Thermal Reconditioning - A Practioner Gives The Inside Scoop by Karen M. Shelton

While the Yuko system provides great results, not every head of hair is a good candidate for the treatment. All of Amy’s prospective local customers are strongly encouraged to schedule a pre-treatment consultation to determine the probable results for their hair. Out-of-town clients are required “to send advance hair snippets and close-up photos” so that Amy can determine in advance if they are a good candidate for the treatment. This prevents everyone from “wasting unnecessary time and money”. Amy has had to turn away prospective clients because she did not feel that their hair would benefit from thermal reconditioning.

Karen M. Shelton
The Hair Boutique

Since Amy is dedicated to “working only with clients who have hair that will respond well to the thermal reconditioning process” sometimes she has to “turn away prospective clients”. “The treatment is time-consuming and expensive”. As a result, Amy definitely “wants her clients to be happy with the results”. Working only with the right hair candidates is one way of helping to guarantee client bliss.

The ideal candidate for Amy “has fairly healthy, chemically virgin hair, that is frizzy, coarse and at least four or five inches long”. Great candidates “are the type of people who don’t get great results from temporary straighteners and generally have to spend hours blow drying and straightening their hair every day just to get it to look decent”. After thermal reconditioning this same client, according to Amy, “will only have to spend 5-10 minutes to blow-dry and style their hair”.

Super short hair is generally not a good candidate for the thermal reconditioning process. This is because the benefits of the treatment will not be as long lasting on short hair as it is for longer hair. Yuko System clients with shoulder length or longer hair have reported the best long term results. Each person who has the treatment will experience different results, however, for many people, the effects of the reconditioning can last up to six months.

The very best candidates have chemically virgin hair that has not ever been colored or processed in any way. Unfortunately most women have some type of chemicals applied to their hair before they decide to opt for the Yuko system. While Amy will consider working with people who have color or other chemicals on their hair, she is still careful about her pre-selection process.

Some damaged or naturally fragile hair may not respond well to the treatments. While some stylists will apply the treatment to fragile or damaged hair, Amy does not generally like to work with hair that may not withstand the chemicals and the excessive heat from the Yuko straightening irons. Each stylist is different and may have different requirements for the type of hair they feel comfortable working on.

More About The Process

Thermal reconditioning is not a simple process. As Amy pointed out “most hair consumers have never seen anything like it before”. Because of the time commitment involved, Amy only schedules four or five thermal reconditioning treatments per week on her lightest work days so that she can give her client her total focus.

Depending on hair length, thickness and overall condition the thermal reconditioning process can take anywhere from three to six hours to complete.

The Yuko thermal reconditioning treatment uses heat to restructure the hair’s protein bond resulting in smooth, straight, shiny and sleek hair. The system is protein-based and uses special Yuko patented straightening irons set at very high heat to seal in moisture once the hair’s cystine bond is broken, allowing the hair to be straightened. Heat actually consolidates the entire straightening process.

Karen M. Shelton is the founder of HairBoutique.com which has been featured in numerous magazines including 101 Celebrity Hairstyles, Today's Dallas Woman Magazine, WE-Women's Enterprise, The National Enquirer, American Salon Magazine and Self magazine, as well as international publications.

Karen M. Shelton was featured in DFW Tech Biz as winner of the Emerging CEO - Tech Titan award. In 2001 Ms. Shelton joined 101 Celebrity Styles & Short Cuts magazine as consumer hair editor.