Which straightening products really work?

flippin36

Hi, after months of giving up my hair straightening in order to grow my hair I have finally given in. Its just got to that awkward length where I need to straighten from time to time (when my curls/waves are misbehaving).

My experience of heat protection sprays is that they do help with straightening, but I usually cannot grow my hair past my shoulders before it all needs a chop because of the heat damage. Can anyone recommend a HEAT PROTECTION SPRAY that is good enough for me straighten my hair whilst growing it? Has anyone successfully grown their hair whilst straightening - it seems impossible for me . (I have GHDs btw.)

Thank you in advance.

Fuzzy_Duck

I straighten my hair every day and have managed to grow it from chin length to just past my collar bone in a year. The first thing I would suggest is trying to work with your natural hair- or at least cutting down on how often you straighten it. Could you make the most of your curls with styling products? You could always wash it and scrunch when wet, then use a scrunching cream, gel or spray when you need to top up. These are the sort of products that promise 'beachy waves' and the like. Naturally wavy/curly hair holds this style very well with minimum work and a bit of hairspray to hold it.

If not, try to baby your hair as much as possible. Use a nourishing conditioner for damaged hair- Aussie comes well recommended. Carefully comb your hair when damp (I know people are generally against this but as long as you user a decent comb and not a brush it shouldn't damage your hair). Then apply a straightening or anti frizz serum. Let it dry naturally, or if you must blow dry it use a low setting, as blow drying can damage your hair further. Occasionally comb your damp hair as it dries, in the direction you want it to sit.

This should make your hair more manageable, so you won't have to straighten it too long and hopefully you won't have to straighten every bit of it. Again use your straighteners on the lowest setting you can. Give your hair a good spraying over before hand with a salon recommended heat protection spray. I use Andrew Collinge Heat Defence Spray, which is made for dry and damaged hair.

Other tips would be tying up/pinning back your hair as much as possible to give your hair a break, and taking a biotin supplement to keep your hair healthy. I noticed my hair growing quicker when taking biotin (not because it actually was, but because it wasn't snapping off as much as usual)! If your hair still feels dry use a leave in conditioner from time to time, and ensure you get your split ends trimmed regularly. It may seem a step back when you want to grow it but split ends could be the reason it's not growing as much as it should.

Hope this helps you- I've grown out my hair more times than I can count and it's worth it for when you get there in the end!

jenniewb

I read somewhere that all heat protectant treatment spray/creams are, are conditioners that can remain on dry hair. That any conditioner would work as all that you need to make sure of is that your hair is being conditioned while you heat. Nothing can actually protect you from the heat, but they can reduce what damage is done. I guess its a matter of which product protects better. Apparently theres not much in it (according to the article).

Favorites to conditon whilst heating (which is all a heat protectant cream/spray can do) vary on your purse allowance. I know for me I've tried a few. The difference I've noticed is that some will leave my hair feeling much softer and good to run my fingers through then others. But thats where it seems to stop. None will repair any damage and none seem to be able to stop any damage either. (I don't use straightening irons btw, just by washing with hot water and using a hair dryer I have managed to get quite a lot of damage- as in broken hair on my shoulders damage!)

My favorites have been Kerastase Nectar Thermique, Aveda's Brilliant and Bumble and Bumble's leave in.

Ones that didn't really work for me have been Aussie, (didn't do enough/anything noticeable, have to be honest, as much as they smell nice, I really don't notice the difference with any of the Aussie range, deep conditoners or anything else, want to like them, but they just don't do anything like enough for me!) John Freida (made my hair look lank, the frizz ease stuff is great, but the serums are too heavy for my hair and tricky to get evenly all over your hair if you have a lot of it) and Umberto Gianni (didn't do anything, no softness, no nice looks, did reduce the frizzy volume but gave it a hardened feel).


I'd say go easy on any straightening you do decide to do- clips and styling can help, but from my experience, frazzled hair just emphasizes any curls and waves you have 10-fold! Its so not worth it as you just end up re-growing the whole thing all over again! Try limiting to once a week if possible. You'll still get damage but not as much.

alison999

I think it depends on your hair type. no 1 thing will work for everyone. i have naturally v. curly hair. i used to use frizz ease but have recently discovered the aussie brand and that is amazing for me.

i think its more trial and error than anything else