How do I straighten DD's hair

[Katymac]

I'm in the process of putting pictures up on my profile; but it's taken me 2.5 hrs and isn't massively successful

So what am I doing wrong?

her hair is fragile and quite tempermental

We have done good things with silicone free conditioners & reduced washing - I only hope straightening doesn't damage it unbelievably

I have some wheatgerm oil that might work over night - I'll suggest it

That's the problem with curly hair - you never know what it is going to do. My dd has poker straight hair, you wash it , brush it done - mine on the other hand is a delicate balance of oils potions and finger crossing and i still go out most days looking like i have been plugged into the electric

When I first started straightening dd's hair she had major breakage. Her hair on the crown was literally inches long.

Now I have started treating it correctly she has lovely, healthy, shiny hair.

My hair is naturally like your DD's. I use a combination of hair dryer and ceramic straighteners, and with a practiced hand I can be finished from wet hair in about 30 minutes. After washing and conditioning I use the hair dryer and a brush to take out the moisture and dry it fairly straight. (At this stage I have something of the Crystal Tipps about me). I then section my hair and use the ceramic straighteners on the hottest setting on quite thin sections of hair - which actually gets the job done quicker than using chunkier sections. Also it avoids going over the same sections again and again to get them straight. For me the key to getting the frizz out is a set of straighteners that are hot enough and blow drying first to get the moisture out - or my hair will just frizz and curl again, particularly at the roots.

I don't think you do need professional help to do it - just practice and patience. Also your daughter may just tire of the faff of doing it. Whenever I wear my hair naturally (as she has it in the third pic) all I need to do is wash it, use leave in conditioner and I'm done - much easier!

Well i don't know how it can be negatively simplistic to say embrace the curl? Im not saying don't experiment, jeez at 17 i had an electric blue bob. Im mearly saying work what you got but obviously that doesn't change the fact she wants to experiment or have hair like she wants.

I don't know how to view the pics and I know this is completely unhelpful but younger me would be so jealous of all you curly haired folk! Even if I try to curl mine it drops out with half an hour, unless I use this spray that makes it all feel crunchy. Luckily older me is too lazy to care!

chilly by simplistic I meant that you can tell your teenage dd until the cows come home that her natural hair is beautiful she will more than likely still want to straighten it. It's incredibly frustrating.

I agree completely thornrose.

The loreal steampod is meant to be fantastic for straightening Afro hair. See reviews on YouTube.

I'll have a look Betterthan, thanks

It looks much less bushy today (we plaited it loosely last night & put a scarf on)

Teenagers just can't be told!

Satin or silk pillowcases help too.

Plenty of heat protector, brushed through after spraying.
Blow dry hair so it's about 80% dry, frequently brushing a paddle brush through it until it's dry
Finish blowdrying with a round ceramic brush (the way you see hairdressers doing it)
Use the cold shot setting on the hair dryer to set as you brush it all through again
Then straighten.

My friend with afro hair swears by this so it's how I do my hair now too even though mine's just thick and frizzy white person hair and it reaaally works. She uses leave-in oily conditioning treatments regularly though whereas I don't and I probably should even though my hair is tougher, I should stop underestimating what heat tools do to hair.

My Dd is mixed race with beautiful curls. When we straighten it, I blow dry it with a hairdryer that has an afro pick attachment, then use ceramic straighteners. Lasts til we next wash it.