How To Keep Your Hair Straight
Throughout The Day

Question: I have naturally wavy hair and it seems like no matter how well I straighten it in the morning, it never stays straight. Any tips on how to keep hair sleek and straight throughout the day?

Answer: If you want to straighten your curls for a day, all you need is a flat brush, a blow dryer, some hair products, a flat iron and a few minutes. Follow these styling tips and you will have straight hair that lasts throughout the day.

How To Keep Your Hair Straight Throughout The Day

1. Begin by shampooing, conditioning and towel-drying your hair.

2. Apply a detangling product to your damp hair (such as L'ANZA Healing Moisture Leave-in Noni Fruit Detangler). This will assist with detangling your curls, provide extra hold and make it easier to work other products through your hair.

3. Lightly spritz your hair with a thermal protective product (such as Beyond the Zone Turn Up The Heat Serum, Kerastase Vernis Nutri-Sculpt or Oscar Blandi Proteine di Jasmine Protein Mist), paying special attention to the ends.

4. Place a quarter-size dollop of straightening balm that contains an anti-frizz (we recommend Phyto Phytodefrisant Botanical Hair Relaxing Balm) serum in the palm of your hand. Rub your palms together to evenly distribute the product over both palms, and then massage the product evenly through your hair from the ends up to the roots. This will infuse your hair with moisture and acts as a barrier against humidity.

5. Separate your hair into three sections - one at the top, one in the middle, and one at the nape of the neck. Clip the top and middle sections up.

6. Select a small portion of the hair from the nape section to straighten.

7. Using a flat paddle brush with natural bristles and beginning at the roots gently pull the brush through the underside of your hair to the ends while blow-drying it with an ionic dryer so that you expose your hair directly to the heat of the dryer. Pull the hair away from your head, stretching and straightening it as you go. Be sure to keep the tension consistent and evenly distribute the heat over the section of hair you are working on. This ensures uniform hair texture and prevents over drying of certain areas. Remember to point the nozzle of the dryer in the direction of the hair for smoother results.

8. Once that portion of your hair is straightened, continue selecting and blow-drying small portions until that section is dry and straight.

9. Repeat the process on the two other sections to straighten your entire head of hair. For the top section, lift up the hair as you dry it to get some height and also direct it away from your face.

10. Once all sections are dry, you can use the brush to smooth everything out.

11. Finish styling with a ceramic flat-iron designed for hair after following the steps above. Choose the heat setting for your hair type, and allow flat-iron to warm before using. Select portions of hair, as per blow-drying directions, and slide heated flat-iron along hair, beginning close to the roots and going past the ends of hair, repeating if needed to fully flatten hair.

• To assist with detangling your curls and for additional hold, apply a product such as Kerastase Lait Nutri Sculpt (a leave-in smoothing hair foundation) to wet hair.
• Prep hair with a thermal protective spray to prevent heat damage (such as Beyond the Zone Turn Up The Heat Serum, Kerastase Vernis Nutri-Sculpt or Oscar Blandi Proteine di Jasmine Protein Mist) and use an ionic dryer (Conair Infiniti Professional Ionic Styler), which dries hair faster and seals cuticles to add shine.
• Keep the dryer moving to prevent hot spots, and always point the dryer down as you blow-dry hair; blowing hair upward can cause frizz.
• Tame any fly-away hair with an anti-frizz serum or pomade. Place a few drops in your hand, rub gently to distribute it, and then apply it your hair according to the product instructions.
• One of the biggest obstacles to achieving a sleek and straight blow out is choosing the right brush. Put down those vent brushes and round brushes - a flat paddle brush with natural bristles will give the sleekest results. Natural bristles grab and hold on to hair best, while the shape will leave hair flat and straight (as opposed to the voluminous straight look a round brush will deliver).
• Before using a flat-iron, make sure that your hair is completely dry and that you have applied a thermal protective spray to prevent heat damage. Separate and straighten your hair in small, fine sections.
• If you will be heat styling your hair daily, we recommend investing in a salon quality styling tool such as the Chi Ceramic Flat Iron. Alternatively, you may want to consult your stylist should you be interested in chemically straightening your hair permanently.

Follow these easy steps and tips for achieving straight hair, and you can have salon-sleek results at home that last throughout the day. For a demonstration and more advice on how to keep your hair straight throughout the day watch the following short video:

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