Thermal Reconditioning...BTDT?

[Hippoharbor]

Hi. I have curly hair (not tight curls though) and am thinking of having my hair straightened. I have heard about the Japanese system of Thermal Reconditioning. Have any of you ladies done this before? It is pretty expensive at $500 minimum. What do you think?

Thanks,
Michelle

[annasmom]

I haven't done it, but a woman I used to work with did it and it came out great. It lasted forever.

I *should* do it, but I cannot stomache the price tag. Although with all the other stuff I do to my hair I am sure I spend at least that much, it is just paying it all at once. Anyway, I digress.

My friend actually paid a really good price for her procedure - I think about $300. So, I would shop around if I were you. Depending on where you are, I think many more salons are now offering the service so it is more competitively priced (although still expensive).

[mariza]

My Mom is a a hairdresser and has wanted to do it on me but I could not stand to sit for that long (at least 3 hrs). The price varies from $300 and can be upwards of $500 depending on length and thickness of your hair. It does last about a year though so IMO would be worth the time saved ironing my hair alone.
I just cut mine really short but I may reconsider if I grow it out again.
HTH!

Mariza
Mommy to my "Thing 1" DD 1/05
and "Thing 2" DS 9/06

[brittone2]

I went for a consultation a long time ago when we were ttc my son. My hair was barely shoulder length and I think they wanted 400-500.

The major reason I decided against it was that they said hormonal levels, etc. can affect it and I was going through infertility treatments to conceive my son, so I didn't want to shell out that much money knowing my hormones could affect the result. I also have PCOS.

I know some people that have had it done and love it, and I know some people that weren't happy as it can leave hair very flat with no body.

For now it is me and my straightening iron ;)

[jgiovagn]

My friend just had this done and it looks GORGEOUS! Amazing!

The price is kinda hefty...My friend was lucky enough to be able barter the price down because she does nails - her and her hairdresser did an exchange.

I say - spend the money! I'm sure you deserve it.

Jean

[MartiesMom2B]

My hairdresser has told me that you need have very healthy and strong hair to do this. She said the reason why it's called Japanese hair straightening is because Japanese people have thick, strong, very healthy hair and if your hair isn't like that then your hair could become really damaged by the process.

-Sonia
Mommy to Martie
& Li'l Girl Bunny to come Feb. 2007
http://bd.lilypie.com/Kchhm4/.png (http://lilypie.com)

[Hippoharbor]

I was worried about the damage that could potentially be doneto my hair. I had a consultation with the woman who does it and she said that my hair did not seem "too dry", which I definitely think I have dry and frizzy hair. I have not chemically treated it with perms or coloring so she thought I would be okay. I think I will bite the bullet and get it done. Currently, I do nothing to my hair except wash, hair products and air dry. I have never even held a flattening iron in my hand and would not know what to do. She said that I may need to do a little blow drying or iron-straightening maintanance to control frizz. I am just afraid to have to spend any time doing my hair since I have never had to before.

Wish me luck, ladies!

Michelle

[jgiovagn]

Good luck and good for you!

BTW, my friend does use a ceramic iron on hers to smoothen it. I useone as well (the maxiglide) and it's no big production, really. Maybe 10 minutes...

Jean

[tarynsmum]

I had this done about 2 and a half years ago (maybe more...) by a friend of mine who was a licensed hair dresser who had just 'learned' the technique. Since we were really god friends and all, I just paid for the actual cost of the stuff (the majority of the price tag is that it takes HOURS, especially if you have long hair like I did at the time). It seriously took, I would say, 6-7 hours. Now, I have really thick, pretty curly, and at the time decently long (I would say not quite but almost to bra strap when it was straightened) hair.

Yeah, it was awesome. I loved having the short hair, I loved that I didn't have to use the iron for an hour every morning (yeah right, like I do that anymore!) This is going to sound really weird, but I loved having a ponytail like I always wanted growing up (you know, on that would swing back and forth when you walked...). It was really silly, but oddly important to me.

It pretty much just grew out, my hair grows fast, but I would say it was about a year or so. If I recall correctly, there are two ways to do it, the hot and the cold way (the hot taking longer and working better: straighter hair for a longer time, but costing more and it HURT. The concept was pretty much like using a straightening iron on still damp hair: the steam practially burnt my scalp. IMO, I would never pay for it (alas, I am very, very cheap when it comes to stuff for me), but I loved every second iof it

[Fairy]

I have never heard a bad thing about this or anyone not loving it. However, my issue is that I love my curly hair. Like yours, mine isn't tight curls, so it's very annoying on days when the weather is just not cooperating and you end up in frizz city, on days that your curls won't quite come in the way they're supposed to and you look like you have a bad '80's "body wave," or on days when I want the very straight hair that won't curl into a wave (because that takes FOREVER to achieve).

However.

On more days than not, my curly hair really is my best feature (let's face it, it's not the fat ass), so the way I see it, I'd rather deal with being unhappy some of the time and the effort it takes to actually straighten it, than to deal with missing the hair I know most people would pay stupid money to have.

Just a thought :-)

[Lucia]

I have had it done three times...once a year while we were living in Japan and I loved it. I was shocked to see how expensive it is here in the States (cost me $100 each time in Japan) so I am not sure I will continue to have it done. The first time I had it done I was most suprised by how flat my hair was and kind of missed the volume but as my hair grew it got a little more volume and loved the way it felt not to mention how easy it was to take care of it..no more hair drying, no more straightening iron. I would make sure the person doing it is trained and has done the process before. It is time consuming but I always brought a good book. Good luck making your decision.

[Hippoharbor]

I totally agree...I have always wanted that perfect ponytail that swings back and forth when I move, rather than the bushy pony tail that I get when I put my curly hair in one!

[Hippoharbor]

You are very funny. Thanks for the laugh for the "it's not the fat ass" comment. I really needed a little humor this morning.

[Hippoharbor]

The woman who will be doing it flew out to LA a few years ago and was trained by the Japanese lady that invented this system. I am a little stunned by the price but think it will be worth doing. My relationship has not been going so well with DH and I am hoping that this "makeover" will put a little spark back in our lives.
Michelle

[Fairy]

Seriously, have you SEEN my ass?

Really, tho, glad to make you giggle :-)

[daisymommy]

Absolutely AWESOME!!!

I used to live in Michigan near an Asian salon that only charged $75 to do it, along with a hiarcut (no kidding!). I had it done on my naturally curly hair, and not only did it turn out great, it was so soft and silky, shiny, and lasted until my own curly hair grew in.

[lovin2shop]

I've had it done several times, and I would recommend it if you want very straight hair. It was a lifesaver when my DS was an infant. Truly wash and go, no drying necessary, and I had shiny, silky hair. ITA on the pony tail, never had a better one. But, I'm kind of tired of the really straight look because it's not the best with my long face shape. I'm in the process of growing it out. I have wavy, not curly hair, so the growing out process is not horrible. It is a lot more work to deal with the frizz now, so I'm not sure how long my resolve will last. If we ever move back to Houston, TR will be must for me in that humidity.

One thing that I wanted to add is that not all TR is the same. There are several brands of products that are used and they are not all equal. Some of the lower priced systems do not always give the best results and do not require the same training of the stylists. I used the Liscio (sp?) method and really liked the results. I had a couple of friends that started with the CHI and Rusk methods who ended up changing to a stylist who used Liscio and liked it much better. Although all TR'd hair is damaged, the Liscio product seemed to make the hair look healthier and shinier with Liscio whereas the damage was more apparent with the others. This may be old info now because I haven't looked into it in a long time, and there may be even better products out there now. There used to be a website called Let's Get it Straight, or something like that, which I can no longer find. But, I think that this website may have evolved from it:

http://www.lamasbeauty.com/talk/salon/

I would try reading up on there and see if there is any more recent info. Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

[jgiovagn]

All right, so I have a question for you BTDTers: what does yur hair look like as it's growing out? Does it look weird when the first 3 (or 6 or 10) inches are curly, and the bottom is straight? I just can't picture it. Or do you just cut it at some point?

Jean

[ShanaMama]

I did it & loved it. I found a place in NYC that did it for about $250, & that was the higher end. It was the coolest best hair thing I ever did.
Keep in mind that while it's permanent on the hair it's done on, your hair will continue to grow the way it used to (duh!) So at some point you'll have a line of curly/ wavy hair that abruptly turns straight a couple of inches down.
Also, it's done with very heavy chemicals. I did it when I was single & at this point in my life I am much more conscious of safety, etc. That stuff has got to be toxic in some way.
I've been wanting to do it again, but didn't want to do it while preg or nursing, & haven't done it since.

ETA: after reading the other replies, I just wanted to add another point. Is your hair very thick, or just curly-ish? The process takes out basically all of the body that's naturally part of your hair. If you have thin hair, it will come out limp mania. If you have a bush growing out of your head, like me, it will be beautifully straight with a nice amount of texture, but very little body.
I did know one girl who did it & came out with very damaged hair, but mine was silky as anything. I had zero maintenaince- zero! No iron or anything. & dittos on the ponytail- I wanted that look forever!
The weirdest thing is coming out of the shower & seeing straight hair around your face!
If you decide to do it I think you'll like it.

[lovin2shop]

Yes, growing it out can be a pain. If I don't take time to straighten/smooth the top, it doesn't blend well and I have a ridge where the texture of my hair changes. It is not really noticeable to others, but once pointed out you can tell. Letting my hair air dry is really not an option. I don't have very curly hair though, just wavy and coarse. I haven't had it redone for a year and a half now, and I have about 8 inches of grown out hair, but my hair is pretty long overall so it's not too hard to blend. For anyone that has tight curls, I think it would be really awful trying to grow it out, especially if you can't straighten your hair easily with a blow dryer.