Style : How To Straighten Your Hair
Written by Nikki Parkinson
April 11, 2012
Be Pretty
17 Comments
Hello. My name is Nikki and I’m a serial hair straightener.
I’ve owned at least one pair of straightening irons for more than 10 years now. Those early ones resembled flat jaffle irons but boy oh boy did they take my boofy mop and make it sexy and sleek.
Whenever I need to create a quick and easy style that’s presentable and polished … I whip out my irons. Don’t worry, they’re a lot more sophisticated now.
But it got me to thinking … there must be a lot of girls out there who know not of a hair life pre-styling irons. Do they know how lucky they are?
In 10 years we’ve seen huge advancements in technology in this field. Advances that have ensured styling irons remain on the can’t-live-without list of almost every woman I know.
In Australia, the styling iron revolution really got serious in 2004. We welcomed – with tears of joy - ghd, its marketing hype and superior product. Women across the country did not hesitate to throw down $300 a pop for a fast-tracked glide to frizz-free styling at home.
And they’re still doing so.
Want to my know my lazy-girl tips on how to straighten your hair quickly and easily?
Listen up.
1. Wash hair the night before and let dry naturally or finish off with hair dryer.
2. The next morning, spray your hair with a heat protectant.
3. Take a section clip and pin up all your hair except the underneath back bit. We’re talking a centimetre depth of hair. This is where you start your ironing.
4. Take the iron and clamp it gently at the root of the hair, moving it down the section of hair in a smooth motion. Work your way around until all this layer is done. With quality irons you should only have to iron through each section of hair once or maybe twice.
5. Release another 1-2cm layer from the clip and iron that section.
6. Keep going until you get the very last section. This is where you spend the most time as this is what people are most going to notice. If I’m really pushed for time, this is the only section I iron.
7. Spray on some light finishing spray or shine.
8. Swish immediately and congratulate yourself on a job well done.
For a more technical look at how to do this, check out this video posted on Refinery29.com and get some tips from ghd here.
And then get your straight hair drool on over this celebrity straight hair gallery. I’ve included more photos of Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston because these two celebs have rocked the straight hair look since irons arrived, making and owning it as their signature ‘do.
Also, there’s been an overall relaxing of the poker straight styles we saw when irons first hit the market. Yes, styles are still straight but they’ve got movement and a little body to them. I do like that. I do.
Photo credits: Getty Images
