My Weekly Hair Straightening Routine

Like most women I have a love/hate relationship with my hair. In it’s frizzy, curly, air-dried state I can’t stand it; but when given the love and attention of smoothing oils, and the support of a ceramic straight iron, it’s my pride and joy. Other than the premature greying issue, I’ve been blessed with thick, jet-black, quintessentially Indian hair that I can’t really complain about. In fact, when I was about 15 and had even longer hair, I visited Tokyo Disneyland and a group of school aged kids actually thought I was Princess Jasmine (not gonna lie, I enjoyed the attention).

weekly hair straightening routine

The problem is; I don’t have time to wash, blow dry, and straighten my hair every day. Thankfully, I’ve figured out a rather genius system that allows me to wash my hair once a week in the winter and twice a week in the summer, and maintain straight hair for 3 -4 days. Don’t be grossed out, I shower daily, but the best thing I’ve done for my hair is cut back on shampooing. 

I have naturally curly and frizzy hair that tends to be on the dry side. If you have oily hair you can skip step 5 and use an oil control shampoo and conditioner. Also, I know this sounds like a lot of steps, and it is. It takes me about 3 hours to do the whole process if you count the hot oil and air dying, but I’d rather do that once a week while watching a Bollywood film than wrestle with my hair every day. 

So here it is, my weekly hair straightening routine

Step 1: Hot Oil Treatment.My personal favourite always was and still is, Dabur Amla Hair Oil. I’m convinced there is something about that oil, and my desi genetics that just work together. If you buy this stuff, make sure you get a box that says ‘for export only’, and stick with the original or gold formula. Do not buy a mixed blend – olive oil and amla oil don’t go together. To learn more about my oil process check out this post.

Step 2: Use a moisturising shampoo and conditioner. My current favourite is this ridiculously inexpensive Almond & Shea Butter line from Suave. It is so good that I drive over the border for shampoo (it’s not available in Canada)

john freida 3 day straight | Pink Chai Style

{If you look closely by day 4 the fly-aways and frizz are making a comeback, but without the John Frieda 3 Day Straight it would look like Day 4 about 8 hours after straightening}

Step 3: Let your hair air-dry partially and then spray with John Frieda 3 Day Straight. This stuff is pure magic. Blow dry as usual. 

Step 4: Once your hair is completely dry, use a flat iron to straighten. The key to preventing damage and getting great looking hair – work in small sections. Take a small section and slowly run the straightener from top to bottom so you don’t have to repeat the same area. 

Step 5: This is an optional step, but for me it’s a must. Use Loma oil on the bottom two thirds of your hair to prevent frizz and fly-aways (avoid the crown air to prevent a greasy look). This stuff is my new favourite product and really adds shine, and gives my hair a great finish.

After this whole process I can easily go 3-4 days without more than a quick touch up with my hair straightener if it’s humid or raining out. Around day 4 if my roots are feeling oily, I’ll spray them with Dove Dry Shampoo and tease them up, or I’ll curl my hair. In the winter months I was going 5-6 days without washing my hair with this routine.

Feel free to ask my any questions in the comments section, and remember; I’m a product junkie – if you’re curious about it, I’ve probably tried it!

 

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7 Comments

  1. December 9, 2014 / 4:15 pm

    I’ve been doing my own hair straightening for a few months now but I’m almost giving up because I have to do it every other day. I guess i need to give this a try. Thanks Raj!

    • December 9, 2014 / 4:48 pm

      Hope this helps! Thanks for stopping by 🙂

  2. Naveed
    January 5, 2015 / 8:45 am

    you are just
    perfect and a complete woman

  3. Naveed
    January 5, 2015 / 8:47 am

    are you a model or what

  4. March 17, 2016 / 10:38 pm

    “In it’s frizzy, curly, air-dried state I can’t stand it” – some years ago this is exactly the emotion I lived with!! I used to hate my curly hair and wonder why I had such ugly hair. But today, after numerous experiments with products and methods, I wouldn’t trade my curly hair for anything else 🙂 And I decided to spread the word through my blog 🙂

  5. March 18, 2016 / 12:35 am

    How about temperature was the straightener with your hair? Because even though mine goes to 450 degrees, I feel like using that temperature is burning my hair, so I could probably use a lower setting.

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