Straighten | Hair | Flat

While hairstyling techniques have been found from every culture in
recorded history, the latter part of the nineteenth century brought
us the development of thermal styling techniques, beginning with
Marcel Grateau's heated rods for curling the hair. Later, heated
combs and flattened irons were used to straighten naturally curly or
wavy hair. These techniques were effective, but often led to hair
damage. Fortunately, the advances have continued.

Today, we have specialized thermal styling tools, designed to change the hair's wave
pattern with less risk of damage, as well as product to protect the hair during these
processes. Not only are there curling irons of varying size and shape, but there are flat
iron tools as well that can take you from curly and full to sleek and silky in minutes.
With these new tools (with price tags ranging as low as US $20.00 to US $150.00 or
more) you can have whatever you want in terms of curl or lack thereof.

But you need to know a few important rules before you begin using these appliances,
both to give the best possible results and to make sure you do the least possible
amount of damage to your hair. For thermal styling, always follow these simple rules:

Rule Number One: Always start any thermal styling process with clean, DRY hair.
Whenever possible, your styling session should start by shampooing and conditioning
the hair with a moisture-rich formula in both your shampoo and conditioner. In addition,
follow up with a leave-in conditioning spray to protect the hair during the drying and
thermal styling process.

       A build-up of gel, mousse or hairspray from previous styling will only result in
stickiness, clumping, and possible damage, so cleansing the hair before thermal styling
is essential. In addition, the hair must be COMPLETELY dry. Even slightly damp hair will
not only respond poorly to the thermal styling, but applying the heated appliance to
damp hair will cause the hair to literally "cook" in the resultant steaming, swelling the
hair shaft and forcing the protective moisture from the cortex of the hair.

Rule Number Two: Use the right sized tool for your hair. Unless your hair is well past your
shoulders in length, you should choose a flat-iron appliance whose heating plates are
approximately 1"-to-1-1/2" wide. Wider irons are certainly available, but are only
necessary for those individuals with longer hair. For the average woman, the smaller
tool offers better control, is lighter in weight, and therefore much easier to handle.

Rule Number Three: Work with the hair in manageable sections and use only as much heat
as necessary to straighten the hair. Many women buy a flat iron, and complain that they
don't work well. Usually it's because they are overloading the iron. If you try iron too
much hair at once, you end up with an uneven application of heat, as the hair against
the heating plates gets most of the heat, while the hair in the middle isn't heated
enough. In addition, if you try to straighten a section that is too thick by heating the
hair longer, you only end up overheating the outer layers of the hair, and potentially
damaging it.

       There is also the danger of damaging and burning the hair if you use too high a
setting on the iron. You should always test the heat level of your iron if you are unsure
of how hot the iron gets. Take a piece of tissue paper that has been misted with water
and place it between the heating elements. The proper setting will quickly evaporate
the moisture without marring the tissue. If the paper shows any sign of scorching or
discoloration, then lower the heat setting of your iron before you apply it to your
hair.

       Divide your hair into sections no wider than the heating plates of the iron, and
straighten slices no thicker than half the width of your heating plates. By working with
small sections and slices, you can apply the heat evenly, and will get the desired
straightness with fewer passes of the iron.

Rule Number Four: Use a light amount of styling product to maximize the life of the style.
By lightly misting the slices you are straightening with a bit of hairspray and allowing it
to dry fully (or by using a small amount of gel or mousse as you dry the hair) you will
get a straightening result that will last longer than styling the hair without it. This is also
another reason for beginning with shampooing and conditioning, since applying the
product to hair that already has product on it from previous styling would most
certainly guarantee a build-up of product.

Flat Iron Hair Straightening Demonstration
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