Home Straightening Kit

Straightened hair locks — Photo: Parilov/Shutterstock

Q: I have gone 4-6 months since my last Japanese straightening, and I want my curls back. But the awkward stage 1/4 curly and 3/4 straight is a pain to straighten with an iron and I want to know if I could use a home straightening kit for the new growth.

I don't want to damage it, and I can't afford $350 right now. Help, the humidity is attacking me.

A: According to all the research I have found, you should be fine using an at-home kit to straighten the new-growth of your hair, provided you don't use a product containing hydroxide derivatives (sodium hydroxide is a common ingredient in most hair relaxers specifically - not in straighteners, which use ammonium thioglycolate).

Since you specify that you want your curls back, you should also know that you would be fine in having your hair permed to return the curl to your hair. The option of what you wish to do is of course for you to decide upon, but I wanted to give you all the options you have available.

Do be sure to perform a strand test on the hair before having any process done to your hair. This will prevent any undesired and unfortunate results such as hair damage.

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See also:

What is Japanese straightening?

Is it safe to perm straightened hair back to wavy or curly?

Is it ok to get a wavy perm after Japanese straightening?