So, I asked Carole (the woman who's photos are a few posts down who had half her hair Thermal Reconditioned - also known as a Thermal Relaxer) to write a little bit about her experience and she actually did it! Wow!! (thanks so much Carole!!!)
Here's what she emailed me:
I have some exciting news to share with you. It's my hair "miracle". I happen to have this crazy type of hair, straight on the top and sides and curly in back. I could deal with the waves (added body) but after the birth of my daughter, the waves turned into an unruly, obnoxious, time consuming tangle. My attempts to match the front and back left me either looking like a poodle or having to spend an inordinate amount of time (blow dry) and money (products) to straighten the back. And girls, you know how hard it is working behind your head! Anyway, Lynn Caldeiro at E-Clips salon has been my hair expert for years and when she suggested a new Japanese hair technique that would give me no-fuss, healthy, straight hair, I couldn’t sign up fast enough. It was easy, albeit time consuming (6 hrs.) but the wait was worth it.
First, I arrived at Lynn’s E-Clips at 9:00 am. (a little about Lynn: she is very professional, talented and a genuinely good person. You’ll love her.) Anyway, Lynn had suggested I bring a book (and what mother wouldn’t look forward to hours of uninterrupted time?). I’d recommend any special snacks you might desire also. I sat in her chair as she applied a pre-relaxant . This needs to be combed through carefully and then thoroughly dried. This was repeated several times which takes lots of time. Then it was time for the actual relaxant. ( it smells similar to a perm). Lynn was careful to comb the product though each strand of hair, helping it to straighten out. She was very meticulous. Then it was time to dry again. (Drying was a combination of a hand held dryer and sitting in a chair surrounded by warm noisy air.) In my case, Lynn didn’t need to “straighten” my whole head, so she put conditioner on my naturally straight parts. I was offered water, tea, food and the time seemed to fly by. (a great novel helped) Soon it was time to see the final result. A thorough wash (love the scalp massage), a comb out, a blow dry and that’s when you’d think the miracle happened. But no. I was astonished, my hair was shiny and soft and yes, straight a mere 6 hrs later. Now as always, I loved the way Lynn had finished my hair but the true test was to happen days from then, at home. YES, miracle upon miracle, I could reproduce Lynn’s version of straight hair by myself. She hadn’t exaggerated.
I can still easily maintain it with or without blow drying. Yes, without drying and my husband not only loves the look but loves that it takes no time. I would highly recommend this procedure for any of you with annoyingly curly hair. There is a miracle out there for you. Thank you, thank you, thank you Lynn Caldeiro!
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Note from Lynn: I also love curly hair, but in Carole's case, relaxing (TR) was the best option because she wanted her hair very straight, she fought to manage it, she was only half curly and she has fine hair.
I do TR (Thermal Relaxing aka Thermal Reconditioning) but
Josephine Geise is the resident expert on normal chemical relaxers, she's been doing them for 20+ years and I've seen first hand how great she is. Most people shy away from the regular thioglycolic and other chemical relaxing processes because if you apply them wrong you can do real damage - but Josephine is meticulous and will not over process your hair. If you have that kinky, coarse, hard to manage hair and want to tame the curls (not make them bone straight) a regular relaxer is probably a good option for you and it's only a fraction of the cost (and time) of Thermal Relaxing.
