Japanese Hair Straightening
 

I got a gift certificate for a spa day and was thinking of getting my hair straightened while I'm there. Has anyone had their hair straightened with the Japanese Hair Straightening system or know anyone who has? How did it turn out? How long did it last? My hair is highlighted so I'm concerned that it might be too much damage for it. Any tips or whatnot?

a few friends of mine had it done and it really works... but then you have to touch it up if your roots grow in curly. it doesn't really lighten up over time so you're pretty much bound to the straightened parts until they grow out and you cut it off

i think it's really really expensive though, or at least it used to be

Oh it definitely is. It's usually around $500 or so. A girl at my school got it done and she said it cost $500. Her hair came out kind of unfortunate looking, then again, it was unfortunate looking before she got it done, so I can't really judge it based on her.

I did the chemical straightening in May and couldnt be happier with the results. Its suppose to last 6 months but my hair grows pretty fast so we'll see. One thing to note is that if you've overprocessed your hair (lots of coloring and highlights) it wont last as long and it can turn out looking crappy.

Japanese straightening is very permenant, but like someone said before you have to touch up the roots, or flatiron them. Sometimes depeding on how curly your hair is you have to flat iron to get rid of any puffiness... I know two friends who did it and it worked great, they could basically wash and blowdry and have straight hair, but it did dry out their hair A LOT, so make sure to use any products the salon recommends to prevent breakage and dryness. Also w/highlights they should probably test a part of your hair to make sure it's not damaged from the color first. The process is also called thermal reconditioning if you want to look it up for more info. :) I was going to get it done, but at the consultation they said my hair can't handle it. :mad: :( :(

Is it actually Japanese, or is it just called that because it makes your hair really straight?

/clearly not a girly girl in any way

I think it's called Japanese because it was invented/perfected/developed there. I could be totally wrong though.

I don't know too many Japanese people who have to straighten their hair though.:confused:

I have had it done 3X in the past 2.5 years. I have very curly/frizzy red hair. The straightening works well and it makes my hair much softer and smoother. I color my hair once a year so it is not over processed. It takes about 6 hours for me to have it straightened and costs about 600$, but well worth. Last straightening was in October and my hair is still straight, I just flat iron the roots. Make sure your stylist is experienced and have her show you some pictures of her work. If my stylist is not sure what a customers hair will do she will cut some of their hair and straighten it to see what happens.

I've thought about it, but then have heard horror stories from stylists and online. If the stylists isn't experienced enough it could REALLY mess up your hair.

I know I"ve mentioned it on GC alot but have you tried the CHI flat iron? They just came out with a line of products that I'm absolutely in love with. Use the products and the flat iron and you'll be all set. It may take more time, but it's less permanent and you won't have to worry about the outcome.

I have a Babyliss now. Is the Chi much better than the Babyliss? Mine works well but I have really thick and really curly hair so it takes forever to straighten it, and I'm just impatient.

The chi is great but if it is humid outside my hair would just curl back up or become frizzy. With the J. straightening it can be 100% humidity and my hair stays straight and does not friz at all.

I've never heard of Babyliss. I have pretty thick really curly hair too and what I do is just section it in like a half up/half down sort of way, and use a paddle brush to blow it straight. Then I section it again and use the flat iron. When I did it last time with the Chi styling products, it took maybe 10-15 minutes to do and my hair is about bra strap length. I made the mistake of doing it straight though when it was 90some degrees out and the air wasn't really working at work. Underneath my hair started to curl up a bit because my head was sweating, but the top stayed pretty straight.

Bumping this because I got it finally done today and I love it. I never knew my hair was really this shiny and silky. I highly recommend this to any girl who straightens her hair a lot.

Congrats-isn't it wonderful:) I was trying to grow my hair out as I missed my curly hair but it has been so humid lately and I am already tired of the waves so I will be getting my hair straightened again in November.

listen to me, take from a black girl, you want your hair straightened and not with chemicals? Use a hot comb....its very easy to use, just don't get it to hot to burn your hair, if you don't like the idea of doing it yourself, go to a hair salon, they will do it for you

So I just woke up. Usually when I sleep on my curls, I always wake up looking like I'm trying to grow dreads. However on this wonderful morning, my hair still looks perfect.

I have had to cut many mats out when my hair was curly-I don't miss that at all.

KLP, I paid $800 to have that process done on my hair about 4 years ago and it permanently damaged it to the point where it was irreversable.

I was getting ready to go to Puerto Rico for 2 weeks, and I had hair half way down my back. My hair is naturally wavy, and I had been straightening it with a flat iron forever, and had received a very large bonus check from work, and decided to treat myself. The upkeep was only $150 every 6 months, so I thought this would be a good investment to have hair that I didn't have to spend 45 minutes on every day to get straight.

You can't wash it, or put it up for 4 days after...so as you can imagine, showers were hard...I had to squat in the tub and take a large cup over me to bathe to keep from getting my hair wet, because you aren't supposed to use a clip a shower cap, nothing!

So when the day came that I got to wash it, as soon as the water hit it, I felt the cuticle come back open (if you get it done you'll know what this feels like..your hair feels RAW), and it didn't smooth back down.


What I was left with, was something that resembled broom straw and it could not be fixed, and could not be repaired, covered up or anything. I had to cut a significant amount of my hair off.

I went to a top salon in my area to their stylist that actually was an educator for the system. To this day, no one knows why this happened to my hair.

Obviously people have this done with great success, but the results if something goes wrong is horrible. Medications that you may be taking, like birth control pills, also can affect the process negatively.

I would NEVER recommend this system again, and because of what happened with my hair, the salon stopped performing the process entirely for future clients.

I also had another hairdresser that I told this story to, that he once attended a hair show where they demonstrated the system, and selected a volunteer for the show. Her hair started coming out in handfulls at a HAIR SHOW!

NOTE: Sorry, I saw where you already had this done...I sincerely hope your hair is ok, because I don't wish what happened with mine on anyone.

That's a great idea....I never thought of that! I had a black woman that I told once that I used to wax my eyebrows, she was like, "Girl, you are wasting your time with that!" She showed me how to do it with a razor, and wow, what a difference! The precision you can get is amazing and it doesn't hurt like tweezing.

I am sorry to hear that it happened to you. But my hair looks and feels great now. The salon I went to told me not to wet my hair or put it in clips for 48 hours.

I was thinking that it was either developed in Japan or gets its name from results: straight, silky and shiny hair (which is what "Japanese hair" usually looks like to me)

I believe it was derived in Japan. The brand that makes the chemicals for it is Sheisheido which is a Japanese company.

That makes sense.

I'm glad, seriously. I still mourn the loss of my hair too :)

When I first read about the process, the article I saw said that the majority of Japanese women actually have curly hair and have been using straightening systems for years to get that classic look. I'm not sure how true it is, because I've never seen a child of Asian decent that had curly hair.

It may have been when I had the process done, it hadn't been in the states that long.

I was wondering about that. I don't recall seeing too many Japanese women with curly hair and that must have to do with what you said. If straightening systems were common in Japan for years, of course we'd rarely see a curly haired Japanese woman.

I've never seen a curly haired Japanese child.

The indigenous people of Japan had curlier hair than is considered typical of East Asians. So, there are probably quite a few of their descedants who have the less coarse, curlier hair type.

Examples
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/agc/7a0500...0/7a05183r.jpg
http://images.rgs.org/webimages/0/0/...0/S0014879.jpg

Wow, that's interesting.

Oh, that's unfortunate. The straight hair sounds really pretty, but I would miss my poofy curls, lol. Now that I've learned how to take care of them, it's a lot easier. Back in the day I would have had to cut out mats too, lol.