flat iron recommendations

[navane]

I have naturally curly hair which is semi-dry and relatively thin; several friends have mentioned that they thought a flat iron would work nice on my hair. I'm thinking of getting a flat iron - what kind of styling product do people normally use with one?

.....Kelly

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by navane

I have naturally curly hair which is semi-dry and relatively thin; several friends have mentioned that they thought a flat iron would work nice on my hair. I'm thinking of getting a flat iron - what kind of styling product do people normally use with one?

.....Kelly

I'm a walking talking Chi advertisement. I use Chi Silk Infusion mixed with Chi Straight Guard and run that through my hair. I blowdry it till it's dry, trying to straighten it as much as possible with my hands and brush. Then I flat iron. When I'm done I either use Chi Shine Infusion to make it silky and tame fly aways, or when I want texture I use Chi Pliable Polish.

When I do my hair curly, I use a mousse with a strong hold and comb throw my hair. Then I mix Silk Infusion and Straight Guard together and scrunch that through my hair. It gives me a nice glossy shine. To get extra glossy girls, I scrunch Pliable Polish in.

Biosilk products work very well also and are by the same company as Chi.

I should also add that my stylist (cousin) uses Chi hair coloring on me. Today she tried the new Chi bleach which smells good (unlike that eye watering bleach smell) and pulled the black dye out of my hair very well. I'm Chi'd out!

[Benzgirl]

Originally Posted by navane

I have naturally curly hair which is semi-dry and relatively thin; several friends have mentioned that they thought a flat iron would work nice on my hair. I'm thinking of getting a flat iron - what kind of styling product do people normally use with one?

.....Kelly

You WILL need product if you have frizz. No way to get around it. But, I don't buy the Chi products any longer. They are too expensive and there are products in the ethnic hair section that are much cheaper and have the same ingredients. Look for products without alcohol. They should contain Cyclomethicone, Dimethiconol, and Dimethicone, and are clear in color.

My process goes like this:
Leave-In conditioner (root to ends) and something like Chi Silk Infusion or something that I mentioned above from the ethnic hair section I put it half way down the shaft and to the ends.

I let my hair air-dry as much as possible -- heat of a hair drier will make it Frizz. I try only to finish it off with the drier.

I do use the Revlon Ceramic (2") on about half of the highest heat. You may not need the 2" if your hair isn't thick. Remember heat=damage. Do small sections at a time. I do need to flat iron the roots even though they are relaxed, because my hair is so coarse and curly.

Once it's done, I only need to get it wet and wash twice weekly (use a shower cap). I sleep with it on top of my head (think Pebbles), and it only takes a minute to brush out and iron any kinks in the morning. To keep the shine in-between washes, I put a little of the Silk-like products on the ends.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by navane

Ok! So I decided to combine the recommendations here and bought a $30 Revlon ceramic iron. Since I've never used one before and didn't know how it would work for me, I didn't want to buy a $100 iron just yet. I also picked-up a bottle of CHI iron guard.

So far, I've used it twice and it seems to do ok so far. The iron made my hair a little sleeker, softer and shiner when compared to air drying or blow drying. The trade-off is that I lose some volume, which is to be expected with straight hair.

As someone with naturally curly hair, it's a nice change of pace to have straighter hair. Of course, I would embrace my curly hair if I could just figure out a way to get it to not frizz so much without having to put tons of product in it! LOL

Thanks everyone for the help!

.....Kelly

I HATE Iron Guard. It made my straight hair very coarse and seemed to do more damage than good.

[navane]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

I HATE Iron Guard. It made my straight hair very coarse and seemed to do more damage than good.

Really? It seems to work pretty good for me so far. Maybe we just have different hair composition? I only put one product in my hair - silk drops - and that's it. These past couple times, I used the silk first and then misted with the iron guard and it's still all good.

.....Kelly