Hair Straightening 101

By Fany Gaete

We live in a world with a wide range of hair textures: kinky, curly, straight and bone straight. And most women – whatever their natural  hair texture – w ish they had

somethi ng else.  Thank goodness, with all the various styling methods out there we are able to try whatever our desire – curly perms, straight perms highlights and more.

Depending on your hair texture, there is a variety of hair relaxers to help you manage and make it easier to style your hair. There are three common types of hair relaxers, and they are Japanese Hair Straightening, sodium hydroxide hair relaxer, and Brazilian Blowout.

Japanese Hair Straightening is best suitable for people with very thick coarse hair, and for people with curly hair who wish to have silky straight hair. It is also used for people with super straight hair that is hard to curl, or for hair to keep its style.

(C) Motions Hair Products

Sodium Hydroxide hair relaxer is also known to some of us as a “perm”. This hair relaxer is commonly used for black hair, extra frizzy hair and super curly hair. This is one of the strongest hair relaxers. Your end result should be to eliminate all extra frizz and curls, leaving you with straight hair.

Please keep in mind with this relaxer, you should be doing your re-touch every six to eight weeks. When it comes to hair colouring, refrain from using colours that contain ammonia and any volume of peroxide because it can lead to damaged hair, and excessive hair breakage. Semi and demi colouring are recommended.

This relaxer is not only used for making your hair straight, but it can be used to make your hair softer, thinner and manageable for people with the above hair types and problems. It should last you five to seven months before repeating this procedure. When it comes to hair colouring, you should only use 20 volume peroxide and under because of the chemical reaction which can lead to hair breakage.

(C) Brazilian Blowout

Brazilian Blowout is a new method of hair relaxing. This method is recommended for people with hair that is tight curly, frizzy curly, or a natural curl. This is not to make hair straight, but to texturize hair. Texturizing hair means removing the frizz from your hair, making your tight curls into loose curls, and your natural curls into wavy hair. Brazilian blowout gives you the option to wear your hair curly using less products. It also makes it easier to blow dry and flat iron your hair so it can last longer, so you can re-touch within three to five months. This hair relaxer gives you the most options for hair colouring, allowing you to use ammonia and most peroxides.

Ilca “Fany” Gaete, is a credited and talented hairstylist in the GTA.

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