How to Straighten Curly Hair Without Damaging It

Straightening curly hair can be a frightening prospect. After all, if you get too carried away and damage your curls, you can permanently destroy your natural curl pattern and won't be able to enjoy your curls again! There's nothing worse than limp, burned out, half-straight curls. While heat damage can't be repaired, there are many cosmetic fixes for heat-damaged curls. However, the best cure against heat damage is to prevent the damage in the first place. Read these tips to help you understand how you should tackle your curly hair and straighten it without damaging it.

Heat changes both the water and reformable bonds in the hair. If your heat is too hot, you can permanently alter your natural curl pattern for the worse. My daughter had a recent experience where she lost much of her tight, defined curl pattern to an overzealous stylist and a runaway flat iron. With protein conditioning, we were able to recover some of her pattern, but the damage is permanent and must be grown out over time. For now, her hair is still curly with waves in some areas where curl would have been!

Tips for Straightening Your Curly Hair Without Damaging It:

1. Always apply heat to curly hair that has already been thoroughly washed and deep conditioned.
Shampoo and condition your hair with Pantene Pro-V Curly Hair Series Dry to Moisturized Shampoo and Conditioner. Rinse the hair thoroughly. Next, apply Pantene's Curly Hair Series Deep Moisturizing Treatment for five to ten minutes. This revitalizing treatment is formulated for dry, frizzy, curly hair. Hair that is not well moisturized is more likely to suffer damage in the presence of heated straightening tools.

2. Use a silicone-rich serum or straightening crème to protect curly hair before straightening.
Serums and straightening crèmes protect the hair against direct heat exposure by providing a nice buffer to the heat. Each of Pantene's customized solutions for all hair types has a heat protection product associated with it. According to experts at Pantene, their protection spray formulas "feature micro-polymers that form a protective film around strands to help shield strands against heat damage from styling." Pantene's Heat Protection and Shine Sprays should be used just prior to heat application.

3. Use a safer heat to straighten your curly hair without damage. Instead of using a blow dryer and flatiron back to back, try roller setting your curls on large rollers first. Then, gently blow out the curls with your blow dryer on a very low setting. Hooded dryer heat is less direct, and the rollers will help lengthen your curls. This makes straightening curls ten times easier, and less heat is required. Alternatively, you may wish to avoid all heat from the blow dryer by air drying your hair. Make several large braids to lengthen your natural curls and allow the hair to dry. Once the hair has dried in the loosened configuration, simply pass over the hair quickly with a flat iron on moderate heat.

For more tips on straightening your curly hair without damage, visit pantene.com and try out their Product Finder tool. For the entire line of Pantene's new products, discover Pantene's New Customized Solutions line.