Lianne Bruney founder and CEO of hair health brand ProTress examines the pros and cons of the silk press on natural textured afro hair
A silk press is a hair straightening technique that doesn’t involve chemicals and, if done correctly, can achieve results that are more impressive and potentially less harmful than relaxers. So, if you’ve been seduced by YouTube demonstrations of the ‘Silk Press’ and witnessed the effortless transformations of thick, natural curly hair, into long, silky tresses and you fancy giving it a whirl, there are a few things to consider to avoid disappointment, hair damage and/or hair loss.
Preparation
Prepare your hair – Clean hair is an essential part of the preparation for ensuring that you achieve the glossy, straight locks you desire from the Silk Press process. For best results, use clarifying shampoo to cleanse your hair.
Clarifying shampoos, unlike regular shampoos, cleanse your hair from product build up, hard water minerals, excess oil/grease and environmental pollutants which, if not removed, could potentially cause damage to your hair when heat from the silk press process is applied. After you have shampooed your hair, condition your hair with a smoothing conditioner. Using a smoothing conditioner helps to flatten the hair cuticles, which will limit damage to hair during the straightening process, as well as enhancing the silky, straight look of your hair. Once you have rinsed the smoothing conditioner out, towel try your hair and apply leave in conditioner.
Blowdry your hair
Now that you have thoroughly prepared your hair for the Silk Press, the next step is to blowdry your hair. Blowdrying helps to straighten the hair pre-iron. The straighter you can get your hair by blow drying the better, because it will reduce the intensity with which you will need to use the straightening irons, reducing the possibility of heat damage. Adopting good blow dry technique should also flatten the cuticles, making hair straight and silky in appearance.
Use heat protection serum
Once you have achieved straighter locks, through blow drying, it’s time to take your hair to the next level of straight and silky. But before you proceed with the straightening irons, it’s important to coat your hair with a protective serum. A protective serum will protect your hair from heat damage.
Should I use a flat iron or a steam iron for the final step?
Once you have applied the serum you can proceed to straighten your hair in small sections with a flat iron or a steam iron. Steam irons are considered to inflict less damage to your hair because they infuse warm moisture into the hair shaft whilst the hot plates straighten the hair. Flat irons, on the other hand, use dry heat to straighten the hair which sucks the moisture out of the hair shaft, making hair dry and more prone to breakage.
Benefits of silk press
• Your hair will look great
• There’s no denying it, if done correctly, your hair will look amazing.
• No chemicals
The silk press is a hair straightening technique that doesn’t involve chemicals and, if done correctly, can achieve results that are more impressive and potentially less harmful than relaxers.
Maintenance
Silk press (unlike other natural hair techniques such as, rod sets, twist outs and braid outs) is low maintenance with regards to aftercare. The bedtime regime simply requires you to wrap your hair. However, washing your hair or applying water to your hair should be avoided to maintain your straight locks, because once water is applied your hair will revert to its natural curls.
You can prevent hair loss if you stop doing these things
Traction alopecia: How to prevent it and fix it
The downside of a silk press
Heat damage – If you have been on the natural hair journey long enough to achieve growth of five inches or more, it is likely that you will crave a little variety with hairstyling, which is why a silk press would be so appealing. However, the main side effect of the silk press, especially if done frequently, is heat damage. Although you may have applied the heat protective serum to your hair to prevent heat damage, this will not eliminate the risk of damage.
Heat damage occurs when keratin (hair strands) is melted by the heat applied, causing hair to become permanently altered in shape (usually straight), never returning to its natural curl pattern. Heat of around 215-235 C is likely to cause keratin to melt. Once the shape of the keratin is altered, the hair becomes dry and limp, because it loses its elasticity, which makes hair more prone to breakage. Therefore, regular silk presses are not advised.
Hair breakage
Because your hair is always growing, the contrast in textures between your curly roots and straight ends can cause hair to break where the two textures meet. This might become increasingly evident upon combing your hair. To avoid breakage once your visible curly roots appear, wash your hair to restore your natural curls.
Product build up
Because afro hair is curly, it is naturally dry because the sebum that your scalp produces cannot flow all the way down the hair shaft. Once you have silk pressed your hair, your temporary straight locks allow sebum to flow straight down each hair strand, making hair appear unnaturally greasy. Because it is advisable not to wash your hair for the duration of the Silk Press, (which is typically two weeks), you will not be able to wash out the excess product build up for the duration of the hair style.
Pingback : The Ultimate Guide to the Hairstory Curl Collective Masterclass
First, How long does straight hair last? The experts say that the result of the silk press is last about two weeks or until the next wash day or when your hair gets wet. But many of the times if you are using any of the other additional hair products, then the straight hair will get fastly moved from your hair.
Second, when temperature is around 215-235°C. it causes keratin to melt. Hair keratin shape is getting altered and hair becomes dry and limp. So, no one will suggest to get silk presses often.
That lady shouldn’t have did a smoothing treatment and color in the same day unless the color is not permanent at this point you need to wear protective styles like roller sets
I have 4a hair but it is not very thick, and I know that I wouldn't be a good candidate for color or any chemical process for that matter. It sounds like the color plus whatever treatment they used in addition to heat styling was too much for your hair type at one time, causing it to break. My advice is avoid chemicals, use heat rarely, and if you want to mix things up with color, just get a weave or wig so you preserve your hair. At this point I recommend you cut the damaged hair off and start over, using protective styles and jamaican black castor oil to help with regrowth. JBCO is the holy grail for me. I lost a lot of hair after a relaxer years ago, and this oil has been amazing helping to thicken my hair again. Im no professional, but hope something I shared can help. Best of luck to you.
Thanks for the information. I got a silk press. 1st she washed my hair then conditioned it then she put a smoothing treatment on and my scalp began to burn for 20 minutes. Then she colored my hair.. it was beautiful. I have gone back twice in 1 month but now my hair is thin, can't hold a curl, falls out everytime I touch it and I'm miserable. Is this normal. It's pretty but has gotten ridiculously thin. More than 100 long strands come out when I comb, brush, or even run my hands through it something comes out. Is this normal? Please advise. I would love a roller set. Is that even possible? Thank you.