Permanent/semi permanent hair straightening on very thick curly hair.

I will watch this thread with interest as I also have very thick curly hair which is such a nuisance to straighten!

My friend is mixed race and has really curly hair which she has relaxed so I guess there would be something similar for european hair?

Everytime I went into my old hairdresser she used to want me to have a Yuko treatment to straighten my very curly blond(ish) mane. She was convinced it would give me lovley straight hair , but I kind of like my quirky wierd hair.

I switched hairdressers in the end , but Yuko may be worth looking at.

Yes, I've had my hair permanently straightened. Have had both the Wella Strate system - avoid avoid avoid. It is relatively cheap - cost around £80 about 6 years ago and the Yuko system, which I had done 3 years ago and cost an eye-watering £300.

The cheaper option is dreadful - really bad for your hair. You still need to use heated appliances to style it.

I also have what I thought was thick, curly hair and loved having it straight so when my hairdresser said she'd started doing Yuko I was very tempted. The information on it says that once you've had it done you can just leave it to dry naturally and it'll be straight. My hairdresser even tried to tell me it was actually good for my hair! Neither of these things turned out to be true. If I left it to dry naturally I still needed the irons - and even if I blowdried it, it wasn't as straight as I would like. It took about 7 hours to do and I really regret it. It turns out that rather than very thick hair, I actually have quite fine hair but lots of it. It just sort of looks flat and limp these days. I hate it. And I can't just leave it to dry - it always has to be "done" IYKWIM. I quite miss my curls now and think I have done permanent damage to my hair.

It used to take me ages to straighten with my GHDs but I wish I'd just stuck with that. Sorry for doom and gloom - I expect some people will have more positive stories!

I've had mine done a couple of times, with great results. However, I've got quite fine hair which is kinky rather than curly, so it's easier to straighten. The last time I had it done was a few months ago, and it was about £300 at Taylor Taylor in London. I think you should go and have a consultation with a hairdresser (and would definitely recommend TT) and see what they think.

I work in a hair salon and I've never found a permanent straightening system that leaves the hair completely straight. The condition is normally terrible afterwards, and although the hair is no longer curly - it's not straight enought to leave it as it is without styling, it normally still needs to be blowdried into shape and straightened to make it smooth.

I have a friend who had hers Yuko'd a few years ago and she was very happy with the result. I thought about it for myself because I have curly hair but you cannot have it done if you have bleach in your hair, which I do. Also I don't like my hair poker straight as it's so different to what I'm used to.

Sez

Thanks guys - I must admit I am nervous about having it done for the reasons you guys state.. but I've just googled and found Colour Nation in covent garden - they have some amazing before and after pics.

Will go and see if I can find anything for Taylor Taylor now.

Mine was straight enough to leave without blowdrying or straightening. It's 6 months since I had it done, and I still don't have to blow dry my hair - the only bit I ever bother straightening occasionally are a couple of straggly bits of re-growth. The condition is fine - still splits a bit at the ends, but only in the same way that it did with constant GHD use. A bit less, in fact.

cjb - the person who does the straightening at Taylor Taylor was one of the people who set up Colour Nation, and I think she still works there some of the time.

That sounds excellent SJesus13. I know it's variable but do you mind if I ask how much you paid?

Sorry, scratch that, I see you put it in your other post - thanks!

My H has his hair straightened as he hates his curly/wirey hair. he has the wella one mentioned earleir as cant afford more expensive one, but it doesnt last very long to be honenst

I don't recommend this type of straightening treatment, they use harmful chemicals that can severely damage the hair, that's why I prefer the flat iron which is safer and cause less damage, I use a good one, it's the Karmin G3 Salon Pro that has tourmaline ceramic plates which leaves the hair soft, shiny, healthy and very straight. In case you are interested I bought it at rylees.co.uk .

Hope this helps and good luck.

I have never had mine straightened but I do have it Brazilian blow dried and I would definitely recommend that. My hairdresser uses Global Keratin.

My hair is curly and frizzy and I could now blow dry it and leave it if I wanted and although not poker straight it would be pretty straight with a bit of a wave in places. I like mine very straight so I still use my straighteners when I have it down but what used to take me over an hour to do now takes 20 minutes !

And it is less than £300 !