Press reverting? Seven major factors make straightened hair reversion-prone.

Took care of the first three and still have trouble keeping your natural curls stick-straight after a dalliance with the iron or blowdryer?

Check out the final four forces acting against your straightened strands in Part II.

 

Press reverting: The reasons for reversion. . .

We said it before and we’ll say it again: the reason of reasons for premature reversion is not getting the hair straight enough from the start. This makes it more vulnerable to the humidity in the air, ever acting against it, hoping to turn it back into its natural waves and curls. There are seven factors in particular that play into your hair’s general tendency to go back to its roots. We let you know the first three in Part I, so let’s break down the last ones to press reverting here and now:

 

Press Reverting Reason #4:  You got your hair wet

You grabbed an umbrella, a headwrap and a hat when you caught the forecast of a chance of light showers. You wore a towel over the scarf under your shower cap in the bath. But then you went and put in a product without checking the ingredients.

 

 

Many products, even, surprisingly, those designed for heat-straightened hair, contain water – an ingredient which is as anti-straightened hair as it is curl-friendly.

Water causes hydrogen bonds to reform in the hair, and for your heat-straightened strands, those hydrogen bonds mean curls.

When you’re scanning the ingredients list, keep in mind that products with “aqua” on the list contain water. And products with humectants on the list invite water in. If you want your press to survive a few more days, then steer as clear of the humectants (common ones include glycerine, propylene glycol and squalene) as well the water, even if it is “just a little bit” or towards the end of the ingredients list.

 

 

Instead, seal water out using products with hydrophobic silicones high up in the list; dimethicone and amodimethicone are a couple of excellent sealants to look out for.

There is a caveat, however: If you live in an area of high humidity, be aware that, regardless of your best efforts, some of the H2O in the water-rich atmosphere will make it into your hair.

This, in turn, means that some degree of reversion is pretty much inevitable, as even the highest quality sealants are somewhat permeable to water. And let’s not forget the fact that, even in low humidity regions, after a while, the moisture in the air will slowly seep into your strands, taking them back into alpha state. If this didn’t happen, presses and blowouts would leave your hair permanently straight.

 

Press Reverting Reason #5:   You didn’t get the hair smooth enough

Even if you have hair that’s a little resistant, you can amp up the straightness by making sure you smooth it out as much as possible during, before, and after the straightening process. Once your hair hits a certain level of exposure to heat, it will show little progress in straightening, even though you turn up the temperature and multiply the passes with the iron or hairdryer.

That makes it important to stretch the hair as much as you can while it’s still pliable. Use smoothing conditioners and deep treatments, try rollersets, and work on improving your brush or iron technique, not forgetting to wrap your hair immediately after straightening.

 

Press Reverting Reason #6:  Your sections were too big

Just as sectioning well ensures you get moisture to every layer, and tangles out of every tress, it also ensure you get every strand straight.

 

 

If you make your sections too big, then enough heat simply can’t reach the inner layers of the hair, as the outer strands will have a “shielding” effect, preventing the iron from contacting them.

The combination of tension and the little heat that does make it through might be enough for the hair to look straight. . . at first.

Within a few hours, however, the fact that not all the hair was touched becomes apparent, as underlayers begin to shrink, creating a puffy, press reverting appearance. To prevent, this make your sections as fine as possible  – no more than centimetre thick and definitely no wider than the iron.

Press Reverting Reason # 7:  Your hair has supernatural resistant strength

If you’ve corrected every one of the common mistakes listed and still find your hair won’t get straight then your hair quite possibly has a very high, natural resistance to heat.

 

 

While most virgin hair has some significant level of resistance, persistent resistance, over many instances of straightening, is a characteristic found in quite a few heads of hair.

It might be frustrating mid-ironing, pressing or blowout, but your press reverting is something to celebrate; it means your mane is strong in the face of one of hair’s biggest stressors, a strength that can help you attain longer lengths.

If this is the case, then either take steps to smooth your hair without high heat, or forego heatstyling altogether; after all, a straight look is just one of a zillion styling options for the inherently versatile naturally curly hair.

Whatever you choose to do, don’t force the issue. Even if your hair won’t get as straight as you want it, repeated exposure to high heat, trying to get it to do what it refuses to–stop your hair reverting, will eventually destroy its natural protein structure, leaving you with damaged hair that doesn’t look good, straight or curly.

For more on reasons behind your press reverting, see part one.

 

Image Credits

| Amandeep Singh Asnapal | Vinoth Chandar |Ashley Webb| Lauren Paulsen | Cambio de Fractal |