Who doesn’t love curly hair? They look great, bouncy and super cute! But very often, curly hair folks often like to switch it up with a whole new look. How about hair straightening and heat-styling/rolling your curls? Just because you feel like it!
And out goes the nourishment, and in comes, the aggressive blow dries and heat-styling on your precious mane, coupled with not following the right curly hair nourishment routine. This often leads to heat-damaged hair that needs way more effort for your damaged curly hair to recover and bounce back from. Chemical treatments and overuse of heat styling can damage your curl pattern making it look stringy and dull.
So, let’s understand why your curly hair needs the right care from root to tip -

How does straightening affect your curls?

A single strand of your hair is made up of clusters of enriching protein called keratin which acts as a building block for your hair, your straightener works by giving too much heat to your hair that causes the bonds in your hair to break its structural integrity at a molecular level. Changing your curls into straighter looking hair. Depending upon your hair thickness and density, straightened hair on natural curls lasts for 2-3 weeks before your curls continue to grow naturally. However, the high heat from hair straightener can cause hair damage that could be irreversible, affecting your natural curl pattern.
While occasional use wouldn’t cause severe damage, but protective caution and the right curly hair care routine is essential.
There’s always a right way to do it, you can straighten your curly hair and still retain the bounce back.

Here’s what you need to do before, during and after straightening stages of curly hair care -

A] Before hair straightening

● Heat protect your curls with a heat protectant: A rule to follow is to never straighten your hair without using a heat protectant. A natural and healthy curl pattern requires good protection from the heat by using heat protectant serums and oils. An absolute must as excessively heat styling can lead to hair damage over a period of time.
You can apply the Pantene Open Hair Miracle on your hair just before using heat styling equipment to protect your hair from the excessive heat damage. Apply a hydrating Hair serum to damp hair lengths before you style your hair to add some moisture and prevent frizz, this will keep your hair nourished by creating a protective layer over your hair. Apart from this keep in mind the temperature of the hair straightener is not too high but enough to keep your hair straightened.

B] During hair straightening

● Don’t go overboard with over-styling your hair: When it comes to straightening your hair with heat tools like a hair straightening iron, hair styler and hair rollers, going overboard with it never works.
Too much heat and straightening hair too frequently will damage your curls. The ideal flat iron straightener’s temperature should be no higher than 365 degrees, anything hotter will burn the hair. Curly hair is very thick and can get brittle with too much heat, leading to a permanent hair damage.

● Go slow and easy when straightening your hair: Rushing when straightening your hair will do more harm than good. Make sure not to skip any steps when straightening your curls. Also, avoid using heat for touch-ups without a heat protectant as it’s an easy step to forget each time but could make a massive difference in the state of your curls.

C] After hair straightening

You have aced the straightened hair look, and now if you look to bring the bounce back to your curls, here are some hair care tips that can help you do so.

● Shampoo and deep condition your hair to cleanse away the build-up: Start your straight to curly hair journey by giving your hair a reset and cleansing it of any build-up, oils, and dirt. When it comes to managing curly hair excessive build-up often occurs at the roots making it challenging to cleanse and condition. Deep shampoo and conditioning help encourage fibre repair and strengthening. You can add appropriate curly hair products to your hair care routine like Pantene 2in1 Advanced Hairfall Solution powered with fermented rice water and Pro-vitamin B5 that helps restore moisture and conditions your bouncy curls, all in one product.

● Moisturize your hair to bring back that bounce: To get your curls back, moisture is your best friend. The more hydrated your hair is, the more manageable your curls become, which means less wear and tear on your precious curls helping prevent any further damage and help preserve the elasticity of each hair strand.
Hydrating leave-in treatments coat your curls with moisture and nourishment that will deeply penetrate your strands and deliver maximum hydration. We have that sorted for you. With a leave-in conditioner like Pantene Open Hair Miracle your hair is enriched with pro-vitamins that adds moisture balance back into the strands and support the overall health of the hair.
Do not wash your hair too often: We know you like caring for your curls but washing too often can make damaged hair more prone to breakage, making your hair more brittle and weaker. So, limit the frequency of washing your hair to not more than thrice a week.

By following the tips mentioned above and using our Pantene products, you can get back to bringing back the bounce to your curly hair even after straightening!