A CurveBall: The Secret Was Not in the Juice!

photo credit from www.wn.com

Many people feel that the Jheri Curl "juice" was the secret to longer, fuller hair.  They felt that the moisture was the key.  Now, let's throw a curveball into that thought process:

Access to Air

1) As mentioned in my previous blog article, "access to air" promotes hair growth.  The "jheri curl" allowed plenty of access to air because the haircut was the style.  Ponytails were not necessary.  The "jheri curl" was "wash and go" styling.  Of course, curl activator and other leave-in moisturizers were necessary, but there were never any bad hair days.  Some may argue that the whole "Jheri curl" movement was a "bad era." Regardless, outside of the fact that some people started sleeping in plastic caps which denied air to the scalp, the "Jheri curl" was  hair freedom.

Less Tension/ Less Manipulation

2) Again, most "jheri curl" wearers did not put a lot of tension on the hair.  It had a wet finish.  So the shine and the style was built in without ponytail holders.

More Hydration

3) The daily moisturizing of the "Jheri curl" helped to prevent breakage from the double processing that the chemical service entails.  Remember the natural curl of the hair had to be "thio-relaxed" first then a looser curl had to be formed and neutralized into place.  The curl activators and moisturizers kept the damaged hair conditioned and masked.

Less Heat

4) No hot tools were necessary with the "Jheri curl."  Damaged or porous hair dries faster than healthier hair.  So the curl activators sealed the hydration in the hair.

As I searched on the Internet for extra long "Jheri curl" hair, I found mostly wigs, weaves, etc.  I also found a good amount of men with length on their "Jheri curl."  However, I could not find that many women who had exceptionally long, beautiful, and real "Jheri curls."  

Was it just our imagination that the soft curls and "Jheri curls" were helping our hair gain length?

I missed the "Jheri Curl" trend.  My mom did not like the "loc" styling nor the "Jheri curl" styling.  Oh well, I am grateful that my mom was consistent in her styling restrictions.

I only know of one person who got a beautiful s-wave pattern from the Wave Nouveau process.  Her hair grew extremely long and beautiful with the  Wave Nouveau.  She wears her natural hair now, and it is gorgeous without any chemicals.

So the secret was not in the "Jheri Juice" - it was probably in the "lower maintenance" care of the hair as well as the airflow to the scalp.

Limited Shelf Life of Soft Curl Chemicals

This jar of rearranger was less than a year old before it went bad.  Honestly, once the container is opened the first time for any reason, the product shelf life starts to diminish.  Whether it is the Wave by Design or the Wave Nouveau or any other body wave system . . .

Learn more about hair product shelf life here:  http://www.dralisyed.com/2008/05/shelf-life-and-storage-of-salo.html

Salons and stylists that do not have a steady stream of soft curl clients will be wasting money to keep this product on hand.  The rearrangers and the boosters will expire too quickly.  If you do not have at least five body wave or soft curl clients rotating out, then it will be hard to keep fresh product, and it is going to cut into your profits.

So body wave clients ask why is it that stylists do not offer this service . . . the demand is lower than relaxer demand, and even the relaxer demand is going down.  Luckily, the relaxers have a little longer shelf life.

Pictured above is a tightly sealed Wave Nouveau Rearranger chemical.  As long as the container has not been open, the shelf life lasts longer, but if anyone breaks the seal the least little bit, then your product will start to expire with the oxygen exposure.  Please be cautious when the distributors are selling cold wave products, no seals or broken seals means the product may be almost expired before you even begin to use it.

The Soft Curl Look: Wave by Design

Another "very, Very, very" happy customer who had been accustomed to the Wave Nouveau system, but she was willing to try the Wave by Design System with me.  She loved it!  I did a few things different from my "body wave" client that I highlighted on my blog from a few months back.

1) I used the Design Essentials Restore to pre-protect her hair prior to performing the re-arranger step.
2) I used the "gray" perm rods.
3) I used a neutralizing bib in addition to cotton around the hairline to apply the neutralizing solution while she sat upright the entire time.
4) I re-used the neutralizing run-off from the neutralizing bib to reapply to the hair after removing the rods.  Then rinsing again.
5) I used a semi-permanent black haircolor for about 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature at the very end of the service.

I only trimmed about a good half inch off in order to keep her in a short style.

I have noticed that some people are inquiring if "phase 2" be skipped during the soft curl process assuming that they want the "straight hair" look versus "curly hair."  So my suggestion for those people who want the straight look, do NOT skip phase 2 of the wave nouveau or wave by design systems, but instead, use super size perm rods in lieu of the smaller perm rods.  Please see my separate blog article on "super size" perm rods.  The jumbo perm rods will give you a brazilian wave which is going to enhance the body in the hair, but still leave you with an overall "straight" look.  Skipping the phase 2 step entirely will probably leave your hair looking "stick straight." I highly doubt if anyone will be excited about that.

Surprisingly, with this client, I do not think that I would do anything different in the future except purchase an end paper dispenser tool to speed up the rodding time.

Her final maintenance was heavy moisturizing with the "Mist and Shine" spray, then Lotion sections at a time as I scrunch the hair with my hands.  Styling was simple!

Preview: Thioglycolate Chemicals

Within the next two weeks, I will be performing the Vigorol Liquid Hair Relaxer and the Wave Nouveau with Coarse/Resistant strength rearranger.

I have had request for other chemical options besides the traditional relaxers and keratin treatments.

I am hoping the Vigorol is going to be an answer for those desiring to tame their natural hair.  It is not compatible with traditional sodium hydroxide relaxers; so clients will have to be thoroughly counselled.

The Wave Nouveau has two rearranger strengths whereas Wave by Design only has one rearranger strength.  Those with resistant hair find that the Wave by Design rearranger only texturizes their new growth.

My body wave client from a previous article is ready to advance the strength of the rearranger by using the Wave Nouveau system.  I plan to post those results within two more weeks.  I should perform the service next week.

So this article is the preview of the "thio" chemical reviews on the horizon for you in the future.  Please stay tuned!

Wave Nouveau Coiffure Remix Rings

Do these retexturizing rods look familiar?  If you remember my previous article about Mizani Lacers, then they are the same thing.  I found these at the 2013 mid-Winter Bronner Brothers International Hair show.

The Wave Nouveau Coiffure Remix Rings come in at least three different colors.  Each package is 24 count, but the price points are about half of the Mizani Lacers price.   The two other colors that are not pictured represent size medium and size small rings.  The green ones pictured are labelled "large."

Soft Sheen Carson is the brand.  Mizani and Soft Sheen Carson are all under the L'Oreal umbrella as their parent company.

What about the Wave Nouveau?

As you may guess, there are a lot of people transitioning out of chemicals and transitioning into chemicals. So what about the Wave Nouveau by Soft Sheen Carson? It is a "thio" soft curl procedure that is not compatible with relaxer services. One would have to choose between one or the other. So if you have virgin hair, then you could 1) lock it 2) relax it 3) "soft curl" process it or 4) continue the natural journey.

I decided to revisit the thought of a Wave Nouveau because I remember how beautiful another friend-girl hair was with the Wave Nouveau. It was long, wavy, and thick looking. I called her up to talk to her about when she used to have the Wave Nouveau, and I realized that her curl pattern is looser than mine. She is wearing her hair natural now and loves the low maintenance of it.

I even went to our local beauty supply store (Sally's Beauty Supply) and checked out the Wave Nouveau line. It had the typical 3 piece "soft curl" components: 1) thio relaxer 2) processing lotion and 3) neutralizing lotion. All the "soft curls" name their components different names such as "shape release" or "re-arranger."

I read reviews on the Wave Nouveau product. I think that for the kinkier hair people; the "shape releaser" may cause scalp sensitivity and may take longer to soften coarser hair. Therefore by the time you complete the whole Wave Nouveau process, kinkier hair will have processed much longer than someone with a type 3 curl pattern. So type 4 curl patterns may find their hair to be prone to dryness, frizz, and tangling.

Oh well, scratch that option for type 4 overcurly hair! It was just a thought . . .