How I Straighten My Hair at Home

Hey guys!

Happy New Year once again. Can't believe it's already 2015 and this would be my second year in Melbourne. As much as I miss home (especially my family), I'm really settling well here and falling in love with this city more and more every day.

My hubs just gave me the green light to search for a new house for us to move. We're currently living in a studio apartment with a separate kitchen at St Kilda. I don’t mind living here cuz the location is awesome, the tram stop is just few steps away from of our building. It’s so easy to get into the heart of the city and not to worry about where to park and the parking fees!

Nonetheless, it’s about time we need a bigger space. We are planning to get pregnant this year and it would be great to have an extra space so that our family in KL can easily visit and stay over. So I would update about that in a different post but today, I’d like to share with you my experience on hair straightening d.i.y. at home.

So Aldi was selling these in the store few months ago. I’m not sure if they still sell them, hopefully they do because I need to buy them asap. It comes in a box and it consists of a shampoo, conditioner, smoothing treatment and gloves (not in the picture).

My holy grail hair products - Protane Naturals Keratin Treatment, Shampoo & Conditioner

Application tips:

* The night before you apply the straightening treatment, lather your hair with loads of oil that's good for your hair. I recommend vitamin e oil, coconut oil, or sandalwood oil. I'm not a fan of Argan oil though, it dries up my hair badly.

* Tie your hair up in a bun and wrap with a towel and go to sleep. If you find this troublesome, you can do this step in the morning and leave it on for at least 2 hours before you start the treatment. 

(I find this step is essential to avoid your hair being severely dry after the treatment.)

* The next day when you wake up, your hair would've absorbed all the minerals and nutrients from the oil and you can wash and rinse your hair with the shampoo given. Towel dry to remove excess moisture and separate hair into sections and clip up.

* Shake the smoothing treatment well and put on the protective gloves provided. Starting at nape of neck, use 1 inch sections of hair and apply the treatment starting at base through to the ends. Comb solution into hair. Repeat procedure, saturating the entire head.

* Do not feel the need to finish off one whole bottle. Some people have thick hair they would need more product then those who have less.

* Allow the treatment to sit no more than 10 minutes. The 10 minute treatment time starts from when the treatment is first applied on the hair. If you have long hair and it takes longer than 10 minutes to apply the treatment, rinse hair commencing from where the treatment was first applied. 

* Rinse off the smoothing treatment and wash your hair with the shampoo thoroughly.

* Comb through / detangle hair and remove excess moisture.

* Apply the conditioner, leave in for 30 minutes and rinse thoroughly . For better results, wrap hair in a hot towel.

* Blow dry hair until dry, then section hair and go over each section 3 times with a hair straightening appliance. Don't forget to spray some heat protectant before doing this step.

* Don't wash your hair for at least 3 days till your next wash. I waited until the 4th day.

* On the day you wish to wash your hair, I recommend lathering some oil onto your hair for at least 1 hour. Like I mentioned before, I love sandalwood, vitamin e and coconut oil for the hair. It really helps to maintain the shiny looking hair and make it less dry and brittle. You can also add 3-4 drops of this oil after you blow dry your hair make it more moisturised.

* Also don't forget to use a hair treatment mask once a week to further moisturise your hair.

And that's it, it seems like there are so many steps but it depends on your hair situation. Having a naturally frizzy hair has been challenging for me and people like me need to put an extra effort to make it look healthy and manageable. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments section below, I'd be happy to answer them. Till then, see you in my next post!