To ask if you have naturally curly hair but regularly straighten it...

[Sprayerhayer]

...how you keep it healthy?

I have naturally curly hair, bottom layers look good curly as they’ve never been coloured. Top layers are blonde (bleach/ tint) and look a frizzy mess when it’s curly. The first day I can just about get away with it with the right products but after that, it’s awful.

I also lose so much length when it’s curly, it’s past my boobs when straight and when it’s curly it’s just below my shoulders but it ages me I think.

So, I would like to start straightening it more, maybe once a week/ fortnight?

I’m worried about it getting even more damaged (and I know inevitably it will) but if there’s anything I can do to keep it in a healthier condition I’m willing to give it a go!

@Sansucre fair enough I wouldn't be prepared to pay for treatments which may or not suit my hair. I'm happy with the L'Oréal Steampod and I still have the option to have my hair curly. Which interestingly gets more compliments.

I have a steampod, haven’t used it that much yet though. Do people with curly hair and a steampod feel like they need it on the highest setting or does the 180 get and more importantly keep it

180 works well for me, I've never used the 200 or 220 settings.

[quote ZaraW]@Sansucre fair enough I wouldn't be prepared to pay for treatments which may or not suit my hair. I'm happy with the L'Oréal Steampod and I still have the option to have my hair curly. Which interestingly gets more compliments.[/quote]
I have never had a keratin that has removed the curl from me hair. All a keratin does for my hair is to make it easier to straighten and removes the frizz.

I'm another one who swears by the steampod. I was sceptical at first, after years of using ghd's, but I can't believe how much better they are for my hair and they straighten just as well if not better. I've also ditched my usual conditioner in favour of L'Oréal wonder water (but swap this out for a moisturising hair mask about once a week) and my hair feels much softer and smoother.

I wash my hair twice a week and straighten it once air dried. It usually only looks great for the first day and then I use varying styles until next wash day. Straightening for so many years has relaxed a lot of my curls so I have had to commit to it being a long term thing now, as it doesn't look good when curly anymore.
My biggest tip is to actually wave your hair with your straighteners instead of straightening it. I do very loose beachy waves that help it to look okay when some of my natural texture starts peeking through. I don't ever colour my hair, and I use the redken leave in treatment that protects from heat.
I do have some split ends, but I find doing a won't trim every 6 weeks is better than a big chop twice a year.

Doing a tiny trim *^^

The two immediate things you can do to improve the health of your hair are to switch to a silk pillowcase and ditch terry towels which over overly drying and can damage wet hair. Some people use an old t-shirt but you can also get towels made from the same fabric.