-I am a naturalista to the core.
I've done the big chop. I do a lot of protective styles.
But, every now and again, I like to get my hair straighted.
I love to switch my hair up.
It gives me a newfound confidence
and I feel like I can become just a different girl
each time I do a different style.
-Hi. I'm Tori Banks.
I'm a silk press specialist in Beverly Hills
and I own Salon Bar in Atlanta, Georgia.
I'm known for my silk press technique
and I can make the most stubborn hair silky straight.
The silk press hair became popular
in the natural hair community when girls wanted to be natural
but they wanted like a super straight hair
similar to their relaxed hair.
A silk press is more of a lifestyle.
It's not anything that's done particularly
for a certain occasion unless you are a girl
that wears your hair more of a natural state.
For a lot of women, they only get their hair silk pressed.
They come to their salon and get it washed and treated
and this is how they wear their hair 100% of the time.
Hi. Welcome to Milena Rose salon.
Today I will be giving Nicole
one of my signature silk press services.
-When I had my hair straighted a year ago,
my color was up to my roots.
-So you got your color done that appointment
and got it straightened that day?
-Yeah. It was cute but I felt like
it was a little dry of course because of the color.
So I'm excited just to see like my new growth
and how the health of my hair has transformed.
-Even though your hair is going to be like silky straight,
it's still going to be nice and curly.
-She'll bounce back.
-She's going to be move revived because our treatment
is going to give your hair all of the proteins
to build that structure back up. It'll look bouncy and refreshed.
-Love that. -All right. Let's get started.
-I really started to get serious
about my hair in college. That's when I really took
my natural hair journey hair seriously.
Before then, I was doing a lot of straightening,
a lot of heat damage. I just decided to do a big chop
and just chop all of my hair off.
I just like to mix it up and always have a fun look.
-So first I will consult with Nicole
on the analysis of her scalp and the health of her hair.
Then, I will clarify Nicole's hair.
Typically, it takes about three times
to make the client's scalp squeaky clean.
After her hair has been clarified,
then I apply her treatment.
-My big chop went amazing, honestly.
When I first did it, my family thought I was crazy,
because in the Black community,
you don't chop all your hair off.
But I did it and I got a lot of healthy new growth
and all of the hair that's on my head
currently is grown from post my big chop.
-After her treatment is thoroughly saturated,
I detangle it using a detangle brush designed for wet hair.
Now I'll be putting Nicole under the steamer.
The steamer will open up her cuticles,
allowing the treatment to penetrate deep into her hair.
I will bring her to the bowl
and thoroughly rinse out her treatment,
ensuring that nothing is left.
Now I'm going to apply Nicole's leave-in spray.
It will act as a detangler
and will deliver more moisture for her hair.
We are going to section off the hair.
This will help me manage my sections
to ensure that I get a nice, smooth blow dry.
So my technique for blow drying is assuring
that I am directing the hair down the cuticle.
This will allow the hair to be super silky,
activating the products that I applied into her hair,
giving me a nice foundation for the flat ironing process.
I will blow dry each section with tension
to ensure maximum smoothness. I will flat iron her hair
using a smooth one pass down her hair shaft.
This smooth, slow pass allows her cuticle to not be disturbed,
allowing each strand to lay down.
The silk press is definitely not a protective style.
The hair is out.
The hair needs to be prepped at night
to ensure that the hair is beautiful during the day.
It's now time for Nicole to see the finished look.
So what do you think?
-I absolutely love it!
Like my hair is actually straight.
Do you see the silk?
-I do. -This is perfect.
This is everything that I wanted.
You gave me a little body --
a little flirty, little flirty curls.
-Let's talk about what we're going to do at home.
The easiest thing you can do is flip your head upside-down
and then do like one big pin curl,
pretty much creating like a roll twist,
and then using the scrunchie to tie it together.
That'll keep the twirl and it'll also keep the volume
because you're bringing the hair off of your scalp.
-Awesome! Well, thank you so much!
-It was so good having you.
-It was so nice meeting you.
-Nice meeting you too. -I have to go.
Wow!
So extra. Who is that? This is so bomb!