For Black girls, a silk press is not only a coiffure; it is a transformative occasion. There’s one thing invigorating about leaving the salon with silky, flowing hair—typically curled or bumped right into a voluminous type like a fluffy bob or artfully layered right into a butterfly reduce.
As thrilling as it’s to have a silk press appointment in your calendar, many Black girls harbor a quiet concern that the warmth required to get their hair bone-straight will fry their strands. (You already know, the panic that units in when the water is operating down your hair within the bathe, however your curls aren’t bouncing again to their pure state.) The Black group has, in some ways, come to simply accept warmth harm as an inevitable a part of straightening hair. Some individuals have even gone so far as “coaching” their curls to resist extended warmth, nevertheless it does not must be that method.
Brendetta Ashley, a hairstylist in San Francisco, says the important thing to reaching a modern, long-lasting silk press that does not destroy your curls and coils is much less in regards to the heat-styling itself and extra about prep and upkeep. “If the prep is finished proper, the silk press will final,” says Ashley, who notes that correctly cleaning, conditioning, and wrapping hair is important.
Forward, specialists share their finest suggestions for reaching a shiny silk press that lasts—and does not price you your curls.
Tips on how to prep your hair for a silk press
Simply as an artist wouldn’t begin portray on a unclean canvas, you possibly can’t silk-press soiled hair and count on lovely, lasting outcomes.
The stylists we spoke to agree that the important thing to a wholesome silk press truly begins earlier than a flatiron goes wherever close to your head. “The very first thing it is advisable to do is cleanse the scalp,” says Ashley, who suggests utilizing a clarifying shampoo to take away any filth and oil buildup.
We love the Briogeo Scalp Revival Charcoal + Coconut Oil Micro-Exfoliating Shampoo, which makes use of charcoal to softly exfoliate and cleanse the scalp of flakes and buildup. Olaplex No. 4C Clarifying Shampoo and the Cecréd Clarifying Shampoo + Scalp Scrub additionally present a deep cleanse with out drying out the hair.
