I must note that I have figured out a new and much better way to prep my hair to be straightened. Before, I would twist or braid my hair after washing and allow it to air dry. Blow dryers destroy my ends, and that still reigns true, but the twist/braid method left my hair too "textured" if you will. I actually stumbled upon my new technique/method sort of on accident. I had never had much luck using flexi rods, but after finding a HUGE bag of them that my mom had stored away from way back when, I thought I'd give it another shot. Well, I finally figured out how to get them to stay in my head and the end result was....alright. Not anything I'd wear out; But what I did notice was that my strands were straight or smooth. Much smoother than I could ever get them by just twisting or braiding and air drying. I suspected this would make the flat ironing process easier and hot damn I was right! Instead of the usual 6-8 hours it'd usually take me to tackle my hair, it only took me around 3-4 hours and the outcome was much straighter than I'd been able to get it before. My ends didn't seem as horrible either (I honestly can't explain this but I'm thankful! lol) I used Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Smooth-n-Hold Pudding and Cantu Shea Butter Super Shine Hair Silk to set my hair before rolling it up (soaking wet) with the flexi rods. Once they were completely dry, I used coconut and grapeseed oil to flat iron with. The results are what you see above. The only drawback would be the fact that my face breaks out when it has too much oil on it. I had about 3 or 4 zits to battle with that first week, but after that it seemed to be no bother. I know the oil was the culprit because the same thing happened when I was going through puberty in high school. The first time I wore bangs, my forehead was a battle field. Don't ask what made it stop after that first week cause I'm gladly accepting and asking no questions!
Well, that's all for now! As ALWAYS, Happy Healthy Hair Growing!!
P.S., here are pictures of the products I listed above: