Japanese straightening

[lapushka]

I finally went to one of the salons because they said over the phone they needed to see my hair. And he said because it's so coarse, frizzy, and thick it will take at least 5 and a half hours! Not sure I want to sit in the chair that long...

What!? That somehow doesn't sound right. What are they gonna do in those 5.5H?

[BerrySara]

What!? That somehow doesn't sound right. What are they gonna do in those 5.5H?

Sounds perfectly right to me. Its due to the multi-step process and they at one point (prior to last step) literally straight iron tinyyy sections of hair paper straight. Just this process alone can take hours. For me it used to take 6-6.5 hours which is why I have been saying in previous posts here that it really is a huge time commitment and I genuinely started to dread and hate having to sit in that chair for all those hours. Dreaded. It.

[lapushka]

Sounds perfectly right to me. Its due to the multi-step process and they at one point (prior to last step) literally straight iron tinyyy sections of hair paper straight. Just this process alone can take hours. For me it used to take 6-6.5 hours which is why I have been saying in previous posts here that it really is a huge time commitment and I genuinely started to dread and hate having to sit in that chair for all those hours. Dreaded. It.

For hair that is virtually straight (2a)?

[BerrySara]

For hair that is virtually straight (2a)?

Yes. If the goal is to permanently break the bonds, then yes. You can't skip steps in the process. The treatment is complicated and lengthy. The flat ironing portion would take less (though each strand would need to ironed...twice), but all other steps would take about the same.

The treatment is to permanently break the bonds and restructure the internal structure of the hair.

Shampooing...
Pre-Treatment...
Applying the Activator... (sits in hair for a duration)
Rinse. ...
Blow dry...
meticulously flat Ironing...
Applying the Neutralizer... (sits in hair for a duration)
Rinsing the Neutralizer...
blow drying and flat ironing bone straight again - no washing for a few days for hair to "set"

And if your stylist cares, she would also add a deep conditioning step where she applies a mask and have you sit under heat after rinsing out activator. All of this adds up and even with 2a hair.

[lapushka]

Pfff, I am getting tired just reading about it. LOL! I don't think I could just sit for that amount of time (even with my disability, especially with that, I need to "move", take a couple steps like every 15-30min.) It would be torture for me.

But hey if you are willing to undergo it, Alex Lou, and you have thought it through, I would say go for it when you can.

[Alex Lou]

He was basing this on the texture of my hair. He had said over the phone 3-4 hours. But I have kinky (what he referred to as "frizzy") follicles interspersed all over and it's very coarse with torsion twists. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised about the amount of time required based on what BerrySara said.

It does sound like torture, lapushka, that describes perfectly how I was imagining it. And since I'm breastfeeding, I'd be coming up on time limits there.

So... time to decide on a shorter cut that will hopefully flatter my waves.

[Alex Lou]

Just thought I'd update that I did cut my hair. It's great! Kind of a layered Bob. I don't did anything with it whatsoever. It just dries however it wants and the ends flip this way and that. No styling and no bad hair days. Been swimming lots with it already.