So, I have, or rather, had extremely thick, curly, heavy, coarse, voluminous red hair. I tried to love it, really I did. I had an army of curl-enhancing, frizz reducing products. My old hairstylist, Apparently Heterosexual Phil, was always on me to love my curls. He did give me great haircuts. And plied me with wine and compliments. Oh, I kind of miss Phil. If anyone needs a great hairstylist for thick, curly, heavy, coarse, voluminous hair in the Ann Arbor, MI area, drop me a PM and I’ll give you his number.
But I digress.
Having left Phil behind in Michigan, I was fretting over what to do with my hair with some friends at school. (I have had a lot of disasterous haircuts and have “new stylist phobia”). A Korean woman of my aquaintence asked if I had ever considered having it straightened, and recommended a salon where they do Thermal Reconditioning, sometimes called “Japanese process straightening.” It last 6 months. I was intrigued. I had a consultation. They declared me an ideal candidate. I made a appointment.
I got it done yesterday. It took 3 hours, and two stylists worked on it to get it done that fast. Did I mention I have a lot of hair?
Now I have thick, straight, heavy, coarse, voluminous red hair. It looks completely phenomenal. I’m wearing a headband! I’m tossing it over my shoulder! Squeeeee! toss
Warning: exteme nerdy/horsecrazy teen reference to follow Remember in The Black Stallion’s Filly when they made Black Minx a fake tail and she just spent all day swishing it? Yeah, that’s me with my new straight hair. tossadjusts headband
I have thick, wavy hair that wants to do it’s own thing. Most of the time it looks “okay”, but when I can talk Hallgirl1 into spending an hour with the flat iron on it, it looks Damn Good.
Mind if I ask how much it set you back? Also, have you had any breakage of the hair with it?
Okay, it cost me $240… on the low side as I understand it for the brand-name Japanese process. This salon was mid-scale and serves mostly asian clientele. I have seen it as high as $600 in upscale salons.
My hair looks gorgeous and undamaged (my SO kept saying… “its so soft!”) but they also told me that my hair was “very strong.” I needed a haircut anyway as I am very split endy (I have not cut my hair in 11 months due to aforementioned bad haircut phobia). Obviously the processing didn’t fix that but its no worse than it was. Overall, it seems very neutral in its effect.
Yeah, you actually got quite the deal- it was my understanding that $500 is the norm for that particular procedure.
Are you totally shocked by how much longer your hair is now? I know when I wear mine curly for a week or so (mine is naturally wavy-curly, so I can easily make it into OMFG curly and it will stay), I’ll always be surprised when I wear it straight again and it’s 4 inches longer.
Well, the thing about New York is… (my SO hates it when I start sentences this way, lol)
…some things are way more expensive than elsewhere, and other things are way cheaper. I’ve seen it advertised as low as $175 in Koreatown, but I’ll pay a little more for a place that comes recommended. If you’re ever planning to be in New York… http://www.hayato-ny.com/English.html
Call with at least 6 weeks notice if you need an evening or weekend appointment. FTR, the staff’s English skills are only so-so (they all seem to be young stylists from Tokyo) but they are very friendly. Free shiatsu massage while your hair is cooking too!
My hair is down to my bra strap – longer than its been since about the 2nd grade! I am going to cut off at least 3-4 inches though, just to clean up the split ends after a year’s neglect.
As a child of the eighties, I find this obsession with hair straightening kinda funny in an ironic way. My god, the things I did to my hair to curl it when I was younger. And now that my perfectly stick straight hair is in style, I couldn’t care less and just cut it short to be convenient.
I used to do that all the time, back home. Where it was cheaper (the most expensive salons would charge $200). Loved how it made my hair feel, although the process was always torturous. It’s worth springing for a decent job, though. I once got one for $80 and it ruined my ends something terrible. Usually the ones around $150 were decent.
American hair salon prices are ridiculous, I tell you.
I am at work. Just finished with an irate caller. Was feeling very slightly grumpy about. Then I read that little “toss” at the end of your post and disolved into giggles. Enjoy your straight hair, Hello Again.
Yay for getting the hair you want! I naturally have very, very fine, frizzy, poofy, wavy/curly hair. I remember the first time I used a flat iron on it. It seems like I spent the entire day just… petting it. And swishing it, of course. So I know how you feel!
grin Ha! I still do crazy things to make my couldn’t keep a curl if my life depended on it hair curly. I’d try a perm, but I’m almost positive it would stay for all of a month and then straighten out again.
I’m curious, what happens after it starts to grow out? Are you then addicted to getting it straightened? Is it like getting fake nails, where the retip is never as good as the first time? Will your hair start to fall out? Can you get it colored, too?
I saw this in an article in the WallStreetJournal a few years ago. It intrigued me. I, too, have thick, unruly, curly blonde/brown hair.
I bought myself a flatiron, though–and that works wonders. True, any mist or rain and I’m back to Shirley Temple, but what the hell.
How does it grow out? Do you end up with curly roots and flat ends?
Congrats on your new look. When I first had my hair flatironed at a salon–I couldn’t stop touching it. Lookatme! I can run my fingers through my hair! Enjoy.
It does grow out and requires touching up every 6-9 months. The way my hair grows, it is flat(ish) at the top from the sheer weight of it, so I expect to be able to go 9 months between treatments. If you want to grow it out, you just curl the straight part to match, or cut the straight part off, depending on your inclination.
As far as being compatible with other chemical process – you cannot have it done on hair that is currently colored or highlighted etc. I don’t know if you could highlight it afterwards though.
So I know how you feel!