Hello again everyone, I hope you are all having a good day and a great hair day too....I can swear it that excess volume in hair is torture and so is having thick hair, yes today my hair isn't really co-operating, it seems thicker than usual....I guess I'll run the iron through it again after I write. If you all haven't heard of 1-888-2-Confess it's a number you call and you leave your confession for Madonna, and you can also hear them online, I just finished hearing some, some are just so funny. Call the number and leave your confession 1-888-2-confess Okay now on to the post of tonight, yes it's down to business now.....
TR and Hair Care Products for After Care
I first want to say this, when deciding on having a chemical service such as thermal reconditioning (where the hair is chemically straightened) or vertical smoothing (curl reducer, or smoothing service, where curl is reduced NOT eliminated) PLEASE think and do your research before choosing a technician. Too many people still think that because they go to some upscale salon that the technician knows what they are doing, on the contrary most technicians who do the service are still learning and have not properly learned how to do TR and they are making disasters for clients. There are TR technicians out there that do understand the science behind the art, and let me tell you this, TR is not as easy as it looks, there is so much to take into consideration and you realize the importance of having a proper consultation.
PLEASE have a consultation with at least 3-5 tr technicians in different salons, please use Steve Tcherkezian's TR tech interview sheet and consultation sheet, located on his site www.verticalsinhair.com, from the menu on top please choose "before and after tr" and there you will see more links for "tr tech interview sheet" and one "tr consultation sheet" Please use them as they will guide you on your search for the right Tr technician (or vertical smoothing technician) The technician should be asking you questions and you should be interviewing them, please don't think that just because you go to some upscale super fancy salon that their technicians are better, you still need to interview them! Also just because a technician is Japanese (or looks it) doesn't mean that they are good at TR again interview. The same goes for going to a place a friend recommended, please INTERVIEW!!!!!
Do your homework, sit and talk with the technician, print Steve's sheet and fill them in during consultation time, and then compare the answers, and if your stuck on the right answer, write Steve on his forum, or ask me here (I'll do my best) I would read through Steve's site to get an idea of what it is....just like there are awesome hairstylists there are awesome Tr tech's who know what they are doing but there are those who don't.
TR mistakes are costly and you, the client will suffer the reprocusion...I still read stories about clients who have had TR solution #1 placed on their scalp, despite the fact that even the manufacturer's instructions forbid placing solution 1 on the scalp. TR when done correctly can yield the most beautiful of results and your dream hair can be achieved, but TR in the wrong hands, done incorrectly can lead to bends, breakage and even hair loss. I've heard alot of girls who end up with the bends, and breakage, read through my posts on TR you will see what I mean. Remember what I always say ITS YOUR HAIR WHO ARE YOU GOING TO TRUST?
Now on to what I wanted to write about......
Okay there has been so much controversy and questions regarding the use of aftercare products for TR'd hair, which should you use....Now it's important that technicians give their clients a set of TR/vertical smoothing after care instructions, on paper preferably (because people forget what you tell them) clients need to know when to wash and what products to use and how to maintain thier newly tr'd hair.
There are many companies who not only make TR systems but they have also created aftercare products to be used after the TR service. Now to be clear here I'm going to remind you that TR Thermal Reconditioning is a salon service that chemically straightens your hair, your hair is permanently straight (of course your regrowth will be your natural hair texture and curl pattern) CHI, Yuko, Liscio, BioIonics, Istraight, StraightTIO are all brands or systems of TR products, these products are used to perform the TR service. Here's a way to try to explain that, shampoo is the stuff we use to cleanse our hair and scalp, but TIGI, B&B, Redken etc are all brands of shampoo's, make sense? I hope so! Now some of the companies that manufacture TR products have also created a line of aftercare products to be used after the TR service. So for example CHI not only creates products to TR the hair, they also have shampoo's and conditioners that they claim are to be used after the TR service, sort of like the follow-up products.
So let's say that you just had your hair TR'd with the CHI and your technician tells you that you need to buy these CHI products in order to ensure maximum results. Your technician tells you that you should use no other product besides the CHI aftercare stuff and of course there is a whole set of aftercare products.....but is it true that if you have your hair TR'd with one system/brand that you need to use their aftercare products?
The answer is NO
If you use Redken after you have had your hair TR'd nothing is going to happen (assuming that the TR was done correctly of course and that you waited 72 hourse before wetting your hair) the hair will not revert or get damaged because you used another brand of aftercare product. Having said that what is important is to use a profession salon brand shampoo and conditioner that is acid balanced, meaning that it has a pH level of 4.5-5.5 , that is the crucial factor, using acid balanced hair care products after TR. Now Steve being the chemical straightening Guru that he is uses StraightTIO for the TR process but has a aftercare regimine which mostly consists of Redken products, please visit his site to see his aftercare. I like TIGI products and some great products to consider from them after a TR service is Bedhead Self-Absorbed shampoo and conditioner, full of vitamins and is meant to get chemically hair back in shape (as they say) again, they say it's great for chemically treated hair, and yes it is acid balanced.
So you wonder, why would my technician recommend CHI products if I really could be using Redken (for example)?
The answer is simple, many times when technicians are taught my the manufacturer's of TR products the technicians are "brainwashed" into thinking that they need to be telling their clients to use that companies product if not the hair won't turn out well or some strange thing will happen. (reversion or it will get dry, blah blah, - two words for that = lies and money!) If that's what the manufacturer's (or their reps) are teaching technicians then of course that is what they will think.
Needless to say regardless of the system or brand of TR product that you had done you do not need to use that brand for aftercare, Steve, one of my hair guru's has a beautiful aftercare system for TR and vertical smoothing clients, I invite you to chekout his webiste and to ask him any questions regarding aftercare products specifically about his Redken aftercare regimine....
Please remember do your research, be knowledgeable and that
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