colored girls with japanese straightening

There aren't many of us colored girls with Japanese straightened hair, but over the years I have bumped into a handful. There are those who have made their presence known to me because of my blog, and then there are those I happen to come across--usually on YouTube. 

Very recently I was just lurking around YouTube when I saw a familiar face and head of hair. If you follow Nadege from Relaxed Hair Health you might remember this face, too. Stunned by this girl's long and flawless hair, Nadege couldn't help but ask what the girl did to her hair to get it to be like that. This would be her first time hearing of the magical wonders of Japanese straightening. This is actually what led me into becoming a guest blogger on Relaxed Hair Health--to shed light on what Japanese Straightening really is. 

Well apparently this mystery girl actually had a YouTube channel. She goes by the name Gabbie and seems to be a well established make-up/ beauty guru. 

Now Megan Bowen, I've been subscribed to her channel for a while now. She is an English teacher in Korea and has her hair permed with Korean Magic Straight--which is essentially the same thing as a Japanese Straightening. The main difference is that Japanese straightening is better at straightening, giving you more of the pin straight look. Korean Magic Straight is beneficial if you're looking for more body. Megan introduces her straightened hair in the first video and gives a tour of the actual process in the second.

Lastly, we have Brittany from My Beauty Marc. She does a good job of properly explaining how Japanese straightening works and is one of the scarce Black girls with Japanese straightened hair I've come across that does her treatments at home. Brittany is always changing her hair up, however, so I am not sure if she is still a thio relaxed head.

short vs. long transitioning hair (relaxed to JHS)

SHORTER SEEMS EASIER

Does short hair transition from relaxers to japanese straightening easier? In my sorta recent setback post I mentioned the idea, and here's the quote.

"So for those of you relaxed heads out there, be careful if you're planning on transitioning. I've seen other girls transition more gracefully, but now that I think about it they had shorter hair. The ends of their hair not being as old as mine may have something to do with it."

I was thinking out loud as I wrote this, but now I've come across some evidence that supports my theory. Since my last touch-up I've been saying to myself that my bangs (or are they too long to be called bangs? I'm not sure what to call them) are too long and that I have to cut them, but have been constantly putting it on delay. So I can't believe it took me so long to realize this. The long bangs I keep is an example of short hair transitioning to jhs from relaxers.

(If you haven't noticed from many of my pictures,
at home I'm always wearing robes.
usually in conjunction with pajamas.)

The first picture was taken after my second, home attempt, jhs touch-up. The second picture was after my most recent third touch-up. You can see the difference in length and the better retention. The point is, my short front hair gains length like normal while my long hair struggles with retention.

OTHER TRANSITIONING TIPS

I've said this many times, but I can never say it enough. Unless you want to be risky, when transitioning from relaxers, it's very important to find a hair stylist that knows what they're doing (that could be you if you know what you're doing) and make sure they use a strong protection cream. Make sure they use a protection cream! (my hair didn't disintegrate or anything after, but I'm still not happy how hair ib just rinsed out the jhs on my naked hair. I think its got more of a brown undertone now from that. If I wasn't so on top of my hair it could have disintergrated.)

JHS (touch-up) before & after care

 BEFORE

There are a set of rules one should follow before getting their hair Japanese straightened.

• do not swim for 72 hours
• do not drink caffeine for at least a few hours before the service (not sure why)
• do not exercise or wear a style that creates tension on the scalp for 12-24 hours. 
• do not use any oily conditioners for 2-3 days

Most of these rules are easy, but for drier haired girls like me that last rule can be pretty hard to follow, especially when dealing with at least 3 inches of new growth. The reason it's recommended you refrain from applying anything oily in your hair is because oils will prevent the Japanese straightening solution from penetrating your strand, which can result in under processing. If you're looking to use Japanese straightening as a texturizer, feel free to ignore this rule. Most of us afro textured girls moisturize our hair every or every other day. Keep in mind, it's the parts of the hair that's going to be treated that can't be moisturized, not the already chemically treated hair. Before I would just give my new growth a thorough moisturizing the last day I could, and endure not doing anything to it for 2-3 days.

Are there any conditioners without an oil out there? I couldn't think of one. it was only after this recent touch up it came to me: aloe vera juice! I moisturized my new growth with it until the day of the touch-up and my japanese straightening took fine. I finally found an exception to the rule.

An extra thing I do to prep for a touch-up is to do a henna gloss on my already chemically-treated hair to prevent over processing. Henna makes it harder for the Japanese straightener solution to penetrate the hair strand and adds strength. When I found out I'd be doing a JBS treatment instead of a JHS, I got kinda nervous because I had already did my henna gloss. Was a 9ish day gap between a henna and a brazilian keratin going to cause protein overload? I started doing thorough moisture cowashes in between and my hair loved it. Everything turned out fine.

AND AFTER

There is also a longer set of follow-up rules for after Japanese straightening.

• for 48-72 hours avoid humid environments, keep the hair down (no clips, tying, behind ears), do not wet hair, try not to sleep on sides of head, don't sweat, avoid hats and scarves. 
• for 7 days continue to keep hair down, avoid hats and scarves, avoid sea or chlorine water. 
• for two weeks, just avoid sea and chlorine water. 
• always avoid sulfur shampoos and water that is too hot or too cold.

After you get your touch-up at the salon, the Japanese straightening process is still taking place. Many of us know that it's a myth that hair can revert after a relaxer, when the process is done at the salon it's done. With Japanese straightening the hair is absorbing oxygen and still taking in its new shape, this is why there are more, stricter follow-up instructions. If you clip your just treated hair, a dent from the clip will be left behind when you remove it. If you sleep on the side of your head, in the morning you might find that your hair has take the shape of your ear. If any mistakes do occur, you must quickly flat-iron the part that's been misshapen.

Different hair dressers will give you different time restrictions for doing this and that. For example, one stylist might say you can wet your hair after 3 days, another will say 7 days. The rule of thumb is that the longer you wait the better the results. So this time, that's a plus for those who don't have oily scalps or hair and can easily go 1-2 weeks without washing. The down side is that not being able to wet your hair means no moisturizer again, and this time aloe vera isn't an exception to the rule. Your now straightened hair probably won't feel like it needs anything, but then again, it depends on your hair's condition and your stylist's Japanese straightening technique. You can now, however, use oils. In fact, using oil is very beneficial, smoothing the hair, and helping the japanese straightener takes in it's shape. I like to use penetrating oils on my just processed hair, like coconut and olive oil.

Extra things I usually do following a touch-up includes the split-ender. The split-ender only works on straight hair, not relaxer straight hair. The only times the ends of my hair get flat-ironed is touch-up day. So it's really the only time I can use my split-ender. Maybe that's why I have yet to be wowed by it? Now that my hair has also been Brazilian Keratin straightened, I should be able to use it more often. Another thing I do my first wash following a touch-up is a porosity treatment, Roux Ph Corrector and an apple cider vinegar rinse.

japanese straightening ( my 2nd touch up results )

MY PROCESSED ROOTS

So I realize I never made a clear update on my Japanese straightening results. To see my first post explaining what Japanese straightening is, click here. Above are pictures of my roots more than a month after the processing. I have a little new growth. these pictures are after clarifying and letting my hair dry without any product (Remember! you should always let your hair dry with product. I did this so you guys could see). As you can see, they didn't come out dead straight like my results from Hair's Talent. The top layer of my hair turned out straight, not dead straight, but straight. However, under there are some texturized pieces. When I put my hair in a bun as it air dries it straightens. I realize several mistakes and things that I probably did wrong, and won't do if I home Japanese straighten next time.

1. It's important to correct porosity after the process, not before. after clarifying my hair I should not have done a plan apple cider rinse. Not because it would have created a barrier, as it had no oils and I rinsed it out thoroughly, but because higher porosity hair processes better.
2. At Hair's Talent, they would lightly blow dry the new growth before applying the solution. I'm not sure whether I should have done this. It would have enabled me to apply the solution faster, but it might have also stressed my hair more.
3. Before applying the straightening solution, though I didn't record it, I recall lightly applying aphogee green tea throughout my hair. This was a careless move as it probably made a barrier on my new growth.
4. I didn't do a patch test due to the time I thought I had to do the process being shortened.
5. The girl that was suppose to help me do my hair and sometimes did my relaxers in the past couldn't make it. I have done relaxers on others before, but not on my own head. To try to compensate I had two girls help me. They were use to dealing with afro textured hair before, but never applied a straightening solution.
6. While applying the solution, I'm not sure if my hair was being stretched and smoothed enough. I also realized half way through that not enough solution was being applied. I feel this, and using aphogee green tea, were the main contributors to my texturized strands. My hair is very thick and coarse and only 60-70% of the jar was used when all of it should have been used.
7. Before, in my first post about Japanese straightening, I had stated that I realized I was not sure how my processed hair was suppose to look. Apparently my hair was suppose to already look straight, and not have a texturized look.

TECHNIQUE & TEXTURE

Japanese straightening, like sodium hydroxide relaxing, takes skilled hands. proper results depend more on technique. I learned from this, I knew from the start I might get a little wave trying it at home for the first time. On sallybeauty.com's reviews on the product, many girls of other descent and with looser curls noted that their hair didn't become perfectly straight like at the salons. While a girl I know with a texture similar to mine was able to get the dead straight results. So again, technique really counts. Even the kinkiest hair texture can get the dead straight look if they go to an expert.

I also want to go a little more into how to decide how strong your Japanese straightener should be. Curliness, density, and cuticle size needs to be put into consideration. I realize that before I only mentioned curliness. My hair is very thick and coarse, but my hair texture somewhere in the 3b-4a range, not sure. This is why I used One n Only, one of the milder brands, but got its resistant formula. Here is a list of recommendable Japanese straightening kits, which I tried to list from weakest brand to strongest, but this could only be based on reviews I've read as I haven't actually tried all of them: One n Only, Matrix Opti-Smooth, Bio Ionic Retex, Loreal X-Tenso, and Yuko or Liscio (the originals that most salons use). Note that a stronger brand doesn't necessarily mean more damaging to your hair.

WHAT WILL I DO NEXT?

I've really been debating whether I should keep my roots the way it is, or should try to fix it. Like sodium hydroxide relaxers, you can do a corrective. After much thought, I've decided it's not too curly to bother me. I rather have it healthy and wavy than over processed and straight.

I did decide that, unless I change my mind for some reason, I'm going to go to a salon next time. I decided to do this because it might take a few more times to learn to do Japanese straightening and get dead straight results. I'm not sure if I want to go through the trial and error. I would use a stronger Japanese straightening brand, but I'm afraid of negative effects on my sodium hydroxide relaxed length. I also decided to go to a salon because I found a super cheap one that is much closer to me! There price is $170, they Japanese straighten on afro textured hair, and previously relaxed hair! I will be emailing them before going there to test them. The salon is called Organics Hair IB. They also have a helpful page that compares all the different straightening treatments they do.

While blog lurking I found an post written by Nadege from Relaxed Hair Health, regarding her first encounter with Japanese straightened hair. Here is a girl whose hair is an example of how fully Japanese straightened hair looks like! The next time I talk about Japanese straightening will probably be before going to Hair IB, so if there are any questions regarding this subject that I did not mention, please ask!