Hair Straightener Products and Types of Hair Straightening

4 August 2011- Hair straightening has become a sort of revolution in fashion circles of recent times. In fact, from among all the hair products for women, hair straightener products have shown quite an interesting growth graph which is amazingly surprising for the hair products manufacturers! However, this article means to be a hair straightening guide to all the women who want their hair straight and flat as if they have been ironed neatly. So, here in this write up, you will come to know about some of the types of hair straighteners on the market (various hair straightener products) and will also know about the types of hair straightening!

Types of Hair Straightener Products

Hair straightening products can be divided into categories on the basis of multiple criteria- the materials used for hair straightening, the effect of hair straightening treatment and its length (temporary or permanent hair straightening products), level of expertise needed for hair straightening process (self or professional hair straightening products) etc. Thus, these hair straightener products may include creams, rods, hair iron equipment, chemicals and so on. Some of the broad categories into which the hair straightening products can be divided include- chemical hair straightening products; thermal hair straightening products; and natural hair straightening products.

Chemical Hair Straightening Products

Chemical hair straighteners, as the name suggests, are the hair cosmetic products like lotions, creams, and serum etc. that contain chemicals for making hair flat. One of the examples of such chemical hair straighteners is the "relaxer" - a type of lotion or cream used to make hair less curly and easier to straighten by chemically relaxing the natural curls. The chemicals in relaxers are generally strong alkali or ammonium thioglycolate. Some of the other chemical hair straightening products are neutralizers, petroleum creams, shampoos made specifically for relaxers, hair relaxing conditioners etc.

Japaneses Thermal Hair Straightening Products

Thermal hair straightening is the popular Japanese hair straightening- also known as thermal reconditioning, straight perm, Japanese straight perm, or permanent hair straightening. Thermal reconditioning of hair uses variety of products and processes apart from using chemicals too. In this thermal straightening process, hair is alternately shampooed, heated under intense heat lamps, blown out, and flat ironed repeatedly till the hair is re-textured for a smooth and totally flattened look. Protein solutions are used in this hair reconditioning method to break the natural hair bond and are also ironed with hair iron- one of the very basic hair straightener. These are all permanent hair straightening products used for thermal reconditioning of hair.

Natural Hair Straightening Products

Natural hair straightening products do not contain any type of chemicals and are made of natural substances. No hair straighteners like hot irons or rods are required when using natural hair straightening products. These natural products for hair straightening include natural oils, certain activating solutions and certain creams made of natural substances. In this natural hair straightening process, you also need not use special shampoos and hair conditioners that are essential to use after chemical or thermal hair straightening.

Brazilian Keratin Hair Straightening Products

Brazilian hair straightening- also known as Brazilian keratin Treatment or keratin hair straightening- is a temporary hair straightening type where the hair is sealed with a liquid keratin and a preservative solution with the help of a flat hair iron. The Keratin hair straightener product does not break the bonds of the hair. "Keratin" a liquid form of hair and thus it is not a chemical. It is, in fact, not a hair restructuring process but a hair replenishing treatment which reconditions and protects the hair from outer damages like water and heat and also give it a straightened natural shiny look.