I Tried The “Fluffy Silk Press” & My Natural Hair Is Thriving

As silk press season (aka winter) takes over and the gurls opt for sleek bobs and the popular straight hair with bumped ends, the crisp air and low humidity mean natural hair is less likely to revert to its curly state. But let’s face it, maintaining a silk press can be high maintenance. For 2025, instead of trying to maintain bone-straight results, Black women across social media are embracing the “fluffy silk press”, a straightened hairstyle that leaves your natural texture visible, to aid in manageability and reduce the risk of heat damage. 

The “fluffy silk press” mimics the voluminous silk press of the 90s and 2000s. The style was a signature for Black Hollywood actresses such as Sister Sister’s Tia and Tamera, The Fresh Prince’s Ashley Banks (Tatyana Ali), Nia Long and Aaliyah, all of whom had distinctively thick, silky, full-bodied hair. Now the look is making a huge comeback. 

On TikTok, Black women are sharing their glorious fluffy silk press looks in droves.“You can have a Robin Givens from Boomerang hairstyle one day, and the next day you can have a cute flipped ends hairstyle,” says New York-based content creator, Imani Williams (@_imaniwilliams) to Unbothered.

Williams began her hair content creator journey on TikTok back in July. Her videos show her 14.3k followers how she achieves her fluffy silk press. Her most popular video captioned, “fluffy or I don’t want it,” gained over 2.1 million views. “My goal was to show the emphasis on [hair] texture when straightened, maintenance and how I style my hair,’ said Williams. 

But does the style really reduce heat damage and keep natural hair healthy? And is it low maintenance?

Compared to a traditional silk press, curls and coils aren’t completely pressed out, giving more volume and more bounce to straightened natural hair. 

A fluffy silk press is achieved by shampooing and conditioning the hair, then going in with a heat protectant, blow drying and lastly, flat ironing the hair. It has all the same elements of a silk press, the only difference is the temperature you use to flat-iron your hair. A fluffy silk press uses less heat than the regular ‘silky’ silk press we all know and love. The only heat tools needed are a blow dryer and a flat iron with an adjustable heat setting.

“I prefer a fluffy press... or as the Black hair community and TikTok algorithm have reframed it as the fluffy ‘silk’ press because it’s extremely functional,” said Williams. “It emphasises the natural texture while giving you length. It’s extremely versatile.”

Williams began styling her hair into a fluffy silk press during college. “In my dorm, there were [people of] different cultures, and I was afraid that when I had to do my hair, they would smell my hair burn and attach this stigma to Black women,” she explained.“I started using lower heat again to save myself from embarrassment, but then I realised my hair was thriving, fuller, shinier.” 

She shared that at times she still receives negative comments from other Black women for having “cotton-like” hair  — a remark they used to make her hair seem ‘undone’ and diminish her effort in styling. But, the “cotton” hair those women dislike seems to be what many are now embracing.

“I have seen an increase in more clients requesting less heat on their silk press services because they want their silk press to have more volume,” said hairstylist and salon-owner, Stacey-Ann Houston.

Houston has been doing hair for 25 years and runs her own business, Stacey-Ann Texture Lab, in Dumbo, Brooklyn. “I do however inform my clients that with using less heat your hair will revert back to its natural texture faster resulting in your silk press not lasting the full week in some cases,” she explained.

In addition to being more functional, many fluffy silk press advocates find that the style helps prevent heat damage.

“If a silk press is done correctly there will be no heat damage that occurs,” said Houston. She recommends using a leave-in heat protectant on the hair prior to the flat-ironing, such as the Chi 44 Iron Guard Thermal Protection Spray (£15.87) or the Olaplex Heat Protectant No.7 Bonding Oil (£22.00). A good heat protectant in combination with low-heat styling can help keep the integrity of your hair.

“Due to the use of low heat, my curls always return,” reassured Williams. The benefit of using a low heat method means not only will you leave the salon with your curls intact, but you also leave with the latest trending style.

The fluffy silk press is the perfect go-to low-maintenance style for all curl types from 4c to 3a. To ensure your fluffy silk press lasts the distance, it’s best to sleep with hair wrapped in a scarf and/or bonnet. Still, because it showcases your natural texture, you won’t have to worry about it reverting and ruining the style at the gym. 

For Williams, the style also offers versatility. “I can do more hairstyles with a fluffy silk press than I am able to do with a silk press personally,” said Williams. “[The] Fluffy silk press is that hairstyle most of us can remember from childhood when we asked our moms to press our hair and they always gave us the bumped ends we didn’t ask for!” 

The fluffy silk press works for all lifestyles, and that’s what we love about it. It’s definitely an ‘in’ for 2025.