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| Q: | What is Thermal Reconditioning? |
| A: | Thermal Reconditioning is an innovative new technique from Japan to make frizzy, curly or wavy hair straight while preserving the hair's health. Almost always, Thermal Reconditioning will improve the hair's feel, softness and shine while making it completely manageable!
The treatment is performed as follows:
- Assessing the hair type and condition.
- Washing the hair.
- Applying protein to the hair (done by spray or running a gel-like solution through the hair).
- Applying the first solution (this is to cut the hair's "Cystine Bond" — the bond that holds the curl or wave pattern).
- Testing to see when the bond is properly cut and is ready to rinse.
- Rinsing the hair (in some cases washing the hair).
- Returning to the chair and applying a protective protein solution (by spray).
- Eliminating some excess moisture in the hair (blow-drying to a certain point).
- Ironing the hair in extremely small sections with a special Thermal Iron reaching temperatures of 180 degrees Celsius (356 degrees F). This will not damage your hair.
- Applying a neutralizer to the hair after ironing is completed.
- Rinsing the hair and conditioning.
- Drying the hair and applying a flat iron to remove excess moisture if necessary.
THAT’S IT!
Recently named “Top Ten Across the Country for Thermal Reconditioning by Town & Country magazine”.
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| Q: | How long will the Thermal Reconditioning treatment last? |
| A: | Whatever gets treated will remain straight forever and will not become curly or wavy again. The new growth that appears in the months following the treatment will need to be Thermally Reconditioned again. The new growth usually needs to be treated about four to six months after the initial treatment.
Some stylists will offer a "Partial Reconditioning Treatment" to cover the part line (where you normally part your hair)and around the hairline. This will make it possible to go longer between full treatments because the roots are less noticeable underneath. |
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| Q: | What kind of hair is suitable for Thermal Reconditioning? |
| A: | Most hair types except African (sorry!) will work well for Thermal Reconditioning:
— Caucasian Hair.
— Middle Eastern Hair.
— Norwegian Hair.
— Latin Hair.
— African Hair (mixed with any other hair type).
— All other Hair types.
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| Q: | What will my hair look like after the treatment? |
| A: | Your hair will be straight and will feel incredibly soft and
silky with more shine. |
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| Q: | Will I still need to blow-dry my hair after the treatment? |
| A: | Sometimes yes, but just to get the moisture out. This usually takes about 4 to 5 minutes instead of 45 minutes! Some people will not even need to blow-dry at all. |
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| Q: | When I get the new growth retreated, do they do all the hair again? |
| A: | No, just the new growth — although many stylists will pull the solution through the already treated hair just before rinsing the solution out. This is O.K. for your hair. |
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| Q: | I have color in my hair, will that matter? |
| A: | Tints and semi-permanent hair color are not usually any problem at all. Highlights can be very tricky to work with. When hair is highlighted, usually bleach is involved. This makes the timing very difficult because some hair is lightened right next to hair that is not lightened. Therefore the hair may process fast where light and need much more time where it is not light. So in order not to over process the light hair, the darker hair right next to it may not take. A prior consultation with your stylist is necessary to determine if Thermal Reconditioning will be a good choice for you and your hair. |
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| Q: | What about bleach? Is this O.K.? |
| A: | Not usually. Highlights often contain bleach so it is imperative you see your stylist before the treatment. They may want to cut some hair from your head and test it to make sure it will work well and there are no sunrises. If you are at all nervous, ask your stylist do this anyway. Any good stylist should be happy to perform a test strand. |
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| Q: | What about Henna? |
| A: | A test strand should be performed to make sure of compatibility with Henna. |
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| Q: | How much does Thermal Reconditioning cost? |
| A: | Typically $650 and up, depending hair length, thickness, amount of chemical processing present and of course, the stylist's experience. |
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| Q: | Why does it cost so much? |
| A: | The process usually takes from 3 to 6 hours straight to perform.
You may be able to find this service for less, but beware, this is an extremely difficult treatment to perform and those who charge less often are less competent.
You can get a perm for $30 and a haircut for $6. If this sounds like you, maybe finding the lowest price is worth the risk.
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| Q: | Will I get any breakage as a result of a bad treatment? |
| A: | It is possible. If the stylist does not know what they are doing, you could get breakage from the service, although it almost never happens with a trained and competent Hairstylist.
FYI - Be sure to find out how many treatments your stylist has performed and how long they have been doing it. You certainly don't want to be part of their "learning curve".
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| Q: | When I go back for the re-growth, does it cost less? |
| A: | Not usually. Because the same amount of time is involved with the retouch, often the cost will be the same as the first treatment. All the hair still has to be ironed even though the solution is mainly on the roots. |
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| Q: | How many product companies are there for Thermal Reconditioning? |
| A: | Three main competitors Yuko Systems—manufactured by Yuko Systems-Japan, Liscios—manufactured by Milbon Co., and Bio Ionicss—manufactured in the U.S. |
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| Q: | What other names are used to describe Thermal Reconditioning? |
| A: | Japanese Hair Straightening, Japanese Straightening, Ionic Retexturizing, Thermal Restructuring, Rebonding, Thermal Reconstruction. |
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| Q: | Why are the old type of relaxers so damaging? |
| A: | Most relaxers contain corrosive ingredients such as Sodium Hydroxide, Potassium Hydroxide, Lithium Hydroxide, Calcium Hydroxide etc. These ingredients corrode the hair to the point where it is able to be changed to a straight look. These products leave the hair feeling like straw and the curl comes back after a (often short) period of time. |
