Does anyone have really long curly hair that they straighten themselves?

[Thegoddessblossom]

My hair is long and naturally curly, I rarely wear it down, either in a pony tail or banana clip for work or a messy knot.

For posh dos I go to the salon and either get them to set it in big rollers for a lovely glossy wavy look, or they straighten it. I can't imagine doing either of those things on myself.

Need some inspiration. Is it easy once you get used to it? What straighteners do you use? Don't your arms ache?

Tia

Bloss

My hair isn't massively long (approx mid-shoulders) and like you I used to get it done in the hairdressers. For about 3 years now I have been doing it myself. I use Paul Mitchell skinny shampoo and conditioner which helps it straighten. I then blow dry it as straight as I can get it using a large round brush. Then I give myself a little break before sectioning it all off and straightening with GHD's . I can do this now in about 30 mins (the whole lot).

I do what ThePie does. But I don't do it properly very often, so am always out of practice and my arms ache.

If I use a hairdryer my hair dries straightish (no diffusing abilities at all), so it'll be straightish from now until April as it's getting too cold to be wandering with damp hair waiting for it curl.

thanks guys. Might ask for some GHDs for christmas.

ATM I diffuse it after adding mousse, but it's a bit wild.

With long, curly hair, get wide plate GHDs, as they make the job much easier and quicker. Also, get some good clips and do it a layer at a time.

I've got hair like yours, and I got a kerastase treatment on amazon that my home hairdresser applied for me for another twenty quid. It made the world of difference to the condition, and though I rarely have the time or energy to straighten it, it did make it ten times easier.

great tips - thanks alot!

Defo get GHDs. I bought a cheap paid of ceramic straighteners after DH trod on mine and broke them, they are rubbish and not worth the £30. With my GHDs, I could straighten and even in high humidity/spitting rain my hair would still stay straight.

I don't straighten it much anymore though, so I can't really justify getting new ones!

I second the wider ghds. I have hair like you but I try not to straighten too much

Definitely have to have the wider GHD's, worth every penny.

I have long, curly and frizzy hair that is ridiculously thick. I do as the others, blow dry it straight and then put the GHD's through it one layer at a time. This takes the hairdressers about an hour to do so as you can imagine it takes me much longer - it used to take 3 and half hours start to finish when I first started doing it, I now have it down to about 2 hrs 20 mins! Have done it in just under 2 hours when I had a brazilian blowdry treatment on it.

And yes, it does kill my arms! I just tend to adjust the way I stand and bring my hair over my shoulders to straighten as much as possible rather than reaching up and over, iyswim?!. I usually get my DH to finish the very last bit as I am just way too bored by then!

Why not just leave it curly?

I have long curly hair, I don't want to artificially straighten it to look like everyone else! The natural curly look is much nicer anyway imo. For nice curly curls I just don't bruch my hair after I've washed it, and let it dry naturally (I brush the knots out before washing it though).

Flossy how long does that last?

Over - I too like having long curly hair - just looking for options and variety.

Brazilian blow dries are the same as the kerastase treatment I mentioned. My hairdresser was here today, seven weeks on, and said she could still feel the difference in my hair's manageability. I'm definitely going to get another one in a couple of weeks. For around fifty quid (getting it done at home), it's no more expensive than highlights, and it has made such an improvement to my hair's condition.

Blossom - it says it can last up 4 months depending on how often you wash your hair. You're meant to wash it with special shampoo and conditioner that is sodium free (which adds to the expense). I wash mine once a week so I could still feel the difference in my hair up to 6 months later. It didn't straighten my hair by any means, just relaxed it and made it easier to manage. I preferred the look of my curls as well when I wore it that way.

I've been using Johnsons Baby Shampoo, which is sodium-free, for a quid a bottle. And a six quid bottle of Charles Worthington conditioner. I'm not convinced that you have to spend top dollar, although some people do.

Ooh, never realised that about the Johnsons stuff B0F, have to remember for next time.

No sodium chloride, yay!