How To Straighten Your Hair Without Causing Damage

The best way to straighten your hair without causing damage is to opt for a method that doesn't require even looking at a flat iron. Senior stylist at New York's Butterfly Studio, Jill Engelsen, told Elle about a simple method that only requires a brush. "For long to medium styles that straighten easily, brush wet hair down and pull it tight with your hands every few minutes until it dries," she advised. This method works best on hair that's medium to long in length that tends to straighten relatively easily.

Believe it or not, you can also use rollers to straighten your hair. "For long hair, use about six jumbo [plastic] rollers and section the towel-dried hair to the rollers' width, comb it up, and wrap your hair flat against the roller," Engelsen revealed. "Then, secure with a duckbill clip on each side."

Celebrity hairstylist Ricardo Rojas offered another option called toca, which involves using the cold air setting of a blow dryer to get hair just shy of fully dry, then taking sections and wrapping them around your head, using pins to secure them. Engelson suggested using a bit of cardboard or other firm material in the bobby pins to avoid creating dents in the hair.

When you're equipped with a bit of knowledge, along with the appropriate products and tools, you can get sleek, straight hair that feels as good as it looks.