Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Going from Curly to Straight without Wash??

Posted by Unknown at 3:46 PM
Hi Chavi,
If i want to straighten my shietel is it best to just use a hairdryer like in your video or can you use a hot straightening iron?  If i were to leave it to dry naturally and then curl it say for a function or shabbat can i then straighten it afterwards without washing it or is that not advised. if yes can i use an iron or should i use a hairdryer?
Also, when blow drying my full sheitel do i have to worry about melting the skin?
Thanks so much for your great website. it's been really useful.
I've not yet styled my sheitel myself but i did watch my sheitel machar do it the other day so i'd know how. she didnt' spray it with hairspray after styling it - should I do that? Would it hold much better? it actually went a bit frizzy as it was raining when i went out. would hairspray help prevent that or serum perhaps? my natural hair was always really easy to manage that i never had to put products onto it!
Thanks,
RC

RC,
Anytime you apply direct heat (i.e straightening or curling iron) there is a slight amount of damage put on the hair. 

It is recommended to let a wig air dry when you are going to be curling.  If you try to flat iron the curls then you will be fighting against the hair cuticle which was set with a curling iron, thus, it will be harder to get the hair straight and could cause more damage than necessary... I would wash it after the curls..

About the blow drying.  It will not melt the skin, but it could burn it.  Make sure when you are blow drying the cap that you constantly move the blowdryer around as shown in the video so it doesn't burn it.  Also, you can hold the blowdryer a little farther away to help this.  Refer to the blow drying video for more information.
 
Finally, treat your sheitels better than you would treat your own hair.  For example, if you had your own hair styled curly in an updo for a wedding with hairspray you would certainly wash it before blowdrying it straight.  So, you should give your sheitel the same treatment as one would do to their own hair.  I've never heard of someone just using a flat iron over their styled updo in order to fix it without a wash in between....  The hairspray would start smelling bad from the heat of the iron and become sticky... GROSS!
Hairspray will help the curl/wave stay longer and prevent frizz.  However, it will make it a little more prone to knotting when there is spray on it.  I used a soft brush on the wavy styled sheitel after I take it off to keep it from knotting.  It has been holding up really well and doesn't look frizzy yet... but I don't live in a humid climate.  I prefer a little hairspray so the wavy style lasts longer, which ultimately means less washes and less exposure to heat. 

Serum could work but if you put too much on the hair it can look oily.  You want to put hardly any on at all and make sure its well spread over your hands before putting it on.  This should be applied as a final step after either blowdrying or ironing is complete.

To answer the first question.  Blow drying to achieve straightness is recommended.   It would be bad form for a hair stylist or sheitel macher to make their living by flat iroing air dried hair.  Usually a good blow dry will work extremely well.  Environmental factors such as humidity and hair texture could mean that it is poofier than desired, but for the most part someone who knows what they are doing should be able to set it properly with a blow dryer.  There are some people who desire the "flat ironed look" and would ask their stylist to iron AFTER doing a complete blow dry, a sacrifice that does inflict slightly more damage on the hair, but can look oh so sleek...

Take care,
Chavi

0 comments:

Post a Comment

 

Ask Chavi Copyright © 2010 Designed by Ipietoon Blogger Template Sponsored by: Website Templates | Premium Themes. Distributed by: blog template