I did it...Japanese straight perm!

I admire your courage! I don't think I could ever do that! But let me tell you it looks great. YOU GO GIRL! I'm sure the pampering you got helped you feel a little better too.

sunshinebeautiful said:

I had always heard that it wasn't recommended for "Black" hair, so I'm intrigued too, that yoko was able to get it done AND it looks so great. Where is she? More details please!

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It works great for Black hair 4a/b, above and beyond. I had the Bio Ionic Thermal for years and loved it. The only reason I do not haveone now is because some HACK stylist thought I was lying about having a thermal an d snuck a lye relaxer in my hair and all my hair, APL length then, melted off with the exception of about 2 in of new growth. Yeah, the two straighteneng systems DO NOT MIX. HTH

It looks nice. A lot of my Asian friends get this. They pay a lot more than $120 too.

Nice! Feel better soon!

Very interesting method. Nice pic OP.

Thanks for the feedback it looks good I hope it works out for you.

sunshinebeautiful said:

I had always heard that it wasn't recommended for "Black" hair, so I'm intrigued too, that yoko was able to get it done AND it looks so great. Where is she? More details please!

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She teaches english in Japan.

OOOOH Angeleyez!!! I'm loving that color on you!!! Hotness!

Anyways, I do live in Japan. I was thinking of getting a regular relaxer but so few ppl here do it and it is expensive, so I went with the Japanese straight perm. Plus I plan to be here at least another year to two years, so I figure I can handle getting it done again.

My hometown is ATL and my best Japanese girlfriend there gets her straight perm done by a Japanese stylist in a salon there, so I figure if I go home and want to get it done again I can there.

BUT you can NEVER mix a reg.relaxer and this perm. My half Japanese Black girlfriend here did before and yep, all the hair broke off except the new growth!

I was suprised at the different textures of Japanese ppls hair--they're not all stick straight and smooth! My SO has super curly, thin hair. One of my coworkers has super thick, wavy hair. So I think a lot of J-ppl opt for this perm as a way of getting super straight hair.

I have never gotten a curl set or anything, because before this my hair was all natural and wouldn't hold anything. It would come from under the dryer looking like a huge curly fro. Years of being called Ronald McDonald or kids telling the teacher "I can't see over her hair" tramatized me.

I'm loving this straightness. I'm just getting over this sickness and not having to do anything to my hair for the past week has totally helped.
I plan to wash my hair today (Friday), deep condition with some ORS and see what it looks like. Then I will post some more pics.

I'm also interested in seeing how long this lasts after the 2,3 months.
I will keep ya'll updated.

Ok a lil update. Washed my hair with CON and deep conditioned weekly with ORS leave in. Afterwards no need to blowdry, literally airdry makes it stick straight with no poufyness or tanges, but I add a bit of Kerastatse leave in and ORS Olive oil moisturizer to the ends. But I do blowdry a bit to just hurry it up. Seems like my so great blowdryer (Conair Straight Hairdryer w/Brush attachment) isn't so great...so I may be in the market for a new dryer!

I have noticed that my hair is dry now. Dry feeling..Not oily at all. It could be b/c of winter, but I'm wondering if there's something I can use to help with the daily dryness I have. No dandruff, praise him! But that was going away anyways with weekly washes.

Doing this has improved my life in some ways! I can now go to my beloved hot stone spa and detox weekly...before I hated dealing with my hair after I left there! And I'm thinking of trying hot yoga again too. Oh sleeping at the SO's house is easier now that I need less products/tools to have banging hair. (I already have a curler and flat iron there...)Now If I *need to* fix my hair after gym or spa, I just wash, condition then add a leave in and air dry halfway or blowdry and go.

I'm wondering about some stuff though...
1.Can you wash your hair too much?
2. Is it better to just condtion and rinse as opposed to wash/cond?
3. Should you use leave in conditioner every time?
4. What oils/products will help with dryness?
5. Is it better to airdry/blowdry?
6. Random...but can you airdry a rollerset? (If so, how?)

I asked my friend a few of these questions and she honestly didn't know. Totally looks black but grew up in Japan and has no idea about a lot of "black"things (just discover cocoa butter and AMBI..haha)

Sorry about all the questions, but you ladies are the ones that would know the answers...

You have gotten my attention... :notworthy
The fact that it holds up while exercising sounds great. Especially when after sweating alot, you can wash and go! Your hair looks fabulous! Please keep the updates coming.

Dryness is going to be a huge problem with Japanese Straightening. It isn't hard to combat but you have to change your products most likely. My stylist recommended Redken Smooth Down Butter treat to be used as a leave in after every wash. I do a protein treatment once every two weeks. My shampoo came from the Chi line and is meant to be sold to customers who have done thermal reconditioning/japanese straightening. I have read that the Redken line in general is pretty good for hair after this process. If you are going to wash a lot, I would recommend condition only washing most of the time and shampoo washing once or so a week.

Hi Yokoyokogirl, I would agree with the other posters and say use strong conditioners and protein treatments. I had a total of 3 japanese thermal treatments. I loved the way it kept my hair straight, but I lost a lot of hair through the process. I have thin hair to begin with, and after the third treatment everyone kept commenting about how thin ( read sparse) my hair had gotten. I may have had a lot of shedding and not even realized it. I'm sure you'll have much better results as long as you are much more attentive to your hair's needs than I was at the time of my thermal treatments. I didn't know about LHCF back then. Good Luck! : )

Forgive my ignorance but I thought that many Japanese had fairly straight hair. Why the need for a relaxer/perm?

Yokoyo, I'm glad that the relaxer seems to be working. Being able to go to the spa or work out with out worrying...sounds great! I'm looking forward to reading more of your updates.

Ganbatte!

So OP, did you have a relaxer before hand? Or would this only be for someone who had virgin hair?
From what I am getting you can't flip flop back and forth between the two, right?

Very pretty!

very pretty

Caramela said:

So OP, did you have a relaxer before hand? Or would this only be for someone who had virgin hair?
From what I am getting you can't flip flop back and forth between the two, right?

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She mentioned she was natural before she had the Japanese straightening done.

Yoko, sounds like you are getting great results! And yes, you can airdry a rollerset. Basically you just set your hair and then walk around with rollers in all day. I don't do it because it takes my hair about 12 hours to airdry and I don't have that kind of time or patience.

Keep us posted on how things go.

Congrats!!! Your hair looks great! I know you've been talking about doing this for a while now.

I have a friend who is half Kenyan/half Indian and she gets Japanese straightening done in New York for about $300. she was natural before with 3b/3c/4a texture and got this procedure because her hair was always frizzy (this is also why some white people get the treatment). Now, her hair is ALWAYS straight and even when she wants to hold some curl, it never lasts more than an hour. She gets it done about twice a year and deep conditions twice a week because of the dryness. I guess if the straight look is what you're going for, it's a much better investment than getting relaxers all the time, that is, if you're natural.

Mystery said:

Dryness is going to be a huge problem with Japanese Straightening.

My shampoo came from the Chi line and is meant to be sold to customers who have done thermal reconditioning/japanese straightening. I have read that the Redken line in general is pretty good for hair after this process. If you are going to wash a lot, I would recommend condition only washing most of the time and shampoo washing once or so a week.

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I have been using CON shampoo, Joico KPak, Aveda Damage Remedy mostly.
I got some Shisedo Oil/Damage treatment water--go figure--the SO gave it to me and I used it today...seems like it did all of NOTHING.

Dryness is a big problem.I'm worried about my hair splitting and breaking.
BTW what is the name of the CHI products you use?

I'm going to try conditioning mostly and see how that works.

Determind22 Thanks for the info. I'm going to def. try a roller set but blow dry it w/my handheld dryer for a bit then airdry. I don't have a sit under or bonnet dryer. What is a good setting lotion or foam?

yokoyokogirl said:

I have been using CON shampoo, Joico KPak, Aveda Damage Remedy mostly.
I got some Shisedo Oil/Damage treatment water--go figure--the SO gave it to me and I used it today...seems like it did all of NOTHING.

Dryness is a big problem.I'm worried about my hair splitting and breaking.
BTW what is the name of the CHI products you use?

I'm going to try conditioning mostly and see how that works.

Determind22 Thanks for the info. I'm going to def. try a roller set but blow dry it w/my handheld dryer for a bit then airdry. I don't have a sit under or bonnet dryer. What is a good setting lotion or foam?

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Have you tried the Crede line? The Crede MT shampoo and ER treatment are meant for hair that has been thermally reconditioned and is dry. My hair has not been thermally reconditioned but it was dry and breaking and these were recommended to me. I found these products worked great on my hair for conditioning, repairing, and improving moisture.

I have been thermally reconditioned for about 4 years. I love it. I find my hair is most dry right after I get it done, but that usually goes away. I use Ojon to combat dryness. I've also used Redken Smooth Down and Crede. Both are good as well. I pay more than you did but I find it to be so worth it.

Oh and if you want a curly look try a braid out. Works well on TR'ed hair and when your roots are coming in

yokoyokogirl said:

I have been using CON shampoo, Joico KPak, Aveda Damage Remedy mostly.
I got some Shisedo Oil/Damage treatment water--go figure--the SO gave it to me and I used it today...seems like it did all of NOTHING.

Dryness is a big problem.I'm worried about my hair splitting and breaking.
BTW what is the name of the CHI products you use?

I'm going to try conditioning mostly and see how that works.

Determind22 Thanks for the info. I'm going to def. try a roller set but blow dry it w/my handheld dryer for a bit then airdry. I don't have a sit under or bonnet dryer. What is a good setting lotion or foam?

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I am not familiar with most of the products you use. They may be good enough. The Chi shampoo is called Chi Infra Shampoo. I believe the conditioner is Chi Infra Treatment. I don't use it is often since I have other conditioners I prefer. Before I started using the Chi shampoo, I was treating my hair like I did when I was natural and had a bit of breakage in my crown.

AshCash said:

I have been thermally reconditioned for about 4 years. I love it. I find my hair is most dry right after I get it done, but that usually goes away. I use Ojon to combat dryness. I've also used Redken Smooth Down and Crede. Both are good as well. I pay more than you did but I find it to be so worth it.

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I forgot about Ojon. I use the reconstructive treatment once a week. Love that stuff!

I had this done in August. Just got a re-touch this month. My hair is 27 inches long, and I'd die without this!!! (Unfortunately, it's $340 for me, in NYC) I'll post pics later on when I get home.

I do the braid-outs too, and they're beautiful. I also make sure that every shower I rinse my hair with very cold water to lock in the moisture.

Honestly, I just use Salerm or NTM as a leave-in, and make sure to condition with with either Redken Allsoft or Nexxus Humectress (thanks Volare!).