Hair Diaries: A Beginner’s Guide To Taking Care of Straight Hair

Hair of Indian woman blowing in wind

What you should be doing — and products you should be staying away from 

In a new series, Katie’s stylist Dana Fiore of Hair House, is answering all your burning questions about hair. Next up? She’s discussing how to take care of straight hair. 

Think of this as a beginner’s guide that debunks any misconceptions you’ve made in caring for your hair. (P.S. Take 20% off Hair House’s products with the code Katie20.) Without further ado…


1. What are some misconceptions people might have about taking care of straight hair? 

Curly wants straight and straight wants curly. Everyone wants what they don’t have. I think people think straight hair is the easiest hair to maintain. That’s not the case when you want a full, bouncy look and your hard work of curling and twirling doesn’t even last an hour because the hair just flops. Some women (and men!) can feel insecure if their hair is fine and they feel they see too much scalp or don’t get the volume they want. 

2. What products/techniques do you recommend for styling with tools? 

Unlike curly hair, straight hair is sometimes too oily. Products like volumizing sprays and mousses help build the texture at the scalp and add volume and fullness. Rough drying the hair before using a brush can help maintain volume. 

Depending on the thickness of the hair, I recommend taking out 75-85% of the water before even starting with a brush. For blow drying straight hair, the brush is just to polish it and create some bend to ends if desired. It already dries pretty frizz-less, so you don’t need to overdue the pulling and tugging with a brush. I like to use a volumizing spray to add volume at the roots before blow drying. 

Dana recommends: 

3. What shampoo/conditioner do you recommend? 

Again, technique matters. For straight hair that isn’t overly processed by hair color, I recommend shampooing the scalp with a volumizing shampoo.

If your hair isn’t particularly dry, you can just condition the ends. Too much conditioner on the scalp can weigh hair down and make it appear flat (and you won’t get as many days out of your blow dry).   

Dana recommends: 

3. What products/techniques do you recommend for styling naturally? 

Natural styling for straight hair doesn’t really get any easier than wash and go! A light leave-in conditioning product on the ends can help tame any flyaways and keep the hair looking healthy and soft. 

Dana recommends:


Products you buy through our links may earn us an affiliate commission.