Tips for straightening curly hair

[bendmeoverbackwards]

15 year old dd has curly hair which she has a love/hate relationship with. She does a version of curly girl which works well.

However she has asked for straighteners to use occasionally. I’ve bought her Cloud Nine wide ones which have great reviews.

Any tips to pass on to her? She won’t manage blow drying it straight first, will she get a good result just straightening it from curly?

My advice would be not to straighten too often as it's so damaging to the natural curl pattern and hair in general. But when she does, to use a good heat protector and do a hair mask in between straightenings. Shea Moisture do a brilliant one with black castor oil which is so hydrating.

Regarding the results, it really depends on her curl type. Anything from 3c to 4c might not have a brilliant result without blow drying first.

I put all my hair up in a crocodile clip then remove one inch sections and straighten going over twice. It takes ages as my hair is thick but gives a lasting result.

I don't bother to blow dry straight first. I have very curly hair which is mostly frizz.

I just thoroughly blow dry it (its about a foot wide when I'm done 🤣) and then separate into 4 sometimes 5 layers with a crocodile clip and straighten on the highest temperature my straighteners allow (235C)

I use a moisturising shampoo and conditioner, but don't use a heat protection spray because without fail they instantly make my hair greasy and yuck 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I've always let mine dry naturally and then straightened it, has always been fine. I've got really curly, long thick hair but luckily only needs to be done once a week.

I very roughly blow dry my curly hair straight first, using the concentrator nozzle and a straightening spray or cream. This takes most of the curl out but leaves it a frizzy puffy mess. Then I go over it with straighteners. Cloud Nine straighteners are brilliant, much better than GHDs in my experience.