Do you want to rid yourself of those curls?
Are you looking for non-harming methods to make that hair straight?
Is hair straightening really your concern, but don’t know how or where to begin?
Don’t worry; I have you sorted. Allow me to boost your knowledge about hair straightening.
Hair straightening is another new popular trend among guys. These days, many guys have wavy or curly hair and want to straighten them.
Hair straightening was first popularly used among women and made famous by celebrities all over the globe. However, with the progress in style, it has also become a style that men are adopting.
You will find many methods on the internet to straighten your hair, but only a few will ensure the long life of your hair. It is better to stick to natural processes to make your hair straight, assuring a long-lasting effect along with healthy and shiny hair.
Your hair type will be the deciding factor on your journey towards straight hair. It will help you solve the dilemma of how to make your hair straight.
If I were to categorize the hair straightening methods, they would be as follows:
- Chemical treatment using heat
- Natural treatment without using heat
Apart from these two, there is a small grey area where you can still use a little heat in the process and face no damage to your hair. We will be looking into all of them.
Natural Treatment To Straighten Men’s Hair Without Using Heat
Home remedies
As mentioned above, the safer way to go for hair straightening is the one that does not require chemicals and heat, instead of the use of natural items and daily household options.
The advantage of using natural products to straighten your hair is that they are readily available to everyone and do not have too many side effects. There could be a few exceptions where a minimal ratio of men are allergic to specific home remedies. But on a larger scale, they work pretty well for everyone.
Another advantage of using home remedies is that they also help keep your hair healthy, soft, and smooth. Since they do not require any heat solutions, they keep your hair relaxed, and they can be performed every day.
Milk and Honey Spray
- Begin with mixing half a cup of milk with equal amounts of water.
Pour milk and water into a spraying bottle. You can either use regular cow milk or any other you prefer, such as coconut milk, almond milk, or buttermilk. Some of the benefits in the properties of milk are that it contains high amounts of protein, calcium, and Vitamin E. All these nutrients are essential for strengthening and straightening hair.
- Add a tablespoon of honey to the bottle.
Pour the honey into the milk solution and shake the bottle to mix all the ingredients. The added honey will give extra shine to your hair.
- Spray this solution onto your hair
Take the solution and spray it onto your hair, covering the roots and the tips. Once spraying is completed, massage your scalp with your fingertips.
- Comb your hair
Start combing your hair, closer from the roots all the way down to the tips. Combing will allow the solution to spread evenly through your hair. Do not forget to comb your hair straight and avoid pulling it in different directions.
- Leave the solution in your hair.
Allow the solution to set in your hair for 20 to 30 minutes. The ingredients will make your hair softer and straighter. If you feel the need, cover your hair with a plastic shower cap, or place a towel on your shoulders.
- Wash your hair
After leaving the solution in your hair after the prescribed time, wash your hair and rinse it off. Use slightly cold water to wash your hair, and avoid the use of hot water.
- Let it dry
When your hair is partially wet, comb it down and let it air dry. You can also use a blow dryer to dry your hair, but do not use it too often.
Coconut Milk and Lime Juice
Take a cup of coconut milk cream with half a cup of lime juice and mix it into a bowl. Store the bowl in your refrigerator until the mixture turns into a thick cream. When the desired texture of the cream is achieved, apply it to your hair and leave it for an hour or half.
Then wash your hair with cold water. Apply shampoo and conditioner to the hair and repeat this process 2-3 times a week. This will gradually straighten your hair without causing any damage.
Castor and soybean oil
Take 2 tablespoons of castor oil, 1 tablespoon of soybean oil, and put them into a small bowl. Stir them until they mix well with each other. Pour the mixture into a pan, or place the bowl into a microwave and heat it until the mixture turns warm.
Take the oil in your palm and massage it into your hair and the scalp. The easier way is to rub your hands through your hair from the front to the back. Don’t forget the roots at the base of your skull.
Now soak a towel into warm water, and wrap it around your hair. Rather than being soaking wet, the towel should be damp. Keep the towel on your hair for about 20 to 30 minutes.
Rinse out all the excess oil with cold water and let your hair air dry. Do not use a towel to dry your hair, as it would make your hair frizzy. While the hair is drying, use a wide-tooth comb to comb your hair.
Your hair should look much straighter after this process than it was before.
Celery Leaf Extract
Get yourself some celery leaves and chop them from the stalk. You can either use a food processor to chop the leaves until it turns into a paste or use a blender. Mix the celery paste with one-fourth amounts of water and pour it into a spraying bottle.
Leave the solution overnight and let it thicken up. The following day, spray your hair with the solution until it is wet. The next step is to comb your hair to detangle the knots and slightly pull the hair straighter. The comb should be wide-toothed.
Rinse out this solution after letting it sit in your hair for 20 to 30 minutes or maybe even more if you like. Use cold water to wash out the solution. Let the hair air-dry, or use a cotton t-shirt if you persist in completing the process faster.
Temporary Methods Of How to Straighten Hair Men
Blow dry+brush
This method requires a blow dryer and a hairbrush to make your hair straighter. Remember the grey area where you could pull off straight hair with the help of a bit of heat without damaging your hair? This is it.
It begins with washing your hair with shampoo and following with a conditioner. Use a leave-in conditioner for added hydration if you feel necessary. Towel dry your hair after the shower and be gentle on your hair. Rubbing the hair could leave knots, making the upcoming process challenging to perform.
Add a moisturizer to your hair. You can do this with the help of a moisturizing hair product, hydrating cream, essential oils, or heat protectant spray. Some of the commonly used oils are argan and olive oil.
Make your hair as straight as possible using combs or brushes. The type of tool to be used will depend on your hair type and texture. If you have tight curls, you will need a wide-tooth comb. On the contrary, if you have thin hair, you will need a fine-tooth comb.
From here, start blow-drying your hair using medium heat. Remember to keep the dryer at a distance from your hair. Keeping it too close would cause damage. Use an attachment nozzle to control the airflow if you prefer.
Brush your hair while drying it from the roots to the tips. You can start from the top locks and brush them up towards the ends as you hold the hairdryer at an angle. While blow-drying the back of your hair, comb it down and angle the dryer down on the hair to avoid damaging the scalp.
Moving on to the last step, add a few drops of serum to your hair to add shine and control the frizz.
Be cautious while using blow dryers. Look for the ones with ceramic technology to reduce damage.
If you’re running late and want to run the dryer on dry hair, set it to its coolest setting and style your hair with the brush. Use a styling product to hold the look and prevent frizz. If you feel the product wouldn’t be enough to hold your hair, use a hair spray instead.
Chemical Treatment with heat
Using Hair straighteners
Believe it or not, people used to straighten their hair on iron boards using laundry irons. Long gone are those days ever since the era of flat irons and straighteners has arrived.
Although generally, I would recommend using the blow dry & brush method to straighten your hair. But if you have stubborn locks that won’t lose those curls, the use of flat irons would be helpful.
The process of using straightness of flat irons begins with pretty much the same steps as blow-drying your hair. Wash your hair with a shampoo, and then apply conditioner. Follow the same steps as prescribed in the previous method.
When the blow dryer completely dries up the hair, add moisturizing cream or organic oil. Having completed these steps, keep the flat iron on the hair one section at a time.
Clamp a small bunch of hair between the plates, and work your way to the tips. Remember to stay away from the roots and avoid pressing the hair too hard.
Also, do not let the flat iron stay in one place for more than a couple of seconds. Add a styling product at the end to hold the straightened hairstyle.
Follow these steps correctly, and your hair will look much straighter than it ever did before. But wait, there’s a catch here. Be aware of your hair type. Your hair texture is critical here in the entire process.
Men with thin hair will need to keep the heat setting at its lowest. This goes for men with bleached or fine hair too. Men with thicker and curly hair need to keep the heat setting higher. Make sure you are using a heat protectant product to avoid any damage to the hair.
Flat irons come in various sizes for different hair lengths. Guys with shorter hair can work with straighteners that have small plates. Long hair guys would need to search for a straightener with wider plates.
Keratin Treatment For Hair Straightening
If you are looking for a semi-permanent solution, you could get yourself a keratin treatment. It is also known as the Brazilian blowout. The treatment’s results last for 3 to 6 months. Unlike other methods, it cannot be performed at home. It is better to let the professionals handle this.
Keratin treatments have held the spotlight for a long time in the world of cosmetic controversies. Every now and then, you will find an article on the internet which claims that keratin treatment leads to cancer. And here’s why.
The process involves a chemical lotion applied to wet hair by a hairstylist after being washed. The hairstylist applies the solution to the hair using a brush and lets it sit for 30 minutes. The hair is then pressed section by section using a flat iron.
Whether you need a Keratin treatment or not is entirely your choice. I will list down the pros and cons and let you decide what suits you best.
Pros
Our body’s hair and nails are made up of the protein-Keratin, which our body already makes. Keratin can also be found in several shampoos and conditioners. The added benefits of getting a keratin treatment are that it gives the hair extra smoothness and shine. The hair stays less frizzy.
Keratin also contributes to hair bonding which reduces split ends. It gives you long-lasting results as long as you don’t frequently wash your hair. It also makes your hair more manageable as they tend to be less tangled and do not form knots.
It reduces the amount of time a guy would spend heating their hair by 40%-60%. Henceforth your hair is less exposed to heat and grows stronger and healthier.
Cons
The first and most significant of them all is formaldehyde. It is single-handedly responsible for weighing down the pros of keratin treatment. Many (not all) keratin treatments require the use of formaldehyde. It is very harmful if inhaled.
There are alternatives to formaldehyde called relaxers(also called Japanese straighteners), but they fail to serve the purpose. Their ingredients, ammonium thioglycolate and sodium hydroxide, cause damage to the hair by breaking the hair bonds.
There are keratin treatments that are formaldehyde-free but not much effective. These treatments also cost a ton of money. They are also tough to maintain. You will have to scrutinize taking care of your hair post keratin treatment.
Like paying attention to every little detail, such as the type of water you use, the frequency of your hair wash, and any underlying dermatological issues.
The takeaway message here, these treatments help you get control over unruly hair and make them more manageable. They reduce the time of heat exposure and contribute to shinier and healthier hair.
If you wish to reduce the risk of formaldehyde’s negative impact, get the treatment done in a properly ventilated salon.
These treatments are considered ideal for longer hair. However, they can also be done for hair that is just two or three inches long.
Products & Tools
Styling Products
To enhance the methods mentioned above and treatments, use the correct styling products to ensure long-lasting effects and healthy hair. The best thing about having straight hair is that you can use pretty much any styling product as long as it’s low on alcohol and petroleum.
Use pomades to style your hair after straightening. They provide shine and volume to the hair. If you are shooting for a wet look, pomades are the answer. Pomades come in three variants, water-based, oil-based, and hybrids.
Water-based pomades are easy to use and light on the hair. Pomades might be known to have less holding capacity, but they are easy to remove, which gives them an upper hand over the other types.
Oil-based pomades, on the other hand, are the old version of this product. They possess better holding capacity than water-based pomades. They also add shine to the hair. The only disadvantage of using an oil-based pomade, they are difficult to remove from the hair. They require more effort and time.
Hybrid pomades are a better version of the oil pomades. They are water-soluble. They are easy to apply to the hair and also easy to wash away.
Add a hair wax to your styling stack if you ever feel like going for a matte finished look. Waxes are easy to use, versatile and give a better hold. Waxes give long-lasting holds and are light on the hair. The only drawback here is that they can cause dryness to the hair after wearing it for several hours.
Avoid any styling product with high levels of alcohol, mineral oil, or petroleum. They might give you a temporary styling effect but will lead to severe hair damage with regular use.
Brushes & Combs
While deciding whether to use a brush or comb, it all comes down to your hair length and desired look.
Brushes will suit long hair better than short hair. They are good at distributing products through the hair evenly and also help while styling. A brush will be better at detangling and smoothing the hair than a comb. They do so without causing any discomfort.
Combs can be used for shorter hair because they will give the hair crisp lines and precision. For thin hair, use fine-tooth combs and wide-tooth combs for thick hair.
Sometimes brushes and combs can also be combined to get the best of both worlds. Use a brush to distribute the styling product through the hair evenly. Once you are done with that, use a comb to style your hair and give it a detailed look.
The Wind up Message
Study and learn these methods and get to practice with the ones that can be performed at home. While some will work for you, others might not. Do not get disheartened. Not every person has the same type of hair.
Try to stick to the natural methods to straighten your hair. But if you want to go for a more solid and more extended solution, only then opt for a chemical treatment followed by strict hair care.
