly basis. I usually go 5 months to a year without heat and generally only do it when it’s time to trim my ends which I only do when needed or annually of that.
I’m definitely thinking about trying out keeping it straight and maintaining the hair with say big twists for curls or flexirods as the straightening wears off or away after 3 to 4 weeks to possibly try to gain. 6 week mark before straightening again.
This is indeed true! I have always had natural long hair , no perm and straightening once a month. The moment I decided to try no heat, my hair did not like it at all. I’m sticking with what my hair loves best!
Very interesting, I never considered this. Thank you.
Agreed. Our hair can get exposed to “minimum heat” by just walking outside!
Sounds like a good plan. We are on the same wavelength. Lol.
A good ionic blow dryer should lock in that clean, washed and conditioned moisture into the strands. People sometimes forget that blow dryers have different heat settings (some are even cool) and FORCE of air settings. A person doesn’t need to go ham with heat or forced air. All the best to you with your healthy practices. :o)
Yup. I made this same connection. The crown and back of my head are especially stubborn and prone to tangling. I’ve decided to eliminate that by keeping my hair stretched with a mild blow out after wash day. Expecting to see a lot more progress as a result. Thanks for sharing. Love your channel!
What kind of blow dryer are you using?
I alternate between the two that I have; the RED by KISS Handle-Less 2200 Ceramic Tourmaline Dryer, and the CONAIR 1875 thermal shine STYLER Dryer. I DO NOT use the comb attachments.
Also, I’ve reintroduced a water and vegetable glycerin mix into my daily moisturizing routine. It works MIRACLES! Makes my hair soft, super moisturized, and tangle-free. I’m on a mission to give my hair what it’s been asking for, because I really haven’t been doing that for quite some time. :o( I’m really excited and optimistic about the results as time goes on.
All the best!
Wow A natural hair article 🙂 Yay
To each their own. There may be different reasons why people might not want to do this method. She doesn’t say it but what I got is that she washes her hair once a month. I am not willing to go that long between washing my hair. No Bueno for me. and my hair likes to be wet often. 2. I don’t want to be so concerned about reversion. 3. Also my hair hates blow drying. I have bought nice dryers, different blowout products and brushes. My hair always feels like straw after.
What is your routine for blow outs?
I’ve got two unpopular opinions for you:
1) I don’t believe that Afro-textured hair is built for length…specifically, the non-Afro-textured definition of length. From a physics perspective: Small tight coils are much more easily manipulated when they’re relatively short. The longer they get, the greater the tendency for them to compact. If they’re not kept intact — if each coil isn’t contained within itself; imagine a box around each one — they’re almost certain to tangle, and with tangling comes breakage. Trying to work with coils in this state using non-coil techniques is a recipe for failure. There’s a reason why Slinkys are sold in individual boxes rather than loose in a big bin.
2) It’s possible to have the non-Afro-textured definition of length while still keeping the hair strands’ structure *relatively* intact. They’re called locs. Yes, they take time to form and grow, but that’s how hair works in general. Also, for those who care about such things: Just the other day I saw a woman with a beautiful high loc cinnabun that looked perfectly gorgeous not to mention “professional.”
My point: If having the non-Afro-textured definition of length is important to you, straightening is one way to get it…but it’s not the only way and in some cases it may not even be the best way.
If it wasn’t “built for length”, it wouldn’t have the capability to grow to long lengths.
I wasn’t talking about Afro-textured hair’s capability for growth. I was talking about its capability for, to put it plainly, emulating Disney princess hair without a lot of extra effort.
If you are protective-styling 24/7, and when you’re not protective-styling you’re spending literally hours upon hours treating your hair like it’s the rarest of fine cashmere because you’re trying to avoid even the slightest amount of breakage…then maybe you need to ask yourself if you’re trying to make your hair do something it can’t do, and whether you could satisfy your Disney princess fantasy more easily by simply investing in a good wig.
Lol. I prefer investing in my wigs, girl.
I love how now blow drying hair is like poison now. I have to blow dry like this lady my hair is THICK and LONG without it my hair will mat and snag. Do what works for you and not what some “Guru” told you to
I tried to apply heat to my hair and loved it, but it reverted back to it’s natural state via the heat in the summer or sweating too much. I LOVE twistI, but I need a change! I would try heat again but use it responsibly.
Good for her. Everyone shld do wht works for his/her hair. The natural hair community is so damn annoying “don’t do this ,don’t do that” so many worthless rules. (sucking my teeth) ppl, do what makes your hair it’s happiest. One size doesn’t always fit all.
Finally! An article about hair on what i thought was a site about hair!!!! Yay! !!
I honestly would. I used a blow dryer after years 0 direct heat. I had applied a shea-aloe -oil mixture and and quickly zapped it with a blow dryer because that simply wasnt the day to drip-dry. I pulled the hair taut and did about 1.5 seconds on top and underneath before twisting (i’m careful with direct heat because it will dry my hair out completely). It was as if the blow dryer allowed the shea to penetrate deeply into the strands making it super soft and shiny. So I think I may blow dry more often if I can. Maybe monthly. I’m so close to APL (in the back anyway) and I hope to reach it by years end. Managing these tangles could definitely help.
It works for her hair!! Everyone’s hair is different. Blowdrying monthly I doubt would cause any damage. More damage would happen if her hair constantly remained tangled. Heat in moderation is fine, not a big deal. Just use protein treatments and heat protectant. Problem solved.
Blow drying at the right temperature may be better than air drying. http://www.prevention.com/beauty/hair/healthiest-way-dry-your-hair.
I no longer get those annoying fairy knots that I used to get with air drying.
I was a straight haired natural for most of my life. I have been wearing my hair curly for nearly 4 years and I blow my mid back length hair out a few times a year. If I had know all that I know now about moisturizing my hair and the importance of weekly dc’s and if dry shampoos, and dry conditioners were more readily available back then, my hair would have been in a much better place. I honestly believe my hair would’ve grown long and “healthy.” When I’m done growing my hair out, I think I’d consider straightening it more often, taking the knowledge that I have now back to my straight hair. Just doing join #teamtoomuch lol
wow,your hair looks great!Love your natural hair!
natural hair
Do what works for you
Blow drying helps me. I do not do it often, but I do see the difference in tangling when I do.
Wish I had waist length hair….
I’m actually blow drying my hair right now as we speak!!! I definitely think you can retain length even with the use of heat. I mostly wear my hair in wash n goes but sometimes I blow dry my hair, using the tension method, to give my hair a break. Although I love my curls, I find that detangling my hair after wash n goes sometimes causes more SSKS and knots. Hell, detangling my hair every week is a headache lol. So, yes, I definitely approve of this message. Minimal heat, in my opinion, will not cause damage if applied the right way.