Leslie Correa is a nationally renowned hair designer and hair chemical specialist, (Color, Perms, Relaxers) he has devoted the past 24 years perfecting his craft in the art of hair design. He has devoted his career to knowing how to refine the best qualities of your hair and bringing out its natural beauty. Based in New York and traveling to work with some of Europe's and America's highly recognized design teams, Leslie takes a realistic approach to hairstyling and has developed a personal design style allowing him to create looks that highlight a person's best features.

Preparing your Hair for Thermal Reconditioning

Making the decision to have a Thermal Reconditioning done is difficult. In this article you will find important information on some of the things that you may need to know in order to guarantee great results.

• The technician
  The technician will need to properly analyze the condition of your hair and make the right choices when it comes to protecting your hair, strength of the chemicals, timing, and correct ironing technique for your particular situation. They should also make suggestions on how to prepare your hair prior to the Thermal Reconditioning service.
  


• The brand
  Not all Thermal Reconditioning systems are the same. The good news is -- the latest hair restructuring technology known as Thermal Reconditioning (introduced from Japan) has replaced traditional harsh chemicals with milder ingredients and special irons. It straightens your hair for good. LISCIO and YUKO are the originals from Japan and have advanced technology for making the hair perfectly straight. CHI Transformation System, Bio Ionic, RUSK Thermal Str8, Thermal Ionic are systems that just relax your curl. Some stylists get lucky at getting the hair straight with these products but most of the time they over stress the hair with these products.
  


• The Cost
  Thermal Reconditioning is an extremely difficult treatment to perform; it's considered to be plastic surgery for the hair and the average process will take 3-6 hours to complete. So you will need to block out an entire day for the process, plan on lunch and bring a good book. Price is not an indication of skill when it comes to TR although I would give pause to salons that are much lower than the national average. Prices vary when it comes to Thermal Reconditioning...it seems that a running average is from $500-$1000 for most salons in the country.
  

HOW TO PREP YOUR HAIR IF YOU HAVE HAIR COLOR:
Color your hair 2 weeks before your TR. This will even out the porosity of the hair and make it easier to TR your hair. It will also give the hair shaft time to return to a more normal state after the chemical service. It is advisable to not change the hair color at this time.

Thermal Reconditioning will have a tendency to remove a slight amount of the color from your hair so if you want to tone the color you can use a color shampoo after to return to the color. (Ex Artec color shampoo) This shampoo can be customized to match your shade.
If you want to change the color totally it is best to wait until 2 weeks after to make any changes. This will be a great help if your desire is to go lighter.

Returning the hair to the natural shade after repeated highlighting is also not advisable as this will mask the lighter areas and prevent the technician from being able to properly protect the hair and apply the appropriate protection creams to the more processed areas of the hair shaft...2 weeks after or 2 weeks after TR you will be able to safely retouch your regrowth using your regular color formula (permanent or semi permanent)...A semi permanent color can be applied to freshen the color and help lower the PH of the hair...Colorshines By Sebastian is great for this...It is best not to use a permanent color on the faded ends as this may have a tendency to over process the hair shaft . Tinting the hair darker may also be done at this time as long as semi permanent color is used on the previously tinted or highlighted hair. If the look you want is lighter, be very conscious of the porosity and use a much milder formula.

SHOULD YOU CUT BEFORE OR AFTER YOUR TR:
It is best to wait until after the Thermal Reconditioning for any drastic changes in your style. Remember that TR is going to permanently restructure your hair and may open up some new styling possibilities for you. Many clients who had planned on getting a short cut after TR were so thrilled with their new hair they chose to just trim the hair afterwards and keep the length. Layering straight hair is also very different from layering curly hair...Wait until after the process for this type of style to be sure that your haircut suits your new hair texture. If you are definitely sure about cutting a great deal of length, discuss it with your stylist. A rough cut before the process to eliminate some of the hair may be in order.

WHAT TO USE TO IMPROVE THE CONDITION:
The hair will be protected and conditioned during the Thermal process and in some cases it may be necessary to do some additional work at home to properly prepare the hair for a successful chemical service. Heavily bleached or previously relaxed hair is considered to be a high degree of damage already done to the hair.

You will need to have deep protein treatments before TR to help strengthen the hair shaft and insure the best result. (Ex. PPT or Phiten repair) If you are having a retouch on your previous TR it is a good idea to do a deep protein treatment followed by a moisture rich conditioner a week before. (Ex. Phiten Bella treatment, Crede ER treatment, Gloss or B3 by Mucota)

Following these steps will help you get the most out of your Thermal Reconditioning. The TR tech you choose will also make suggestions to you based upon your particular situation. Additional conditioning should also be performed during all the TR to leave your hair as silky and smooth as possible. More topics will be covered in "The simple guide to Thermal Reconditioning".

Part 4 of the series "Post TR Care"

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