Just over a decade ago, I broke up with the creamy crack. It was my senior year of college and the peak of the “natural hair movement.” Between my friends, sorority sisters, and classmates, it felt like I was the only one still religiously getting my hair chemically straightened with a relaxer. I was always curious about the textured waves at my roots when I stretched out the time between getting the pattern straightened again, so I decided I was finally going to see what all the hype around natural hair was about. I transitioned my hair for about a year, then big chopped the straight ends off to reveal a head of lush little curls. I was in awe of how my hair naturally sprang and coiled from my scalp and I never looked back.
Like most Black women early in their natural hair journey, I tried all the things—braid outs, twist outs, flexi rod sets, concocting kitchen staples into a suspicious-looking and -smelling hair mask—in the name of wearing my curly hair loud and proud.
Within the last few years, though, I had to accept that I was, and am, fully and unapologetically a straight natural. As in, yes, my hair is free from any and all chemical straighteners, but I almost exclusively wear my hair in a silk press.
I didn’t come to this place easily, not that it even had to be dramatic or revelatory. But it did kind of feel that way. Among the Black community, there is a lot of debate and discourse, and honestly, sometimes shame, for those who choose to wear their natural hair straight instead of curly. Many attribute the straight preference to self-hatred and a desire for a closer proximity to whiteness and Eurocentric beauty standards. But hear me clearly: I adore my curls—they’re gorgeous as hell! I love my curls so much, in fact, that I’m honest with myself about how I don’t take care of my hair when it’s in its curly state.
I’m what you’d call a “lazy natural.” As I tinkered with natural hairstyles, endless products, and confusing tools, I realized that life was not my ministry nor calling. I did not enjoy spending hours on wash day, regular maintenance, and failed styles that ultimately had me looking like James Brown’s mug shot. It was all so unpleasant for me that I’d just forgo it completely. I found and stuck to my two easy styles—a wash-and-go or a sleek bun, both with pounds of products—and admittedly, I’d refresh those same styles over and over without washing, conditioning, combing, or detangling my hair for months at a time (I know, I know). Yes, my hair would be in shambles. And that’s exactly my point. It wasn’t working for me, and it was showing.
Curly hair is so precious and deserves time, effort, and dedication. I had to keep it real with myself that I just wasn’t going to give it those things, and if I was, it’d be for a very limited amount of time, like a week or two max. So for me, wearing my hair straight has actually been the best way for me to care for my crown. And that is working for me—my hair has all but told me so: my tresses are full and growing; my scalp is well-hydrated; and my curls always bounce back to their coily, kinky, defined glory.
So when SheaMoisture told me about their newest product that could help care for my straight natural hair even more, I knew I had to give it a shot. Here’s where it landed for me.
About SheaMoisture’s Silk Press In a Bottle:
SheaMoisture describes the product as a prep cream, meant to be used after washing your hair and right before you blow dry it. You section your hair into four parts, and after a quick towel dry, apply one pump to each section, then work it through with a wide-toothed comb. Silk Press in a Bottle is designed to be a shield against all the things that work against straightened curly hair (like frizz and humidity), all while working as a heat protectant and preserving your natural curl pattern. Overall, it’s supposed to set your silk press up for success and longevity, and real silk press girlies know that the outcome of your press starts well before the irons get hot.
How I tested it:
I first tried Silk Press in a Bottle back in early May in Miami. I washed my hair, put loads of the product on my damp, detangled curls, then blow-dried and flat-ironed it. Later, a stylist curled and styled my hair into a sleek updo.
The second time I tested it, I had my hairstylist use the product. She washed my hair, put it in four sections, then applied and combed one pump through each. Afterward, she blow-dried me and then I silk pressed my hair at home myself.
The final time I tested it at the end of June, my stylist did the full process start to finish: she washed my hair, applied the product to still-wet hair, then blow-dried and flat-ironed my tendrils to silky perfection.
My review:
I first took the product for a spin while I was in Miami for three days. The very first thing I noticed after one pass of the flat iron was how shiny the product made my hair. It didn’t feel heavy or weighed down in a greasy kind of way, but like it was well-moisturized and deeply conditioned.
Next came the tests. Through a sexy, quintessential South Beach night, a sweaty afternoon outside at peak day, a windy yacht ride, and a humid trackside watch of the Miami Grand Prix, my silky updo (which later came down into a ponytail) was ultra soft, smooth, and tamed with virtually no swelling. There was some frizz by the end of day three, but my hair absolutely did not start to curl back up. And chat, I won’t lie, I was kind of gagged. I knew that if Silk Press in a Bottle could stand all the Miami elements, it was certified.
Still, I wanted to see how it’d fare in other conditions and with professional application. Back in Brooklyn, after my stylist used Silk Press in a Bottle on me and then dried my hair, it was the velvetiest, lightest, and straightest I’ve ever felt my hair in a blowout. It felt like a SportsCenter-worthy alley-oop pass to a slam dunk of a silk press. When she got the flat iron on my strands, she also noted the shine it left and how nice it was. So much so, she didn’t top my silky tresses with her usual finishing oil.
It was heavily misting when I left, so I put my hair in a plastic shower cap since I was sans umbrella. Sometimes, between the summer humidity outside and the heat from my scalp, this inadvertently creates a steam cap and makes my roots or edges start turning curly. I was shocked to see that my hair still looked fresh-out-of-the-chair silky when I got home and pulled the cap off.
The biggest, most important test, though, was whether the health of my curls would remain intact after using the product—and it absolutely did. After my first two times testing the cream, my curls reverted and were so bouncy and voluminous with no sign of heat damage in sight. When I was in the wash bowl, my stylist even commented on how healthy and good my curls looked.
Final thoughts:
My biggest priorities with my silk presses are making sure it lasts and that my curls stay healthy in the process. Silk Press in a Bottle does both of those while also adding unreal shine. A little goes a long way with it, too; you really can get away with just half a pump for the product to work its magic.
After testing Silk Press in a Bottle for two months, I can confidently say that the prep cream plain works—whether in the heat of Miami or on a rainy summer day in Brooklyn—and does exactly what it claims. As a lazy natural who wants to do the absolute least but still have my hair look like I did the most, Silk Press in a Bottle is the hardworking overachiever I need in my routine. And I definitely plan on letting it carry the team.
Christen A. Johnson is the senior lifestyle editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers health and wellness, home, sports, astrology, food, travel and more for print and digital. She also dabbles in culture writing, and wrote Cosmo's first-ever digital cover story. Before joining the magazine, Christen was a lifestyle features reporter at the Chicago Tribune. Several of her health and style stories made the paper's front page. When Christen isn't digging through antique stores, she's likely drooling over home renos on HGTV, sharing her latest therapy revelation, redoing old workouts from her college basketball days, or trying to perfect her homemade buttermilk biscuit recipe. Follow her on Insta for BTS ~ editor life ~ tingz!
