22 Oct
Whoever created the straightening iron— You’re the real MVP! With so many brands, sizes, and styles available now, it’s hard to know if we’re using the right one for our hair type, let alone our extensions. Thanks to an article I read recently, I’ve decided to help you decide which straightener is best for your Donna Bella extensions. Here we go:
Size does matter. You should not be using a ½” flat iron. While a 1” flat iron is great on short hair (use it to straighten your hair before your installation appointment), the best size to use is between a 1 ¼” to a 2” flat iron. Shorter hair should use the thinner iron and long hair should be using a wider iron. Why? If you don’t use the proper size you end up going over and over the section of hair so eventually your extensions will dry out from so much unnecessary heat. With a wide iron, you cover more sections of hair so you don’t need to go over it as much AND it saves time, keeping your extensions shiny and you on time.
Types of plates. There are 3 popular iron plates; ceramic, titanium, and tourmaline. To understand which is best, you should know a little background. If you choose to use a ceramic plate, make sure it’s made out of full ceramic. Ceramic coating can break off and cause the hair to snag. Ceramic plates distribute heat evenly and have a lower potential to burn hair. Titanium plates heat up faster than ceramic plates and distribute heat faster too. This can be good and bad. Faster distribution of heat means you won’t need to go over sections of hair much. It’s a bad thing if you leave it on too long because the extra heat can cause more damage. Tourmaline plates are made out of crushed up crystalline mineral used as a coating. One of my favorites because it keeps hair less frizzy than the other two options and it makes your hair shinier, which is best when trying to match the shiny texture of your hair extensions.
Stay out of the kitchen. Your natural hair and hair extensions can’t handle a lot of heat! Never crank up your straightening iron past 365 degrees. So although straighteners that sound like they came out of the future with a maximum heat of 500 degrees sound extremely beneficial, they’re incredibly unnecessary. The lower the heat setting the better. It may be that you don’t even need to go up to 365 degrees. It all depends on the texture of your hair. And for goodness sake, stay away from getting extra close to your beads, bonds, and tape! The heat from your flat iron will “soften” (melt) the adhesive of your hair extensions and make them slip…
Love hearing from our Donna Bellas so drop those comments or questions below!
