Straightening your hair

[curlyq]

I have very curly hair, and see a lot of threads about perming hair to make it curly. Does anyone know about straightening the natural hair with a perm? How does that work? Are the chemicals harder on your hair than the ones they use in the salon to curl it? How long does it last? Does it really work?

[Stylin]

One of my friends has super curly hair and it tends to be a little frizzy. I know she has straightened it before and she said it was a pain in the neck. I am not sure how she did it if it was a perm or a flat iron. I know she doesn't do it very often at all. She tends to wear it up a lot to try and control the craziness of it.

[deadhead]

I have heard of people doing this, but I would be scared to do it because perms burn my hair even when I am trying to make it curly. If you r hair can tolerate perms though, I think it might work.

[Toni]

Originally Posted by curlyq

I have very curly hair, and see a lot of threads about perming hair to make it curly. Does anyone know about straightening the natural hair with a perm? How does that work? Are the chemicals harder on your hair than the ones they use in the salon to curl it? How long does it last? Does it really work?

Hi curlyq,

Yes, they do work. We'll go over permanent and temporary straightening methods here. First we'll discuss the permanent ones.

Think about it, when you have very curly hair and you observe a friend who has maybe a little wave or slight curl to her hair using a flatiron, don't you want to reprimand them when they complain about how long it takes to straighten their hair? Or if they complain about it being unmanageable in any way?

Who else but someone who has extremely curly hair really KNOWS tangles and hair that is out of control? You quickly tell them, I wish that is all that I had to worry about was a little body or wave. They have no idea what it's like to shampoo, style and work with your extreme curls.

The method used to straighten your hair will be determined by your heritage. Many people mistakenly refer to all straightening methods as "perms". There are in fact different names for different services. We'll start with Caucasian hair since the majority of African-Americans already know about methods to use for their curly hair. However, we'll go over those further down this post.

Well, here's what happens when someone with very curly hair goes to get a perm. Yes, a perm. I know it sounds crazy. However, though you may think you want stick straight hair, you really are going to want to keep a little body so your hair will be flexible for styling. Trust me, those born with stick straight hair can attest to this.
You have your hair wrapped with the very largest perm rods. When the perm solution hits your hair, it breaks down the bonds and will reshape them to the size of curl that the rod dictates. Results? Hair that is now just body, more manageable and void of all the uncontrollable curls.

This new look is now ready for all those styles you have wanted to try yet couldn't get past the gnarly masses. This includes using a flatiron to totally straighten you hair. Your new locks will now cooperate for going flat and straight where they wouldn't before.

Drawbacks? There are a couple. You must continue to care for your hair with conditioning and trims. More importantly as new hair grows at the scalp, there also will be a return in this area of the curliness you have naturally.

My advice is to not try out this body perm with the largest rods idea until you have found a stylist who knows how to do root perms. Regular maintenance for this depends on how fast your hair grows. One thing that dictates the s***d of growing is scalp stimulation. Once you are not "pulling" on tangled curls as much, you may notice the growth will slow down.

Talk to your stylist at length before making this move since it means a commitment to root or spot perming.

Relaxers are good for very strong hair. Africans, and African-Americans who have the ultimate in curly hair have used this method for years. This is a very strong chemical and can do permanent damage. Most Caucasian hair is not strong enough to support it. Again, talk with your stylist for the method to use for permanent straightening.

Those who have gnarly, nappy hair know that relaxers are their only permanent outlet to softer, more manageable hair. Finding someone who really knows how to apply relaxers and knows the do's and don't's is very important when getting this service done. Again, communication is the key before attempting this process for I cannot stress enough the respect we must give relaxers. They will cause damage and definitely breakage if it is not applied and removed with knowledge and skill.

Before flatirons came along, hot combs were used where hair was taken in by the comb's teeth and turned using the back of the comb down the captured hair shafts utilizing the heat to straighten the curly hair. Both the hot comb and the flatirons are the most popular methods of temporary hair straightening.

Good luck and remember to find a good communicative stylist who will go over all the options as well as their advantages and disadvantages.