Shea butter is a moisturizing product that is extracted from the African shea nut. Shea butter is most effective on coarse, dry and unmanageable hair that has lost its moisture. As a heat protectant, shea butter absorbs quickly into the hair without leaving any oily residue, which makes it an ideal conditioner when flat-ironing your hair.

Plug in your flat iron. Set your iron at its normal temperature for your hair texture. The temperature will vary for each person and hair texture; do what's best for your hair. Wait for your flat iron to become hot. (See the "Resources" section for a video on how to flat-iron hair.)

Make a small 1- to 2-inch part in your hair with a comb. Put the rest of your hair in a pony tail to keep it out of the way. Take a very small dab of shea butter and rub it in the length of your hair.

Take your flat iron and start at least 1/2 inch from your scalp; you don't want to burn your scalp while you are flat-ironing. Open the plates of the iron on either side of the hair section. Press the flat iron plates closed and pull the flat iron through the length of your hair to the ends.

Pull another section of hair from the ponytail and make another 1- to 2-inch part with a comb. Rub a small dab of shea butter into the length of the hair and flat-iron the section. Continue the process until you have flat-ironed all of your hair.