July Flat Iron Fiasco

I'm still asking myself why did I flat iron my hair on the hottest week this summer. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment. Perhaps I just am a hard headed natural. Whatever the case, I'm reflecting on what went wrong and what I learned from the July 2013 Flat Iron Fiasco. In order to understand what went wrong I revisited my flat iron routine and compared it to what I did to lead to me looking like a distorted black Dolly Pardon.

When I usually flat iron my hair I am meticulous about the products that I use and my flat iron routine. The following is my usual flat iron routine:

• Detangle, prepoo with oil (usually JBCO)
• Rinse hair thoroughly and shampoo with heat protectant shampoo (Nubian Heritage Black Seed & Honey shampoo).
• Rinse out condition (usually TRESemme Naturals)
• Leave-In Kinky Curly Knot Today conditioner
• Use a wide tooth comb to carefully comb out curls
• Spray hair with Nubian Heritage Black Seed & Honey Heat Protectant Spray.
• Blow dry hair on low.
• After hair is dry apply Wild Growth Hair Oil in sections.
• Set flat iron on medium heat and flat iron hair in sections.

This time I deviated from my normal routine and now I can see where I went wrong. I used different products and that definitely resulted in the Dolly Pardon look (no offense Dolly, but that's not the look I was going for). Without posting the specific products that I used, let's just say that the heat protectant spray that I used was recommended by a sales rep at a local beauty supply store. It contained a lot of ingredients that I cannot pronounce. Unfortunately, that spray made my hair feel coated and funny. I won't make that mistake again. Ugh!!!!

Well, on the bright side my hair is growing nicely. I felt proud of my hair but on the other hand, I couldn't wait to wash it out and let it curl back up again. All I could do while on vacation was wear my hair in a ponytail. Wearing it out was just too much in the Southern heat. Lesson learned!!!

What is the moral of my story? Don't deviate from what is working. It may be tempting to try a new product, but unless you have time to hide under a rock if it comes out looking crazy, DON'T DO IT! Stick to what you know!! Ah, message received!