Can You Moisturize a Blowout?

Can You Moisturize a Blowout?

On DHA’S DIY, we’re always talking about keeping your hair moisturised.

Moisture is, after all, the main factor in giving your tresses length and strength.

But can you moisturize a blowout? Is there anything you can do to keep your hair moisturised when you’re rocking a blowout? We all know water and heat straightened tresses don’t mix, so can you moisturize a blowout? 

Moisturize A Blowout : Hydrating heat-straightened hair?

If you keep up the moisture when your hair is in its natural state, then you get kinda used to the bounce and flex moisturisers bring. But everyone who’s ever had heat straightened hair knows that getting it wet is a no-no. In turn, products which moisturise  containing as they do water and, often, water-attracting humectants  tend to be off the menu for blown out or pressed hair.

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Some hair which is less prone to reversion can actually take a very small amount of water-containing products – usually thicker, heavier creams with a lower water content. These keep the hair feeling smooth and flexible without causing the hair to curl up again.  However, on hair that reverts easily, it’s best to avoid even these products on your heat-straightened tresses.

If you have unruly edges, then you can add a tiny bit of Brillantina to your hairline to keep your edges smooth, but keep it strictly on the edges. (Note:  To pincurl or rollerset stale press, then you can apply it throughout your hair.)

 

Moisturize A Blowout: When to moisturize a blowout

If you want moisturized hair, then it’s best to lock in the moisture before you straighten it. To do so, apply an overnight pretreatment with a conditioner containing wheat germ extract, cetrimonium bromide or cetrimonium chloride – ingredients that slow down moisture loss during heat styling. Use products containing these ingredients and silicones to insulate your hair, and keep as much moisture in your strands as possible.

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Moisture not only helps protect your hair from getting too hot too quickly, but also means more natural, fluid-looking hair once straightened. To keep some of it locked in, you will also need to keep the temperature as low as possible, At the temperatures most people use to blowdry and press, the hair loses all its moisture; it leaves the strands as steam and can actually damage the hair as it does.

If your hair is resistant to heat, and so you or your stylist tend to resort to high temperatures to straighten it, the lack of moisture will be even more pronounced in your tresses, in terms of movement and bounce. Your straightened hair will also be extra vulnerable to styling damage because all of its moisture, a key source of its strength, has been removed.

Moisturize A Blowout: Alternatives to moisturizers

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Since moisturizers will counter your style here, try lubricating products instead. These products are water-free and are usually blends of oils or silicones, both of which work by protecting against damage from friction, and providing some of the smoothness water would have brought. You won’t get quite the same level of suppleness, however – most of these products act only on the surface while water’s smoothing action works from the inside out.

Use both types of products sparingly to prevent the hair being weighed down and killing the swing that makes the blowout such a stunning spin on straightened hair. Applying a small amount and then brushing through should be sufficient to spread the product through the hair. But be careful not to overbrush – without water, your hair is that much weaker and less able to stand up to the friction and tension of brushing.

And as soon as your straight look comes to an end? Don’t forget to treat your hair to a deep, hydrating treatment – after a good stretch without moisture a good dose is well overdue.

 

Image credits:

P. Taylor Images
Good 1

 

Stop Blowout or Press Reverting? 4 Reasons: Part II

Stop Blowout or Press Reverting? 4 Reasons: Part II

Press reverting? Seven major factors make straightened hair reversion-prone.

Took care of the first three and still have trouble keeping your natural curls stick-straight after a dalliance with the iron or blowdryer?

Check out the final four forces acting against your straightened strands in Part II.

 

Press reverting: The reasons for reversion. . .

We said it before and we’ll say it again: the reason of reasons for premature reversion is not getting the hair straight enough from the start. This makes it more vulnerable to the humidity in the air, ever acting against it, hoping to turn it back into its natural waves and curls. There are seven factors in particular that play into your hair’s general tendency to go back to its roots. We let you know the first three in Part I, so let’s break down the last ones to press reverting here and now:

 

Press Reverting Reason #4:  You got your hair wet

You grabbed an umbrella, a headwrap and a hat when you caught the forecast of a chance of light showers. You wore a towel over the scarf under your shower cap in the bath. But then you went and put in a product without checking the ingredients.

 

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Many products, even, surprisingly, those designed for heat-straightened hair, contain water – an ingredient which is as anti-straightened hair as it is curl-friendly.

Water causes hydrogen bonds to reform in the hair, and for your heat-straightened strands, those hydrogen bonds mean curls.

When you’re scanning the ingredients list, keep in mind that products with “aqua” on the list contain water. And products with humectants on the list invite water in. If you want your press to survive a few more days, then steer as clear of the humectants (common ones include glycerine, propylene glycol and squalene) as well the water, even if it is “just a little bit” or towards the end of the ingredients list.

 

hair reverting

 

Instead, seal water out using products with hydrophobic silicones high up in the list; dimethicone and amodimethicone are a couple of excellent sealants to look out for.

There is a caveat, however: If you live in an area of high humidity, be aware that, regardless of your best efforts, some of the H2O in the water-rich atmosphere will make it into your hair.

This, in turn, means that some degree of reversion is pretty much inevitable, as even the highest quality sealants are somewhat permeable to water. And let’s not forget the fact that, even in low humidity regions, after a while, the moisture in the air will slowly seep into your strands, taking them back into alpha state. If this didn’t happen, presses and blowouts would leave your hair permanently straight.

 

Press Reverting Reason #5:   You didn’t get the hair smooth enough

Even if you have hair that’s a little resistant, you can amp up the straightness by making sure you smooth it out as much as possible during, before, and after the straightening process. Once your hair hits a certain level of exposure to heat, it will show little progress in straightening, even though you turn up the temperature and multiply the passes with the iron or hairdryer.

That makes it important to stretch the hair as much as you can while it’s still pliable. Use smoothing conditioners and deep treatments, try rollersets, and work on improving your brush or iron technique, not forgetting to wrap your hair immediately after straightening.

 

Press Reverting Reason #6:  Your sections were too big

Just as sectioning well ensures you get moisture to every layer, and tangles out of every tress, it also ensure you get every strand straight.

 

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If you make your sections too big, then enough heat simply can’t reach the inner layers of the hair, as the outer strands will have a “shielding” effect, preventing the iron from contacting them.

The combination of tension and the little heat that does make it through might be enough for the hair to look straight. . . at first.

Within a few hours, however, the fact that not all the hair was touched becomes apparent, as underlayers begin to shrink, creating a puffy, press reverting appearance. To prevent, this make your sections as fine as possible  – no more than centimetre thick and definitely no wider than the iron.

Press Reverting Reason # 7:  Your hair has supernatural resistant strength

If you’ve corrected every one of the common mistakes listed and still find your hair won’t get straight then your hair quite possibly has a very high, natural resistance to heat.

 

hair reversion

 

While most virgin hair has some significant level of resistance, persistent resistance, over many instances of straightening, is a characteristic found in quite a few heads of hair.

It might be frustrating mid-ironing, pressing or blowout, but your press reverting is something to celebrate; it means your mane is strong in the face of one of hair’s biggest stressors, a strength that can help you attain longer lengths.

If this is the case, then either take steps to smooth your hair without high heat, or forego heatstyling altogether; after all, a straight look is just one of a zillion styling options for the inherently versatile naturally curly hair.

Whatever you choose to do, don’t force the issue. Even if your hair won’t get as straight as you want it, repeated exposure to high heat, trying to get it to do what it refuses to–stop your hair reverting, will eventually destroy its natural protein structure, leaving you with damaged hair that doesn’t look good, straight or curly.

For more on reasons behind your press reverting, see part one.

 

Image Credits

| Amandeep Singh Asnapal | Vinoth Chandar |Ashley Webb| Lauren Paulsen | Cambio de Fractal |

Stop Blowout or Press Reverting? 4 Reasons: Part II

Stop Blowout or Press Reverting? First 3 Reasons: Part I

Wondering why your blowouts never seem to make it till the next appointment?

Or why your presses peter out well ahead of schedule?

Your hair rapidly reverting is probably due to one of these seven reasons. . .

 

Reverting: Failed blowouts all have something in common. . .

All of the reasons and rules of unsuccessful presses and blowouts reverting tie into one overarching principle. Call it the law of straightening, whether temporary or permanent, with chemicals or with heat: if you don’t get the hair straight enough, it’s just not gonna stay straight. Here’s breakdown on why you haven’t been getting it straight and why it’s quickly reverting:

 

why my hair reverting

 

Reverting:  You put too much product in your hair

So you really wanted to protect your curls before putting them before the fiery blast of the blowdryer. Not willing to leave a stone unturned, you broke out the heat protectant shampoo, treatment, conditioner, and leave in, following up with the blowdry creme, the thermal spritz and a strong dose of straightening balm.

Or, you’re a fan of all things stick-straight and just can’t get over how smooth your hair looks when you run the hot comb over a thick layer of pressing cream.

hair reverting

 

Either way, you overdid it. In both cases, whether the goal was absolute protection or absolute straightness, your hair was never actually straightened, just momentarily stretched and weighted down by product.

As the product wore off, your curls became less beholden to gravity and started working their way back to wave and cloud formation.

To avoid product getting in the way of successful straightening, limit yourself to one to two leave in heat protectant products.

When you apply, apply only a small amount – i.e., just enough to cover your strands, so you can smooth and protect and still be able to tell when your hair is actually straight. If you use a concentrated protectant e.g., atrActiva Shine Drops Shield Conditioning Leave In Serum, and work it in well, you won’t have to worry about whether you’ve applied enough product as it will be effective with very small amounts.

 

hair reverting

 

Reverting: You didn’t go hot enough

Yes, this part is controversial. Too much heat certainly can cause damage; keratin, the protein hair is made from, begins to denature – become permanently deformed – at anywhere from 140-200 degrees Celsius or 210-250 degrees Celsius, depending on the water content and other factors.

Once it’s gone that way, it’s gone; there’s no question of bringing your hair back to its original state or repairing the damage. All should be well, as long as you keep your heatstyling tools well below these temps. The trouble is, on many heads of hair, the hydrogen bonds (the reformable ones that bring you back to curly as soon as water hits your hair) don’t want to let your hair get straight until the heat gets dangerously close to causing permanent damage.

Unfortunately, in this case, if you’ve made sure you’ve covered all the other bases and still have issues, you’ll simply have to make a choice between leaving your hair not-so-straight or taking the hit.

 

 

stop hair reverting

 

Reverting: Your hair is damaged

So you got your mane shiny and smooth, right from the roots down to just a couple inches away from the tips. Thinking you must have missed a bit, you slide the iron over the ends a couple more times. Nothing happens. You turn up the heat and hit it a few more times. Still nothing.

Your ends won’t go smooth, not because it’s reverting, but because they are damaged beyond repair – either from heat overuse, excessive dryness, tool abuse, or simple, inevitable wear and tear. That is why they won’t straighten again, ever. The only remedy to get your ‘do silky smooth from root to tip is to create new tips – by promptly chopping those worn ones off.

 

And there’s more. . .

The forces that work against your straightening ambitions are absolutely relentless. Check out Part II on straightening tresses reverting to find out the rest of the seven reasons that make your hair reversion-prone!

 

Image Credits

| Amandeep Singh Asnapal | Julie Monday |Uneduex | Choo Yut Shing |Helga Weber|

Heat Damage: How Hot Irons Wreck Your Hair Inside

Heat Damage: How Hot Irons Wreck Your Hair Inside

Scientists have worked out the exact temperature you can straighten your hair at and get your curls back – it’s 185°C.

That temperature is good for up to 50 passes – with perfect curl reversion.

But does curl reversion after heat mean your hair isn’t damaged? Not necessarily – here’s why.

 

Heat damage: What flat ironing does to your hair

In a groundbreaking study on how heatstyling affects tightly curled hair, scientists measured the difference in curl before and after flat ironing at 220°C (428°F) and 185°C (365°F).

The first article in this series breaks everything down, from how they chose the curl types to how they worked out the safe temperature to straighten curly hair.

Here’s a quick recap: The researchers found that after flat ironing 50 times at 185°C, curls sprang back to their original selves once washed and airdried. At 220°C, that didn’t always happen. In fact, several of the tight curls transformed into bigger curls and even loose waves that were almost straight.

 

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That overall loss of curl indicated the hair was damaged by the higher heat level. Whereas at 185°C, curl reversion – the technical term for when your curls come back looking the same after heat styling – was pretty much reassured.

But they weren’t done.

 

Heat damage: What temperature is safe to flat iron your hair?

Lack of curl reversion is a strong indication that hair is damaged. But curl reversion doesn’t mean that your hair is not damaged. Remember, even out of the tresses straightened at 220°C, there were some strands that did revert to their natural curl.

To check for actual damage, the researchers had to use some standard laboratory tests.

They took 50 strands from each of the hair tresses they had flat ironed. First they used a tensile apparatus, which applied stress onto the strands until they broke. The break stress – the amount of pulling it took for the strand to break – was used to determine whether the hair’s tensile strength had changed. If it had, that meant the hair was damaged.

 

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For the hair flat ironed at 185°C, nothing had changed. The hair fibres didn’t break any easier than before straightening and they hadn’t lost any of their original stiffness.

But the tensile testing showed that the hair straightened at 220°C had lost its natural stiffness and started to break more easily. Its break stress was less than half of hair that hadn’t been straightened.

 

heat damaged hair

 

Then they broke out the DSC machine – a gadget that scans and analyses heat to detect changes in proteins.

Just like the curl loss and poor tensile strength indicated, the DSC analysis showed that the internal structure of the hair ironed at 220°C was damaged. The equipment revealed that there were fewer bonds in the hair’s molecular framework.

The internal structure of the hair flat ironed at 185°C, though? It was unaffected. Its internal structure was intact.

 

Why hair straightened at higher temperatures gets heat damaged

When hair is exposed to high temperatures, this causes the hair protein to permanently change shape or denature, like what happens when you cook an egg.

If the heat level gets high enough, it starts to break apart the disulphide bonds and the alpha keratin backbone that give your hair its internal structure.

This doesn’t happen at 185°C because there isn’t enough energy to break those bonds.

 

Why do looser curls mean your hair is heat damaged?

The disulphide bonds that hold your hair together and give it its natural structure are also responsible for something else – shape memory.

When hair that has been safely heat-straightened gets wet, it returns to its natural curl pattern – that’s because the water activates its shape memory.

 

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That’s what happened to the hair that was flat ironed at 185°C. Because it wasn’t heat damaged, its ability to revert to its natural curl pattern stayed intact. As soon as it got wet, the shape memory kicked in and it curled right back up again.

Heat damaged hair has lost some of its internal structure, which takes away that shape memory. So when it gets wet, the strands are unable to revert to their original curl pattern.

That’s what happened to the hair that was straightened at 220°C. The structural damage from all that heat meant that many of its disulphide bonds were broken.

 

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Without those disulphide bonds – the same bonds that get broken by a relaxer when you chemically straighten your hair – the hair experienced an overall loss of curl.

This is what caused the “shift to lower curl types” or the change from tight curls to loose curls and waves which was observed by the research team.

 

Avoid heat damage: turn down the heat

So the moral of the story? To avoid frazzled, permanently straightened, heat damaged hair, be cautious with the temperature when you flat iron. Resist the temptation to turn the dial up past 185°C. There are other, better ways to get your hair straighter and smoother.

And remember: the heat protection from staying at 185°C has only been confirmed  up to 50 passes – cumulatively. Bear that in mind if you’re a 2+ passes to straighten kinda girl. It all adds up even if you space hair straightening out.

And if you colour your hair, you might want to keep the temperature even lower. Heat damage on dyed hair can change its colour.

If you straightened your hair on max before you saw this post and now wetting won’t bring your curls back, there are some steps you should take before cutting the damage.

If you’re about to blowdry or straighten your hair, or plan on using heat at all in the near future, you can prevent heat damage if you know the maximum safe temperatures for your type of device, your heatstyling method and your hair type.

You can download this FREE Heat Damage Thermometer Guide with the scientifically proven maximum safe temperatures for using heat on different types of hair.

 

One New Way To Prevent Heat Damage: Set Your Flat Iron To THIS Temperature

One New Way To Prevent Heat Damage: Set Your Flat Iron To THIS Temperature

Want to straighten your hair and prevent heat damage, but scared you won’t see your curls again after you flat iron?​

Heat damage and curls that won’t revert are the stuff of nightmares when you love your naturally curly hair.

​But scientists have figured out the exact temperature setting to straighten curly hair and get curl reversion every time.

 

​Lack of curl reversion = heat damage

 

How things change. Once upon a time, curl reversion was the enemy. The quicker your curls came back after straightening with irons or a blowdryer the more of a nuisance they were.

Having hair that didn’t revert all the way back after a press or blowout was a good thing. It meant you had successfully ‘heat trained’ your hair or, even better, you had that ‘good hair’ that didn’t nap back up like the less fortunate.

Fast-forward and, thankfully, people are way more educated about their hair. These days, pretty much everyone knows what a lack of curl reversion after straightening is: heat damage.

losser curls due to heat damage get curl reversion

Telltale signs of heat damage on curly hair: looser curls and thinned out ends. Image by Tubarones Photography.

 

​And, after decades of work from the pioneers of the natural hair movement to undo centuries of miseducation on African hair, natural hair is mainstream.

Nowadays, it’s common for people with naturally curly hair to wear their curls most of the time, even if they dabble in the occasional blowout or silk press.

Pressed or blown out hair has gone from being the main styling option for people who chose not to relax their hair to something some naturals do once or twice a year, as a length check or  temporary change of style.

When curly is your default style, “heat-trained” hair with its limp, lifeless curls is no longer an option.  Instead, a new ritual has installed itself.

Once the straight look has run its course, it’s time to jump in the shower, douse your hair with water and wait anxiously for that moment of truth:

 

“​Will my curls come back?”

 

​Even a couple of strands that won’t curl back up can cause alarm. Fervent naturals have been known to break out the scissors immediately if their curls don’t pop. Tanisha is one of them.

The last time she overdid it with the flat iron, she realized a deep trim had to happen. “From the way it flopped back on my forehead after the first rinse, I knew it. Once it was dry, I started counting all the crazy half-straight strands. I just went in and cut out the damage.”

After chopping four inches off her fine afro-textured hair, which reaches the middle of her back when straightened, Tanisha says she thinks it was worth it. “Definitely.  I spend all this time and money to have healthy hair. I didn’t want the heat damage spreading up through my hair.”​

curl reversion prevent heat damage woman with curly hair in blue sky

Curl reversion is important to naturals who try to avoid heat damage. Image by Rodolfo Quiros.

 

 

​A stress-free way to prevent heat damage

 

But what if it didn’t have to be so stressful? What if you could tell in advance exactly what temperature you could flat iron at, get sleek, straight hair and still be sure your curls would be there after?

Temperature tips for hair straightening are all over the Internet, from professional stylists and bloggers alike. Unfortunately, very little is based on science per se. A lot of the recommended temperatures are very different too, which only adds to the confusion.

But if you’ve been growing your hair heat-free for the past couple of years and want to straighten your curls without heat damage, we’ve got some good news for you.

 

 

Can you really heat straighten without damage?

 

Yes. Scientists have found out exactly what temperature you can safely flat iron your hair at without losing curls.

And guess what? One of those studies focused specifically on tightly curled hair types, which tend to get very little light in the hair science literature – though that is changing.

Working with these hair types allowed researchers to see if the protective benefits of a low temperature setting, observed in another study on looser curly hair, also applied to tightly-coiled hair.

Oh, and in another sign of changing times, this study actually namechecks the natural hair movement, crediting it as the reason women now expect to get their curls back after heat styling.

 

 

How they found out the perfect temperature

 

In this study, researchers looked at the effects of two heat settings: 185 degrees Celsius (365° Fahrenheit) and 220 degrees Celsius (428° Fahrenheit).

Before straightening, they classified the tightly curled hair types, using the L’Oréal hair typing system.

The hair samples chosen were Types V, VI and VII, which roughly correspond to types 3c, 4a and 4b in the Andre Hair System.

curl reversion prevent heat damage woman with tight curls

curl reversion prevent heat damage woman with afro hair

curl reversion prevent heat damage woman with tight curl afro

Hair types in the curl reversion heat test. Anticlockwise from top: Type V, Type VI and Type VII by Tubarones Photography.

 

​To get an idea of how repeated  heat straightening would affect the hair, the team ran straightening irons on each sample at both temperatures 50 times to reflect long-term exposure at each heat level.

Then, they rewet the hair, let it air-dry  and waited to see what would happen.

 

 

 

 

Results: What temperature is safe to straighten your hair?

 

​When they checked the hair over at the end, this is what they found:

  • 37.5% of individual hairs ironed at 220°C were unable to revert to their natural curl pattern.
  • Overall, only 25% of hair bundle samples exposed to that temperature were damage-free.
  • The total number of supercurly Type VI and VII strands fell after straightening at 220°C. At that temperature, there were more type V strands which were the loosest curls in the original sample.
  • ​After  220 degree heat, there were even some type III and IV – wavy and loosely curled hair types like the picture below – that were definitely not present before using the straighteners.

 

curl reversion prevent heat damage woman with curly hair

Heat damage turned some tightly curled hair into loose curls and waves. Image by Tubarones Photography

 

 

So does curl reversion mean no heat damage?

 

That strong curl reversion is a good sign for anyone who likes to rock straight hair every once in a while, but wants their curls back once the straight look is done.

On the looks of the hair alone, it seemed like heat damage didn’t happen at 185°C. But that wasn’t enough evidence. Heat damage isn’t always visible to the naked eye, and that’s why curl reversion doesn’t necessarily mean zero heat damage. So what happened when the hair was tested with advanced scientific equipment designed to detect hair damage? It’s all in Part 2, which you can read right here at DHA’s DIY.

prevent heat damage prevent heat damage prevent heat damage prevent heat damage prevent heat damage prevent heat damage prevent heat damage prevent heat damage prevent heat damage prevent heat damage prevent heat damage prevent heat damage prevent heat damage prevent heat damage

 

You can get the list of scientifically proven temperatures it’s safe to use heat on your hair in this guide.

 

Why Roller Sets Are Great For Straightening Your Hair

Why Roller Sets Are Great For Straightening Your Hair

 

Roller sets: Why is it that Dominicans insist on rollersetting hair, when they could just straighten it with a blowdryer?

The lofty place of los rolos in the famed Dominican method of  hair straightening is not without reason.

Roller sets give your straightened hair that extra edge, volume and vitality. Here’s how. . .

 

Roller sets = Less heat

Using rollers as a step in straightening your hair means your strands spend less time in contact with direct heat, which is the most damaging form of heat for your hair.

 

metal ROLLERS Dominican hair allianceThe rollers stretch your hair out and smooth it out as it dries under the hood dryer, allowing you to build in straightness before you go toe-to-toe with the blowdryer, and possibly the flat iron.

Blowdrying hair from wet is a no-no in the Dominican tradition. In contrast, when you roller set first, by the time you use the other tools, a lot of the straightening has already happened, meaning you need less direct heat time to achieve your desired look.

 

 

Roller sets = More volume

The big curl given by the rollers (for a traditional Dominican Blowout, your stylist will use the biggest size roller your hair can take, in order to maximise stretch), imprints your hair with volume, all the while temporarily smoothing away your natural curl. This tension-based, more 3D method of straightening – as opposed to the flattening effect of the flat iron – conserves and builds in body, leaving your hair as full as it is smooth when done.

 

Roller sets = More smoothness

roller set dominicanhairallianceGetting the hair to lie tautly stretched over a roller as it dries has a strong smoothing effect that just can’t be replicated with a blowdryer or a flat iron.

Done right, rollersetting is tension-based straightening that takes advantage of your hair’s flexibility when wet, allowing the roller set to mould your hair into straightness – as opposed to nearly melting it and deforming it, which is what direct heat styling tools do.

Just make sure you avoid common rolling mistakes and use the right methods and products to ensure your hair lies smooth on the roller – and the right rollers to maximise the stretch, with minimum impact on your hair.

 

Roller sets = Hair with movement

white car hair with movement Dominican hair allianceRollers give your hair some serious bounce and flow! The curved shape which the rollers form your hair into comes with its own spring. And not only that: using a roller set beforehand preserves precious moisture, and moisture = movement.

Straightened hair can often suffer from lack of movement when achieved by blowdryer, flat iron or pressing comb alone.

​This is largely because the hair loses so much moisture after sustained straightening at higher, direct heat, which has a stiffening effect.

An authentic Dominican stylist will lay your hair in rollers under the dryer before even contemplating the blowdryer. And by the time she unravels the springy roller set, your hair has some serious movement to it, most of which will stay intact during the blowdry phase, as, in the Dominican Blowout – despite the name – this part is kept to a minimum, reducing the stress on your hair.

 

Roller sets =  Straighter hair

Even if you’re pressing your hair old-school with a hot comb, getting some of the curl out beforehand with the rollers means you can get your hair more straightened before it reaches the point of resistance, which most of us know only too well.

roller sets get you straighter hair Dominican hair allianceAfter a certain amount of time under the blowdryer, flat iron or pressing comb, healthy hair tends to reach a point where it refuses to be straightened any further. Usually, when this happens, you have to hit it up again the next day – meaning more heat, which is not good at all for your tresses.

Rollers are just about the best way to stretch out your cur beforehand, meaning you start the manual straightening process with hair that’s already partway straight.

​​Stretching your hair beforehand means you get to maximise the impact of the time during which your hair is straightened with direct heat, since you give it a little headstart. It also means you spend less time using these tools in your tresses – a very hair healthy bonus.

Using a combination of methods always gives your straightened hair more mileage. When a Dominicana rollersets your hair, blows it out and then wraps it into el Doobie, your hair gets imprinted with a multilayered straightness, allowing it to stay straight for longer. A Dominican Blowout can last a good 1-2 weeks, especially if you know the right way to stretch your Blowout. A whole lot of that longer-lasting straightness is due to the amazing stretching powers of a roller set.

 

Ready to see what a good roller set can do for your hair? Check out our step-by-step guide on how to rollerset your hair. Happy rolling!

 

Image credits: ​Anna Maria Liljestrand | Steve Hodgson |Naomi Stelrose |Drew Heron