Rebonding Hair: How to Get Straight, Silky and Manageable Hair

I have very low mainteneance hair. By that I mean I don't even blow-dry my hair. Ever. After washing my hair, all I have to do is coax it a little with my fingers by brushing it in place and the natural air will set in almost always in place. But that's in relatively low humidity San Diego. Once my hair meets high humiidty in Singapore, it will puff out in a matter of hours and my once nicely groomed hair will balloon to the size of a beehive...er.....quite unruly and my head is abuzzed with terrible notions of a bad hair day. It screamed help, every strand begging.

Thankfully, taming unruly locks is quite the norm here. Walk into any mall and any credible salon will offer hair rebonding. They offer to straighten curly, wavy, fly-aways and lack-luster unruly hair into sleek, glossy totally straight (straight as sticks) hair in a couple of hours. It's like a hair make-over and they have pictures of before and after to show for.

Now, I want that and I want that right now. I want hair that rival Beyounce and Jo-lo, even Jennifer Aniston and rebonding can do exactly that--hair that falls into place and you don't even have to use tons of mousse or gel. Sleek is the name and I'm in.

I've rebonded my hair before and I know that picking a right hair-dresser can make a difference. Under unskilful or inexperienced hands, your hair can come out slightly burned with brittle ends. In extreme cases, some have reported burned scalp or hair falling out. So, the first logical thing if you're thinking of rebonding your hair is to find a good stylist.

I found one hair salon that offers reasonable rate and it seems to be busy. You don't want to go to one where the stylists are sitting around drinking coffee and making small talks. They could be that quiet because they have managed to scare away the customers with their bad techniques.

I walked in and in three hours, I left with totally smooth, glossy hair.

So, what is hair rebonding, you asK?

Hair rebonding is a chemical process that helps to straighten hair. It is like straightening your hair with a hot iron, except this process does it for you chemically, so your hair remains straight and mangeable without you having to fuss over it. Once it is rebonded, your hair stays straight anytime from 3 to 9 months, depending on your hair.

To simply a complicated, often lenghty process (the average rebonding process can run anywhere from 3 to even 8 hours), here is the simplified explaination:

First, a relaxant or cream softener is used to break down the natural structure of the hair. Hair is partitioned into shaft and liberally coated with relaxant. In cases, where very straight hair is desired, the shafts are kept straight by using thin plastic boards. In soft-rebonding, where the effect is less intense and more natural, no plastic boards are used. Usually, this relaxant is left for about half an hour, depending on hair types.

Next, the hair is rinsed off and blown dry. A keratin lotion is applied and then the stylist uses a hot iron to straighten any curl remaining. Once the stylist is satisfied with your "straightened" hair, he will apply a neutralizer to rebind the hair and stablilize it. This neutralizer is left on hair for about 30 minutes. The final part involving rinsing the neutralizer off and blow-drying the hair. A hair serum may be applied to give body to the hair and the stylist may iron the hair once more to make sure the hair is totally sleek.

You may have spent the better part of the day in a salon, but this process will spare you from having to blow dry your hair into shape each time. Usually, the stylist will tell you not to wash your hair for a couple of days. After that, all you have to do is wash and brush your hair and it will naturally stay straight without much fuss.

If you're new to rebonding, here are a few considerations:

*Rebonding works best if you have a full head of hair. Rebonding reduces volume and puff, so it may not work as well on a scantier head of hair.

*Rebonding can produce extremely straight hair, which can make your features seem stark and prominent for the first couple of weeks. To avoid this, you can opt for soft rebonding or a process called relaxer, whereby straightening is less intense and therefore, more natural.

*Rebonding can dry out hair, so be sure to moisturize well after each wash.

*It is best not to rebond hair too frequently as the process can produce dry brittle hair in the long run..

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