Do you heat style during the Summer? As you know we are officially in “wash and go” season, and many of the blogs you read or even the videos you might watch will be showing you awesome techniques that are geared towards a dope ‘wet based’ style. The thing is, not all of us wash and go during the Summer, some of us still heat style as part of a stretch regimen for our natural hair during the warmer months of the year.
If you like to stretch your hair and keep it stretched for weeks at a time the hot humid summer months will be a challenge for you unless you know what to do to combat it. Here are 5 ways to keep your hair stretched during the Summer days.
Straight hair for a whole month might not be realistic
Let us set some expectations depending on where you live. If you live in an area known to have dry heat then you can probably get away with straight hair for a week or two. If the weather is humid, you might get one week straight and the other weeks with big curls from flexi rods, perm rods or rollers.
Either way, your hair remains stretched enough to avoid single strand knots, tangles and breakage which is the whole point of stretched hair anyway.
Get a weather app that tells you when humid days are ahead
If you can determine when humid days are coming then you will know just what to do with your hair. On humid days, I wear a cute top knot regardless if my hair is curly or straight.
Sometimes you cannot fight the frizz even if you use a ton of frizz ‘be gone’ products so the best thing to do is put your hair away for the day. Protective styles are always great anyway!
Leave the flat iron alone
If you have bone straight hair the very first time you decide to do a heat style, do not keep using the flat iron every time you see a little shrinkage.
Use other tools to get a heatless stretch, like flexirods, braid and curls with perm rods, cornrows with perm rods or flat twists with perm rods. You have to maintain the health of your hair during the Summer and too much heat will lead to heat damage.
Set your hair with coconut oil at night
Coconut oil is a great barrier against the humidity so if you want a sleek set, use a little coconut oil on your hair before putting in your hair tools.
You can also use products like heat protectants or silicone-based serums to block the humidity but sometimes using a healthy oil like coconut oil is better.
Deep condition with protein
During the Summer we can lose protein in our stands and if you do heat style it is imperative that you use protein as part of a regular deep conditioning regimen.
You can do a DIY protein treatment using eggs or greek yogurt or you can purchase a protein-based deep conditioner to help keep your hair strong.
There is nothing wrong with keeping up with your stretched styles during the Summer days you just have to use a few tricks to beat the weather.
If you are swimming all Summer then forget it! Click here for a dope wash and go in that case! Oh and if you are actually swimming all summer, I would encourage you to read this post if you need a regimen for pool days.
Bonus
Watch 12 Natural Blow out styles with Victoria Stephens:
#anotherone with Ko’lana Kurls:
