Natural Hair Blowout Before and After + Products & Maintenance Tips

Don’t you just love the versatility of natural hair! I love blowing out my hair but only do it once a year to keep the chance of heat-damage low. It took me a while but I finally got around to my annual blowout and trim session.

How Long Does a Natural Hair Blowout Last?

My blowouts last upwards of 2 weeks, can you believe that? In fact, if I’m really careful, I can push it to three. I did this last time I went to New York for the New Year’s holiday and was surprised that it lasted so long what with the cold, damp air and being caught in the slight rain/snow a few times.

You can see in this pic my roots were about over it but my ends were still holding on:

Trimming our ends is so important for growth and just maintaining the health and shine in our hair because those old ends look real trashy and tired no matter how you style your hair. Once these split ends start travelling up the shaft of your hair, that’s a wrap. Especially with colour in my hair that makes it dry and vulnerable to damage, extra care and the occasional trim is essential. That’s why I ensure to use my DIY Deep Conditioner whenever I finally do wash out a blowout.

How to do a Natural Hair Blowout

I can’t offer a tutorial on this because my hair is too long to try that mess on myself. I saved so much time and money by going natural and doing my hair myself that I splurge on the salon when it’s time to do a blowout.

Even when it was shorter, and you’ll see those pictures below, I still went to the salon because the few occasions I tried to do it myself were a hot mess. Which is hilarious since when I was relaxed I could wash and straighten my hair myself with ease.

However, I will offer these tips:

• Set your hair with old-school setters after it is shampooed and conditioned.
• Get under the dryer and allow it to fully dry.
• Flatiron after for a sleeker look.

I advocate for setting your hair and getting under the dryer even though we all hate it so much because applying the amount of heat necessary to blowout your hair from wet to dry with a blowdryer is asking for heat-damage. Even with the best heat-protectant, all that tugging on your hair is a no-go for me. To each their own, though.

Products to Use on Your Natural Hair Blowout

You’ll want to apply a product to your hair before you blow dry it or flatiron it to help protect from any possible heat-damage. Us naturals are afraid of heat-damage particularly because when our hair is damaged it means the coils and curls won’t come back. A straight, sleek look is great for a switch-up and to get a break from styling natural hair but we want it all to bounce right back after.

This protectant has the highest ratings on Amazon and I would purchase it if I were in the market simply because it has one of my favourite ingredients, argan oil.

However, to be perfectly honest I use actual oils in my hair to protect it in an effort to stay away from all the other ingredients and this works out pretty well for me. Try pure natural argan oil as a heat-protectant or even grapeseed oil. They’ll do the job. I use these oils to add shine to my hair while it’s straight as well and do any touchups with my iron if needs be.

Here are more recommendations for the best products for 4c natural hair.

It’s always fun to see everybody else’s reaction to my straight hair. I laugh at the guys who always try and get me to keep my hair straightened. SMH.

I will admit to doing it more often this year than usual because I’ve been bored with my hair and it’s just so much easier to manage straightened.

It is always a welcomed break. On this occasion, I braved a soca party with my hair straight and you know soca parties mean endless dancing and the place was hot! The back of my hair did start to revert but it was fine for the most part. Here I am a full two weeks later when I decided to wash it out because it was starting to itch. My hair is used to being washed every week.

Still so sleek and straight! And it was still fairly light and had movement too. But I was over it! The last time I blew out my hair prior to this was a year and a half ago. Here’s what my natural hair blowout on my short hair was looking like back then:

Got me some inches! I’ve come a far way, my hair is pretty much black now after all of this colour and I am itching to colour it again. Sometimes I feel the decision is length or colour, it’s very hard to maintain both! My natural hair adventures continue.

Have you straightened your natural hair? How long does your blowout last and what products do you use to maintain it?