The pressing comb is making a comeback

SHE is intelligent and married to the man who seems on the way to becoming one of the most powerful men on earth, but it seems there has been more talk about what is on top of Michelle Obama’s head, than what is in it.

Debates have been reigning on the Internet after news broke that the potential first lady is a no-lye woman, one who has proven that it is possible to get a bouncy and relaxed coif without the chemicals.

Hard to believe, given that silky regal mane that she sports when in and out of the spotlight.

But how does Obama get her hair to be so straight without the chemicals?

It’s a question that she had no problem answering as she willingly shared the secret of how a pair of hot irons transformed her hair to what it is today.

Her answers led to a move, for some, away from some of the other serious issues being dealt with in the US political arena, and towards a debate on hair treatment for women of African descent.

With the help of her California-based stylist, Johnny Wright, Obama was able to get her silky tresses to be the image of perfection. The news broke of her unique upkeep in July of this year, after New York Magazine interviewed Wright who Obama had asked to style her hair throughout the Democratic National Convention that was held in Denver in August. He had been working with her for over a year after he styled her hair for a photoshoot for Ebony magazine.

Wright told the magazine that he tried to make Obama’s hair as simple as possible.

“Sometimes I flat-iron her hair under, or I use a ceramic curling iron to flip it out at the ends a little bit. With a flat iron she’s going to be able to lock the moisture in the hair. Because she has to get her hair done so often, the flat iron is probably the best tool for her,” he said.

As black women like Obama, and others like Alicia Keys and the Mowry twins choose the pressing comb over the relaxer, word is spreading back home that the hairstyles once popular at your grandmother’s knees are keen on making a comeback.

And women are realising that whether they’re fortunate enough to have their own stylist or not, it is just as easy to get that fabulous hair texture without the hassle of chemical relaxers.

Indeed, hairstylist Dockery Gordon of Dockery’s Coiffures in Half-Way-Tree says it is something that many women used to do before chemical hair straighteners became popular.

Like Wright, she has crafted a name for herself as the expert when it comes to straightening hair with a hot iron, after doing this for more than 50 years. She feels it is coming back in style, as some women now believe the chemical damages their hair.

“When the relaxer came in, the younger people took to it very well. For some of them, it damaged their hair so badly that they had to turn back to the pressing,” she says.

She says not everyone’s hair is suitable for using chemical relaxers and this is the reason for the damage.

“You could be doing it for a while and it might look good in the beginning, but some persons, after a while they have to cut it off, treat it and start afresh and I think that’s why the natural hair has taken over again.”

Although the straightening of hair hasn’t come full circle as it was in the days when Gordon had up to eight clients by midday during the week,

she believes Jamaica is definitely getting there.

How it’s done

Gordon says that pressing the hair usually takes an average of up to two hours to do depending on the texture and how often it is done. Clients she says, usually visit her anywhere from between every two weeks to every

six weeks.

“Sometimes when people are getting married they come. If they have natural hair and they want a change for the wedding, and they want a nice pin-up hairstyle, other hairdressers usually refer them to me and this can last them up to two weeks,” she says.

For one of her clients, a senior citizen who has been pressing her hair since the 50s, there’s nothing quite like getting pressed.

“I have been doing it all my life and I am happy with it. When I tell people that is press me press it, them shock,” she says.

She says she, like many people, started out using chemical relaxers, but her regular visits to New York soon proved that the chemical did not go well with the weather. After a while her hair started breaking, forcing her to have it cut and treated.

“When you creme, every week you have to wash and set or you have to put in this or that in your hair to treat it. The bottom line is that I found it more expensive than straightening your hair because I would just do so every month and then wash it at that time,” she says.

Other alternatives

But hot combing or ironing is not the only non-chemical method available to women to straighten their hair. Depending on your hair texture, you can get your hair looking frizz-less and kinky free in a short amount of time.

With the help of a good hair brush and a powerful blow dryer you can do so in probably thirty minutes.

You would begin by washing and drying the hair, adding straightening serum and then allowing the brush and the blow dryer to work their magic. You have to comb your brush through the hair beginning at the roots while at the same time making sure that it is being exposed to the heat from the blow dryer. To ensure that it does not get damaged, it might be a good idea to add a heat protectant to your hair.

Over the years, there have also been a number of new non-chemical products on the market promising women a simple fix to their hair woes.

Tips for effective hair straightening

1 It is advisable that you hot iron your hair only when it is clean. Grease and dirt left in the hair will be cooked by the heat of the iron and could lead to the breaking of the hair or other damage.

2 Always use a hair brush while blow drying your hair to prevent it from tearing.

3 If you are using a chemical straightener, always do a strand test to see whether your hair would need a mild or strong relaxer.

4 Try to avoid using fine teeth combs or sharp bristle brushes after the hair has been straightened. They tend to tear the hair.

5 If a blow dryer is being used, it should not be too high as this can lead to the drying out of the hair too quickly.

6 It is best to wear a shower cap when taking a swim, especially if you are doing so in a swimming pool with chlorine.

7 Hair should never be straightened with a curling iron while wet. Make sure you dry out water with a towel and then blow dry before straightening.