Home Health & Wellbeing
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.

Chemical straightening

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I did a search but nobody seems to have mentioned this for a few years so the advice may have changed. As some of you may know, I'm going to be going abroad for about a year. I've always had problems controlling my hair. It's big and curly and curls round itself. My mum's being quite pushy about having it chemically straightened as she thinks it'll be less hassle for me. I'm not too sure about it so I thought I'd ask if anybody's had it done or had a Brazilian blowdry, which is apparently the alternative.

I do like it when my hair is straightened but this procedure will apparently strip the colour out of me hair so I would have to pay to have it re-coloured as well as straightened. The other thing is, it'll obviously grow back curly and I'll have to pack my straighteners (which admittedly I don't use too often as it's such a hassle to straighten my hair!) which seems like unnecessary luggage.

I'm not really sure what I want to do so if anybody has had either of those treatments done, please let me know!

Here are pics of me with curly and straight hair :)

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    What is a Brazilian blowdry?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    From what I could gather, they put some gumph on your hair and they let it dry into your hair, then you wash it out and it's meant to give you hair that looks like it's just been blowdried for a couple of months.

    It's cheaper but it doesn't last as long. May just have to go to the hairdressers without mother in tow and ask them what they think I should do, not what she wants them to do.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My friend had hers chemically straightened - pretty sure it lasted a few months though not sure how often she had to use straighteners to keep it that way. Her hair was very similar to yours. She seemed pleased with it, I'm not sure how much it affected the strength of her hair but she still has it done every now and again now so im assuming it's fine.

    I'd go and ask at the hairdressers and see what they say - if you have it done and you're still going to have to spend ages styling it then i'd question if it's worth it - unless you really want it straight of course! if it won't take too much styling then go for it, looks lovely straight.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I guess the thing is, I don't want to be carrying around extra things in my luggage for a year if I could do without them. I like it curly and straight but it is very hard to manage. Sometimes I wonder if it'll be wider than I am tall lol.

    I'll talk to them next week when I'm back from Estonia.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I dont have any advice, but LOVE the curly hair, i think you should make the curls all smooth, yum.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    My opinion? I don't think you should go chemically straight. you have goregous curly hair most people would die to have. Why don't you try investing in some decent hair products instead? like a smoothing balm for when you want it tempoarily straight- not forgeting serum for after.
    Redken do some great styling products though they can be expensive. you can find them on this webpage. [EMAIL="www.lookfantastic.com"]www.lookfantastic.com[/EMAIL] They do last ages though!
    if you wanted products from boots or superdrug why don't you try Aussie or L'oreal? they are reasonably priced and alot of the time are on offer.
    :D

    A x
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ^ i agree, as above :D i think you should make your curls all seperate and silky and yummy- lucky!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've had a Brazilian blowdry twice, and I'll be getting another one in a month or so. They are amazing, but don't expect to get perfectly straight hair from it. It makes it so much more easier to handle, and takes away almost all of the frizz (which was my problem, but my hair is wavy, not curly), but it is NOT a straightening treatment. It lasts around 3 months for me (4 at a stretch), and you have to use sulphate-free shampoo to get the most out of it.

    If you're going away for a year, unless you can get the brazilian blow dry treatment while you're away, it won't last you. It's much better for your hair than chemical straightening, however, and leaves your hair in great condition - beautifully soft and shiny. Also, you can't wash your hair, tie it up, use any products on it, or even put it behind your ears for four days.

    If your hair is really curly, the brazilian blow dry won't straighten it, and if you want it straight then you're better off getting it chemically straightened, if those are the results you want. I've never had my hair chemically straightened though, so I can't advise on it. Maybe pop into a good hairdressers near you and ask for their advice? They can look into the condition of your hair and give you the best advice.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Firstly again i cannot stress it enough- YOUR CURLY HAIR IS GORG!! haha:d

    when i worked in a salon we never actually advised chemical straightening. it damages your hair (as you can imagine) soooo much.

    invest in GHD'S!! and as i said before goooood products.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I do like it when it's having a good day but when it's having a bad one...:banghead:

    I find Tigi Catwalk products tend to work well, I've just gotten out of the habit of using them because the ex didn't like the way my hair felt straight after I'd put them in.

    I don't really mind whether it's straight, wavy or curly, I just dislike how annoying it is and how half the time it reminds me of a pufferfish - it's all good then suddenly - poof!

    I'll head into town sometime in the next couple of days without mother and see what they say. I haven't had my hair done there for a couple of years (as I don't live here most of the time) but I trust them and they know the stupid crap I've done to my hair and helped get it back to a normal colour before lol.

    Brazilian blowdry is probably something I'd be better of doing when I'm back in Blighty more permanently.

    Cheers for the advice!

    Forgot to say, I actually own 2 pairs of GHDs but I don't have the patience or the knack for using them lol.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Can you plait? Plaits fix bad hair days and work best in curly hair.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I can't plait very well which is mainly why I lopped a lot of my hair off a few years ago as I thought it'd be easier with less hair. In hindsight, it was probably better long.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Better long, I agree. Get some black hair care lotion. Do you have a Savers near you? They have some in there. Savers have a product in called Dark and Lovely at the moment, you get loads more in a bottle than expensive frizz ease type products in Boots etc.


    Wear your hair natural for days one and two after washing, when the curls are nice. For days three and four, part your hair down the middle, smooth it down with hair lotion and do french plaits down each side (or semi french plaits starting from half way down). Then wash your hair day five and start again. Tis an easy way to 'deal' with curly hair.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    There was a Savers near my old house but I've completely forgotten what's near my parents so I'll Google it. That's sounds like a pretty good way of dealing with it. Certainly will help when I'm travelling and can't wash it for a few days.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well, I went to my hairdressers and they did a strand test and said it was ok to do the full chemical straightening. However, I wimped out and have booked myself in for a Brazilian blowdry. I guess I didn't fancy spending £250 and potentially 8 odd months with hair that I might not like (plus I was going to have pink hair for 2 weeks before it could be redyed.) I figured with the Brazilian blowdry, if I didn't like it, I'd only have to live with it until about Christmas.

    I'll let you know how it goes.
Sign In or Register to comment.