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The Straight Truth
It seems that women who are adorned with straight hair wish that they had naturally curly hair and curly haired women wish that they had been born with straight hair. Isn't that the way it usually is; we want what we don't have. Well my curly, wavy friends you can straighten those locks of frizzy, coarse curls and waves by learning a few different methods that will help you reach the goal of straight, even shiny hair.

I had hideously unruly, curly hair when I was younger and even today when looking at pictures I chastise my mother for letting me run around as a child with such wild hair. But as I grew up and started to learn the tricks of the trade (hair manipulation) I felt much better because these tricks were easy and gave me some choices that I had never had before; did I want my hair to be straight or curly before going out?

Consider some of these suggestions and through experimentation and a lot of patience, you should find a way to straighten out the unruliness.

1. After your next haircut, have the stylist blow dry your hair straight. Pay attention to how she/he sections off your hair before blowing drying it and which products are used to straighten and control the frizz factor. Ask questions!

2. Towel dry freshly washed and conditioned hair. Depending on the length of your hair, put a dime or nickel size frizz serum in palm of hand and rub hands together for even distribution. With fingers and hands, comb throughout hair from underneath in back working your way up to the front and sides of hair. Using too much oil will cause hair to go flat, so do not go nuts; a little goes a long way.

3. Using a wide toothed comb, comb through hair to ensure even distribution of oil.

4. Split hair into sections and clip back using claw clips. Taking a section down at a time, blow dry from the root to ends of the section, pulling brush tightly away from head as you dry. Repeat a section at a time. Make these sectional groups of hair small for better straightening results.

5. If there are still some frizzes when drying is complete, gently apply a very small amount of serum to dry hair and comb through with fingers.

6. Flip head upside down and back up to add some fullness and spray or style as desired.

7. For any stray hairs or sections of hair that did not straighten to your satisfaction, use a flat iron to straighten these areas of hair to get the desired look that you prefer. The less hair per section that is heated at a time by the iron will get maximum straightening potential due to the concentration of heat on a smaller area.

I started out straightening my curls with a flat iron and conditioning product only. I noticed over time however, that my hair was becoming extremely dry and breaking. Now I blow dry my hair straight (it takes longer, but it beats frizzy split ends), and if there are a few places I need a touch up after blow drying, I use the flat iron for corrections.

It took me years to appreciate my curly hair. When I realized what straight-haired women had to go through to get a curly look, I was thankful for what I was born with. Even though I straighten my hair, it retains a natural fullness that no perm is capable of providing.

Learn more about this author, Allison Hickman.
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