​Rollers are used in all Dominican Blowouts and some silk presses. The smooth magnetic type are typically used for both processes and as long as they are clipped in place with seamless clips or bobby pins, they are pretty gentle to the hair.

​The flat iron and blowdryer are the riskiest tools used in both processes. Some stylists use blowdryers with settings that reach excessively high temperatures. Other times, faulty devices can overheat and damage hair that way, especially if used on wet hair.

Many modern flat irons are designed to reach temperatures of over 230°C (just under 450°F) which is close to the point that hair decomposes. By 220°C (428°C) between 33% to 41% of strands will not revert, so the damage is not just internal, it’s visible on the outside, too.

It’s very easy to break the heat barrier and damage your hair without realising, especially when you don’t really know where that barrier is. The breakage or failure might only become apparent down the line – at which point it might be too late.

To prevent it, use this list of scientifically-proven maximum temperatures you can hit with different tools and hair types to prevent heat damage.

Both the silk press and the Dominican Blowout stand out from the average blowout or flat ironing because of their results. Both methods produce smooth, glossy hair with movement. So what’s the difference?

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When it comes to movement, the Dominican Blowout usually produces more flowing hair than the typical silk press. Most silk presses follow a process which takes the hair from wet to blowdried semi-straight, to flat ironed straight. Since there’s no rollerset, the opportunity to create movement in the hair is lower.
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In the Dominican Blowout, the rollerset infuses hair with movement and volume that can’t be made up for later in the process. That said, silk presses do vary. On processes that use rollersets, the difference in movement between silk press and Dominican Blowout will be minimal if at all.

On looser curls in general (not all: there are some exceptions) there’s not much of a difference in how straight your hair gets with a Dominican Blowout or a silk press.

Where you do begin to see a difference is with the tightest curls. To straighten your hair, you have to temporarily break some of the bonds that keep your hair curly. Tighter curled hair in the 4b-4c range has more bonds holding its curls together. That’s because on tighter curls, there are many more curls per strand than on say, a 3b strand.

More curls = more bonds to break, so more energy needs to go into making the hair straight. That’s why the tightest curls are often resistant to heat straightening; they require more energy to uncurl them.

In fact, in every curl type, there are cases of strong, healthy hair that has never been straightened which is also very resistant: again, there are more intact bonds to break to get it straight.

If you’re getting a traditional Dominican Blowout and your stylist doesn’t have the right combination of deep conditioners + rollerset game + arm strength + straightening skills + serum, and your curls are resistant, the results after the blowdry step will be less straight.

In these cases, your stylist might finish up with a flat iron if the straightness is not up to your or her standards. Technically, that’s not part of the traditional Blowout, but it is used in some cases and the combination will get your hair very straight.

​The silk press is usually done with direct heat all the way – from a blowdryer on wet hair (which is more malleable than dry hair) and then a flat iron once the hair is dry, which maximises heat.

Because of the high heat levels, as long as  your stylist has a decent technique, it should be possible to straighten even very tight curls or resistant hair of any curl type.

There are a couple of caveats. First, increasing heat to beat resistance does also mean increasing the risk of heat damage. And, second, even when you turn up the flat iron to max, there’s still a limit to how straight resistant hair can get if it’s not been properly smoothed out with a strong conditioning treatment or stretched on rollersets first.

At some point, your hair will stop responding to the heat, whether it’s straight or not.

With the silk press, deep conditioning first is often optional, depending on the condition of the hair. But for tight curls especially, a combination of conditioning, stretching and then active straightening tends to work best at smoothing the hair.

That’s why using the right conditioners before straightening – the ones that make your hair more flexible – is so important, especially if you think you might have resistant hair. And get that rollerset, too: It’s much better to get your hair as smooth as possible before you apply direct heat to limit the amount of heat you need to use to achieve straightness.

Dominican Blowouts are designed to last a week, or up to 2 weeks if you know how to stretch a blowout.

Silk presses can last up to 1 month. Again, it depends on the method used, the climate (the duration in humid conditions will be much shorter) and your own unique hair. However, it is not advised that you leave your silk press in that long because your hair will become DRY.

When hair is straightened, the water it naturally contains evaporates. For your hair to stay straight, you can’t let it get wet. At the same time, after going without water (aka moisture) for so long, hair will be dehydrated and can become brittle and break.

This is why washing your hair and removing the style within a week or 2 weeks max is advised: it’s important for your hair’s moisture levels, even if your hair hasn’t reverted yet. For hygiene purposes, it is also not advisable to go that long without washing your hair.

Silk presses tend to  last longer because of the higher heat exposure from direct heat tools. More heat = more energy = more temporary bonds broken, which means slower reversion.

Another reason for the duration is the fact that silk presses tend to be done at very high temperatures. If presses are done at the levels mentioned above, some structural damage is inevitable.​

Structural damage – which occurs when the permanent disulphide bonds that lock in your hair’s curly structure get compromised – makes hair less likely to revert. This isn’t good for your hair, but it does explain why hair can stay straighter for longer.

Both the Silk Press and the Dominican Blowout have their advantages and disadvantages. We’ve summarised them below.
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The main advantage of the silk press is shared with the Dominican Blowout: it can get tightly curled hair very straight and shiny with more movement and smoothness than traditional straightening methods.

​The silk press process doesn’t include as many steps so is generally quicker to do than a full Dominican Blowout. It’s is also easier to carry out if your blowdry technique is not that great, since most of the straightening happens with a flat iron. Since a basic silk press doesn’t require hood dryers or rollersets you can achieve this look without having that equipment, either.​

The disadvantages of the silk press include greater overall exposure to direct heat; risk of bubble hair damage from using heat on wet hair; less emphasis on deep conditioning to smooth hair; less volume and movement and possible frizz for some hair types from the silk wrap.​

You can get around most of these disadvantages by using the rollerset-based silk press which is closer to the Dominican Blowout method but still includes a press.

The Dominican Blowout likewise offers a level of straightness on tightly-curled natural hair that previous methods did not typically achieve.

​Other advantages include greater volume and more movement at the end than the silk press, and an overall lower exposure to heat damage, as less direct heat is used and direct heat is not applied on wet hair. The emphasis on conditioning also helps achieve smoother end results and healthier hair.​

Disadvantages of the Dominican Blowout include the time it takes to complete and the shorter duration of the straight style (1-2 weeks vs 1-4 weeks for the silk press). The Dominican Blowout is also harder to achieve outside the salon since the blowdry step requires a specific roundbrush technique, plus large rollers and a hood dryer.