I chemically straightened my hair, here’s what happened

My hair is ok.

It’s long and shiny and most of the time I’m pretty ok with the way it looks. But, under the shiny surface, admirable from a distance, it’s also badly damaged, on the thin side, frizzy, greying and I have scalp psoriasis – yep, like dandruff but an itchy, flaky, incurable condition which I’m stuck with… oh the glamour. 

Forget the psoriasis (I’m over that..ish), it’s the frizziness from bad condition that gets to me. I’ve tried most mane tamers on the market; smoothing serums, deep nourishing hair masks, natural oils like coconut butter and Argan oil and each year vouch to go heat styling free. And each year by hair wash two I’m resorting back to my 16-year-old comfort blanket – frying every strand with poker hot heat, aka straighteners. 

Is there a rehab for straighteners?

Straightening for me has turned into much more than just making my hair more manageable; it’s more like a drug, an addictive one. Many of my good hair intentions of ditching the hair irons start off great – a day in I feel great, liberated… then the self-doubt snowballs into destruction, which goes a bit like this – If I don’t straighten my hair then I’m not the best version of me. People will stare. My friends will talk. And my boyfriend, god he’ll run off with a naturally straight haired stunner without a frizzy wave in sight. Sound familiar? We all do it, right?!

So I started hearing a lot of good things about Brazilian keratin blow dries. Promising to de-frizz and strengthen hair, and even lock in extra goodness… too good to be true? But worth a shot, even though it does come with a fairly hefty £100+ price tag, but apparently lasts for 3-4 months, so I’ll just restrict the fortnightly shopping binges and extra espresso martini, or two, for a few weeks and that’s that covered.

Goodbye frizzy fro

The day arrives and I’m prepped with the fine print – no washing post treatment for 3 days (for an every other day washer, the thought makes me squirm but, hey, what’s an extra day of grease for the greater, straighter good). Plus, this is still a mild chemical so no dying for the next three months otherwise it could shorten the life span of the treatment (I agree of course, but know I’m definitely going to break that one once the wiry, shiny silvers start shimmering their way through).

Washed and towel dried, next the treatment is applied. A waft of potent smelling mix of chemicals and cheap shampoo fill the air. The hairdresser sections my hair and dollops the cream on, then leaves me for 30 minutes to swat up on a three month old Vogue addition. Time’s up and it’s sprinkled with water to ‘rinse’. After that it’s another hour in the chair to blow dry the hair straight and then go over it with a straighteners to iron out any kinks. This is all mostly pleasant except for the plumes of keratin that sting my eyes – I resort to closing them and praying my hair doesn’t start falling out.

It’s done. I leave with hair straighter than ever but with a strange plumping, bouffant look at the roots. My hair also doesn’t feel it’s usual self, it’s slightly sticky and now I wonder how I’m seriously going to go the three days without washing it. 

Let the hair wash countdown begin…

Day two. Yuck, I’m sure people can see the grease. Strands around my face have started separating into clumps. I resort to brushing it every 10 minutes, which I’m sure is making it worst. Bedtime arrives (thank god) and the next day is work. 

Day three. The hairdresser said no clips but this is an emergency. It’s itchy, I swear it smells and I look like I’m trying to recreate the ‘on-trend’ wet look from that old Vogue magazine, except definitely not pulling it off. “Ok, man up and stop being so vain” I tell myself. At work I’m sure everyone is wondering whether my boilers packed up or maybe my boyfriend chucked me out - he might well be contemplating it after the amount of times I’ve asked if my hair looks greasy. Power through annnnd…. home time, thank god. Yoga class with a bunch of strangers so all A-Okay. Then I dream of washday.

WASH DAY

I have my sulphate and salt free shampoo and conditioner at the ready and this shower has never felt so good. Goodbye itchy, greasy hair and hello new silky smooth locks – without any help from straighteners.

I then do something I never do, let it dry naturally. Wow, ok, so it’s not poker straight (thank goodness) but it’s not frizzy, I don’t even contemplate picking up the straighteners. I have manageable, tamed hair without a burst of heat. Hallelujah!

Convert?

Yes, it may be expensive and yes if you’re not used to going three days without washing your hair it can be quite possibly the most stressful thing since the Spice Girls split. BUT the results speak for themselves. I feel liberated and I really hope it’s here to stay. Now I just need work out solving the problem of the greys.