Singer Leona Lewis sports a sleek blow out. (Photo credit: PRPhotos.com)

Natural style to shimmer straight

By Ricki Jae Morris, My Salon Scoop writer

Most women want hair with versatility. They want to go from natural to straight and vise versa, but they don't want to compromise their hair for the sake of their ever-changing style ideas.

"The best way I see in straightening hair is using ceramic (hair tools)," says Erica Blevins, co-owner of the Oh! My Nappy Hair salon chain.

Ceramic hair irons are known to be a safe way to temporarily straighten the hair and are becoming a must-have styling tool; however for best results, the stylist stresses that professionals should only be the ones to use them to style the hair.

"With ceramic irons, they're best to be used by professionals because they can be damaging if you are using them too much," says Blevins, who is based out of the Atlanta salon location.

To keep hair healthy, she admonishes women not to touch up the hair with a curling iron or a flat iron between salon visits. Instead, leave heat completely out of daily styling maintenance.

"I know people like to touch up their curls or edges, and if (they) do that, especially on dirty hair, then it just weakens the hair," Blevins says, adding that a better alternative

Stylists recommend "Silk" to support straight hairstyles.

Stylist Keeba Boyd agrees that clients can damage their hair with daily touch ups.

"(Touch ups are)...only good once in a while," says Boyd, a stylist with the Chicago-based salon All Natural. She added that if a client touches up the hair, and it's not properly prepared (wash, conditioned and blow-dried), the client could damage the hair because dirt makes hair dry and brittle. This is a bad combination when adding heat.

Sometimes it takes a little help from certain products to achieve flawless straight hair. Blevins uses "Silk" from Design Essentials.

Silk is "an anti-humectant, which (when) you put on wet (it dries) the hair out, allows hair to be silky and (keeps) humidity out and natural moistures in," she explains, adding that anti-humectants also protect hair from heat.

However, not all straightening products are created equal, Blevins warned. She says that if you want to bounce from a ‘fro to straight hair and back again than carefully consider your product choices.

Lewis rocks her natural curls with flair. (Photo credit: PRPhoto.com)

However, Tiffany Williams, lead instructor at Marinello Schools of Beauty in Los Angeles, says curl loss goes beyond bad product choices.

"It's not so much of the product you use, it's about your hair's elasticity," she explains. She continued saying that no matter what products you use to protect your hair from heat, you can still lose your curly texture if heat is applied. "Basically you are breaking down (your) hydrogen bond," which is what keeps your hair curly.

One of the biggest misconceptions that both clients and some stylists have is we must "train" our hair to wear it straight.

"(Training your hair) is an old-school term and an old-school way of thinking," Blevins says. "What training your hair does is weaken your hair and break your hair down to the point when ...it doesn't want to go back to its strong natural texture."

If you are a victim of hair that's been processed and straightened to the point of no curl return, Blevins says not to worry because there is hope for you. Have a professional trim your hair, and then wear it naturally in a style like a rod set while your hair grows back to its healthy curly texture.

Ricki Jae Morris is a freelance writer from Los Angeles.

Copyright 2010 © My Salon Scoop, LLC

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