How to straighten curly afro hair

Curly and long afro hair looks amazing. It’s something a lot of women who don’t have that effect on their hair naturally try to achieve in hair salons.

But, if you’re the lucky one who gets to rock amazing curly afro, you know that sometimes it gets out of control.

Besides, just as people with straight hair like to curl it every once in a while, you want to have a second option as well.

And, turning your hair from curly boom to nice and sleek locks is that second option for you. You probably tried it, and you probably felt like you agreed to go through the craziest obstacle course, but didn’t get the prize that was promised to you.

Well, straightening African American hair is hard indeed. And, it’s also quite tricky, as in order to achieve sleek finish you need to figure out the hair straightening routine that would tame exactly your afro.

That’s why people who prefer having straight hair (and being able to style it without time consuming preparation) often decide to go for a sew-in hairstyle. After that they don’t have to spend too much time and effort in order to straighten their hair every single day.

That’s probably the easiest and the most lasting way to get straight hair.

If you’re willing to make your life easier that way, go to HireRush.com and post a request for our hair styling pros, mentioning how you’d like your future hair to look.

Leave your request here

However, I really encourage those who were gifted with amazing natural curly hair to embrace their look and rock it as it is.

And, when you feel like you want to change it up, just use this afro/curly hair straightening guide. You’ll be amazed how great it works even on the craziest and tightest curls.

What you need:

1. hair dryer
2. round hair brush
3. 4 hair clips
4. hot hair straightening tool (flat iron, preferably with ceramic protective coating and flexible temperature settings)
5. heat protective hair spray/oil
6. your regular hair comb with large teeth
7. fine hair comb
8. hair spray with strong fixation ( if you live in humid areas, opt for anti-humidity one for longer and better hold and frizz fight)

How to straighten

1. We’ll start with wet hair. So, wash and condition it as you normally do. get rid of excess water using a soft towel (don’t rub your hair with it, as it causes significant damage to your hair structure).
2. Comb your hair thoroughly using a wide tooth comb. Apply heat protection.
3. Section your hair into 4 parts, and clip 3 of them away.
4. Start blow drying your hair. Grab a thin strand of hair out of one of your sections and brush it with a round brush while drying it.
5. Do the same to the rest of your hair. Don’t be too scared, as by the end of this process your hair will be as fluffy as can be.
   But, this step is essentially called preliminary straightening.
   By blow drying your afro hair like so, you’ll eliminate the curls. But, as a result, your hair will get really frizzy and fluffy.
   And that’s exactly what a hair straightener can deal with.
6. Once you finish blow drying your hair, it’s time to straighten it. Again, divide your hair into 4 parts and clip 3 of them away for extra convenience.
7. Grab a thin section of hair, go with a fine hair comb through it. Meanwhile, follow your comb with a flat iron to actually straighten your hair. This way you’ll get really straight finish and won’t secure that frizzy structure in place with a hot tool.
8. Repeat the previous step as many times as you need to straighten the rest of your hair. You might want to go over the strand with the flat iron a couple of times. Don’t forget to straighten the ends as well.
9. Now things are going to get a bit controversial. You may literally stop at the step 8, as your hair will be pretty much straight at that point. But, we’ll try to make it last much longer.
10. For that matter, spray your hair with hair spray (if your hair is quite thick, you might want to ‘lift’ its top mass up to spray the bottom layer and reach ‘the depths’).
    And, using a fine comb, go over your hair with flat iron once again to lock that spray in place.
    That’s how you may achieve that perfect sleek and shiny straight hair look.

Warning!!!! Obviously, you don’t want to straighten your really curly hair too often not to cause drastic heat damage.