Question Time | Heat Damage & Styling

Hey. I am half African American and half white. But, I definitely have the African American hair! I have straightened it several times but over the past 8 months, I haven't straightened it because I want it to be naturally curly again. But, there are still quite a few parts of my hair that are straight because of the flat iron.

I have used homemade and store bought remedies that have not worked. Not only do I want to have my hair even again, by having it all curly, I want my natural hair back. If I could go back and not straighten it at all, I would. I would love to get your opinion on some remedies I could do to my hair to make it all curly again. My hair is very, very thick and medium long. Right now, it is cut in layers. I usually wear my hair in either a bun or ponytail everyday. I would also love your opinion on how to "tame" my hair.

I have never been able to wear it down or do much with it. If i just let it go, it gets way too frizzy and looks like Diana Ross from the 80's if you know what I mean! My goal is to find a way to wear my hair down without looking like a crazy woman... :) Please help me with these 2 problems!!! Thank you!

Firstly, I hate to break the news that the parts of your hair that don't go back curly now are heat-damaged: their protein bonds have changed to stay straight after wetting it.

Like a relaxer, no product can take it back to it's original curly state. The only thing is to grow your hair and eventually trim off those areas.

The good news is that you can mask  the straight areas with textured styles like twists, braids, bantu knot-outs, braid-outs and twist-outs. See video tutorials for these on Lolascrib YouTube channel.

For your second question about taming your hair, first invest in a satin scarf or bonnet. Next, trial hair creams or butters when letting your hair dry. With freshly washed hair, apply a leave-in conditioner and a hair cream or butter (like whipped shea butter). Style your hair and with a satin scarf for 30 mins. Let the rest of the hair air-dry. If this process is going to be done overnight, keep the scarf on. When dried, your edges (hairline) and hair will be smooth. Gently undo the braids with some oil on your fingertips to prevent frizzing and don't fluff too much. At night, you can make big braids of the hair and cover with the scarf again.

If you notice your hair poofing up at the end of the day, spray some water on the edges, smooth back with fingers and cover with a scarf - even 5 minutes makes a huge difference.

The main things are to use the scarf to smooth your hair and have a good holding product that will moisturize but prevent frizzing (the butter).

Hope this helps and let me know how it goes.