- Different silk press methods include using an Afro keratin product or Moroccan oil and cling wrap to seal in the moisture.
- Maintain your blowout or silk press by sleeping with a silk wrap and applying argan oil or shea butter twice a week.
- Always use a heat protection product after washing to avoid damage.
The glories of bouncy coils and luscious kinky hair are unmatched.
But sometimes you want to play around with the length of your hair and see just how much shrinkage is playing tricks on you.
That’s the beauty of Black hair and its versatility.
Beyoncé showed us just how easy it can be to see the true length of your hair now that she’s launched her very own hair range called Cécred – without compromising on its strength and moisture.
Detailing her haircare routine in an Instagram post, Beyoncé shares in the caption how “being disruptive and challenging everything people feel should be the process has always been exciting to me. My hair and music seemed to do that a lot over the years…
“Maintaining 25 years of blonde on natural hair through all the experimenting I do has played a huge part in developing @cecred’s products.”
Silk presses and blowouts are surefire ways to explore the length of your natural hair and keep it flowing and smooth without any chemicals involved.
READ MORE | 5 tips on how to keep your relaxed hair healthy
We’ve got all the expert tips and tricks you need to maintain those silky tresses after your treatment.
Silk press or blow dry?
The best thing about the natural hair revolution is how particular hairstylists are when giving their clients the style they desire without damaging their hair.
Tiisetso Motang, a qualified hairdresser at Sorbet hair bar in Dunkeld, Johannesburg, chats to TRUELOVE about the different ways to stretch out your hair and give it that bounce.
A blowout
Tiisetso says, “When blowing it out, you obviously have to make sure [you use] shampoo that has a lot of moisture because our hair tends to get quite dry and brittle. So, you need at least a shampoo that takes away the frizz, that has moisture and then use a conditioner as well that repairs the hair.”
The silk press
Tiisetso explains how there are two different types of silk press methods you can go for that last about two weeks.
“Use an afro keratin product. Shampoo normally, apply reconstruction keratin product after blow drying. Leave it on for 40 minutes. You can leave it as is or cling wrap it to seal in the moisture. After rinsing you don’t rinse out all the product. Then you blow dry and iron it in sections at least four to five times so it seals the product in the hair. Then you style as desired.
“The other one is just a quick one whereby you just blow dry – wash your hair, blow dry it and then you put Moroccan oil and then you iron normally and then you cling wrap into a style, so like into a circular motion … leave it for like 20 minutes and then when you take it out it gives you that bounce.”
READ MORE | 6 skincare ingredients that are good for your hair
Tips on how to maintain a blowout or silk press
Tiisetso gives us five tried and tested hacks to keep your silk press happy for longer.
1. Avoid water. Usually, a blow dry lasts for about a week. A silk lasts you for about a week. If you can push it, you can push it to maybe two weeks because our hair, when it gets a bit of water, it goes right back into an afro.
2. Continue putting on any kind of oil, let’s say argan oil, Moroccan oil and then obviously base your hair with a little bit of shea butter.
3. Just wrap it when you go to sleep. Put a wrap on or a doek. Especially if you can get one that is silk, like a silky material.
4. You don’t have to put too much product on every day. If it lasts for about a week, you can put product maybe twice in a week.
5. A silk press you can do it twice in a month. Just a normal blow dry you can also do twice in a month because you don’t want to put too much heat on your hair otherwise it gets split ends.
