How to Straighten Your Hair

A look that many girls are going for lately is straight, sleek, shiny hair. Even if you have curls, you can achieve this beautiful effect by following a few simple steps. To start off with, you will need a shampoo that is ready to stand up to heat. A good shampoo to use would be ThermaSilk. Buy both the shampoo and conditioner. Also, make sure to purchase an anti-frizz serum. The most important tool you will need is the actual hair straightener. I suggest that you purchase one that is all or partly ceramic. Avoid the ones with metal plates, because those do the most damage to your hair and are not efficient enough for your purpose. When looking for the ceramic straightener, find one with a small width. If you buy a straightener with very wide and large plates, you'll end up with more frizz than sleekness. Buying a straightener which has smaller plates forces you to use small sections of your hair at a time, which gives you the end result you are looking for...which is straight, shiny hair. Also, don't forget to purchase a hair clip. Make sure it's big enough to grab large sections of your hair.

Now that you have your materials, you are ready to begin working with your hair. Shower as you normally do, using your new heat-friendly shampoo and conditioner. When using the shampoo, use only enough to make a decent lather. If you use too much shampoo, you may strip your hair of natural, essential oils that provide the healthy-looking shine you crave. Completely rinse your hair of the shampoo, and lightly wring out your hair as to remove excessive moisture. Since you're going to use the conditioner next, the conditioner penetrates hair that isn't as wet in a more efficient fashion then when it is completely soaked. When you apply the conditioner, begin at the ends first, and work your way up to the roots, otherwise, there will be too much conditioner build up at the roots, which will weigh hair down later on and cause limpness. You want oomph, volume, and pizzazz, so work them ends first, and leave the roots for last. Usually, you want to leave the conditioner on for at least two minutes to give it time to penetrate and work its magic. After the two minutes have passed, rinse thoroughly. When I write thoroughly, I mean thoroughly. Any conditioner that is left in the hair will give the hair a texture that isn't necessarily appealing, and again, it would weigh the hair down to a great degree.

While you're hair is still wet, apply a few drops of the serum and blend throughout your hair. Too much serum will make your hair too oily, but just a little will add a great amount of shine and less frizz....which is something every girl despises. You may feel as if the next step is to blow dry, but we're not doing that. Why? Well, it puts unnecessary stress and dryness to the hair. Wrap your hair neatly in a towel and wait for it to dry naturally. (Be patient!)You can even lie in the sun and wait for it to dry. The key is to just let the hair dry on its own. When your hair is completely dry, plug in your hair straightener to the wall outlet and let it heat up. Adjust the heat accord to your hair type, length, and thickness.

Brush your hair out as much as you can to remove the tangles. You can use a tiny bit amount of serum to help you through this step in the case that your hair is being difficult. Now with the clip that you bought earlier, gather most of your hair in a bun, and bundle it on top of your head, securing it with the clip. When you do this, you're going to leave some of the hair near your neck out of the secured hair. This is the hair you're going to begin to work with. The key is to straighten your hair from the bottom tier, until finally you reach the top of your head. Think of it as drying layers at a time. You're using the clip to define which hair you're working on, and which hair you haven't worked on yet (which is the hair secured with the clip on the top of your head.) Remember as you straighten your hair, to use small sections at a time, not huge bundles of hair.

When you grab a small section of the hair near your neck, put the straightening iron at the base of that section of hair, hold it there for a second, and then run it down the length of the hair until you get to the ends. Repeat if necessary. Then take another section of hair from that 'layer' you're working with, and apply the same technique. As you finish with this layer of hair, remove the clip (while holding on to the secured hair so that it won't mix with the un-straightened hair), and bring down another layer. It's best to work with small layers so that you have control of how much hair is being straightened at one time. Otherwise, you might end up with frizz that you miss and couldn't straighten because of all the hair you were trying to work with at once.

When you finally repeat this process and have reached the last layer, which would be the top of your head, just smooth down anything that sticks up with the straightening iron. Your hair should be shiny and straight, just like you wanted. Remember, though, patience is the key. Your arm will get tired, but the end result is worth it.