Help! Chi hair straightening system

Ok, here's an update.

My bangs are starting to get back to a normal state. The skin doesn't feel tight any longer like it did. I still have the very flat look going on, not much body to my hair, but I'm wondering if that's due to another problem I've discovered since I last posted.

The problem I'm now having is that when I feel the base of the hairs, in certain spots they feel very weird. Like they're hard, or bunched up (like hairs that are knotted together) or like they are wirey. I had my husband look at those areas that feel like that. He pulled out one of the hairs from those spots and the hair is bent at the base, and all of the other hairs in those areas are bent as well. It's about a quarter of a inch of the hair that's bent. It's not like that all over, but in a lot of areas it is.

I think my stylist might have messed up somehow. It's been 5 days now and I don't think it should feel like this.

I'm guessing since no one's responded to my post that they've not had the Chi transformation system done before.

Does anyone know of any other hair links out there that have advice? I've gone out to the Farouk website to see if I could find something and I couldn't. I've search around for other sites and I'm coming up short.

Thanks!!
Paisleygirl

Ok, I'm gonna start crying now. I do thank you for your response, but this is really scaring me.

I'm not sure how to describe my hair before I went in for this. It had been about 3-4 months since my last coloring. I've used this lady and she's always done a great job and uses Farouk System products to color my hair. I had about 1 inch of grey hair when I went in last Tuesday. It wasn't all that unhealthy. It did have more split ends than it has had in a while just because I didn't go in for a trim since my last coloring (which was 3-4 months ago). But I use Farouk Biosilk products for my hair and to me it was only dry on the ends because of the splits, which weren't all that horrible. My hair is long and down to my back (bra line), however we took about 2 inches off after the straightening/coloring.

Wow, I just can't believe this. I wonder what, if anything, could be done. I just can't believe it...

thanks again for your response, even though it was bad news....

oh, and no I don't know what formula they used on me.

Ok, so do you think she overprocessed the coloring on my hair or was it when she did the straightening? Also, is this something where I should ask for my money back? I paid $500 for the straightening and $70 for the coloring. Something like this has never ever happened to me before...*sighs*

Paisleygirl

I think you're right. I've been reading some information from Vincent J's website about bent hairs and Chi, etc. From what they say, stylists using the Chi system aren't really trained well compared to other TR systems. '

I remember that she put the solution on all of my hair at the same time. She would come back every now and then and take one hair (from the back, same place each time) and do something with it, I guess testing it to see if it was ready. She did this like 2-3 times, each time saying I needed like 5 more minutes. She did not do the front vs. the back separately, but all at the same time.

The scarey thing is, she is certified by Farouk to do training for them for Chi (as well as coloring). I'm SO disappointed in myself for not doing the research like I should have done before getting this done. From what I've been reading, Chi is definitely not a trusted TR system with lots of unhappy customers.

I seriously do not like the way my hair looks right now. Because of all the bent hairs on top of my head, my hair just doesn't look good. I don't trust going back to her for her to fix it, although I may, I just don't know what I'll do. I tried calling her today, but her shop is closed. ~sighs sadly~

I'm in Texas. I've been using her for 2 years, and she mentioned the Chi system one day and I got very excited about the prospect of having straight hair all the time. I just didn't research it like I should have.

I'm ordering some products from vincentj that will deep condition my hair and give it some protein. Some people have mentioned that they did not have breakage after using these products (Crede shampoo/cond, PPT ID Care, Heatsilk). Hopefully they'll help.

My question is, I will have to get the bent hairs fixed, won't I? Because as they grow out, if they do not break off at the stress point, the bend will still be there, correct? I just don't think I should get another chemical treatment so quickly after the first. But, how long should I wait?

Thanks for all the info and help Cosmogirl!
Paisleygirl

Thanks again Cosmogirl. :) I'm thinking that for now I'm just going to really condition and protein my hair and try to take care of it and let it go back to it's original natural curly state. I'll wait and see how breakage goes. I'm really bummed. I'm always putting my hair up in ponytails or clips, etc and I can't even do that because it's so fragile. It's just so frustrating.

Anyhow, thanks again for your reponses. It seems pretty quiet on these boards. Glad someone's out there to listen and respond.

Paisleygirl

Thanks for the well wishes Merlin.

I wish there was some site that listed the differences between all the different straightening systems. I know that Chi states their system being unique since they use Silk with "Cationic Hydration Interlink", and using negative ions & ceramic irons. My stylist swears that Chi is NOT like the others(the japanese systems)...~shrugs~

Dunno if that helps at all...

Paisleygirl

Actually, that does help. I have used Chi irons in the past (not presently) but didn't know they had a straightening system. I will have to get back up to speed.

I wish there was a web site that discussed the various systems too. I did find an article at beautywalk.com by our own Karen Shelton that discusses chemical hair straighteners quite well (it is in three parts so click the other sections at the bottom of the page - you will also related articles there that you might find interesting).

http://www.beautywalk.com/beauty/january03/Chemical_Hair_Straightening_Faqs.htm

I hope your conditioning regime is showing improvement in your hair and that all will be well very soon. Hang in there! We're rooting for you!

OH NO! I am SO sorry to hear about your hair loss. Keep up the protein treatments - think how much worse it would be if you weren't doing them. Have you spoken with the shop? The least they can do is refund your money. Not a solution to your problem but SOME satisfaction.

Hang in there. We're all pulling for you!!

Heidi,

Thanks for your well wishes! :)

Just so you know, my stylist is certified with Chi and she actually trains other stylists on how to perform Chi across the U.S. So...I'm not really sure what happened, but I guess even those who train others can make mistakes. She said it's possible that she got the solution too close to my scalp and/or ironed my hair wrongly.

My strong opinion is that she left the solution on too long to my hair. I remember she came back 2 times after the initial time limit for the solution and did something with one of my hairs on the back of my head, testing it I guess, and told me I needed to bake about 5 more minutes. Hmmm or was it longer, I can't remember now. I just know it was two separate times she said I needed to sit longer. Which by the way, most of the hairs in the back (where she tested) are totally fine with no bends except for the very top and the nape. From what I hear, Chi's solution is thinner than other types and if it sits too long on your hair or is too close to the scalp, body heat (from it sitting too long) can cause the solution to be sucked into the scalp. I truly feel this is what happened to me. I knew something wasn't quite right, because after she completed my hair and styled it, most of my head (especially the areas of my hair that are now bent on the top and sides) felt VERY tight! It was if I had a helmet on...or better yet, it felt like my head had some kind of facial mask on it , you know the kind that pull and stretch your skin where it feels tight. That to me is proof alone that the solution got too close to my scalp. I had even mentioned this to her after she styled my hair, at how tight it felt and weird. It took 1 to 2 days for that to go away.

Anyhow, sorry, I'm rambling too much now. I just wanted to let you know more about my situation. :) I'm hanging in there and trying not to panic. Hairs are continuing to break, but I'm hoping it'll stop soon.

I'm glad to hear your experience was positive. I've done tons of searching about TR's since mine 3 weeks ago, and believe me, Chi seems to have the most horror stories out there from botched jobs. I really don't feel like Chi does enough training for their stylists. That, plus I don't believe it's as good of a system as others like Liscio.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy your new hair!! :)
~paisleygirl

I am totally terrified now that i have read all this stuff of your horror story with the chi straightening system! I was actually considering having this done to my hair. I had not done it because i was scared since it's something so permanent. I would like to keep my hair slightly curly so i could switch between hairstyles. Thank goodness i waited!

My hair is extremely coarse and with extremely rebellious curls and top of that one side is curlier than the other. In the past i have tried products on myself that i have bought in Sally's Beauty Supply, called One n Only Curl Reducer. This product didn't really do anything drastic to my hair but i did notice that my hair would be a bit more flatter, not making my hair look so puffy, which was awesome, but still when i would blow dry it, it would immeadiately get frizzy.

Two years ago i started going to go to the beauty supply and getting this product from Quantum done. I loved this because it would soften my extremely curly hair and once i would blow dry the hair it would not frizz up even in high humidity. A month ago I went back to get it done again, but the hairstylist did not want to put that product on because my hair was not virgin anymore, because of my newly acquired highlights. It totally sucked because she then went on to use the one n only product i have used in the past that really does not work on my hair.

Do you know of any other products out there that could be strong enough to control my hair but gentle enough not to break/damage my highlighted hair?

Thanks.

Michelle,

I'm sorry to hear that you've had breakage too. It's been 6 weeks since my CHI TR and I've had tons of breakage from the damaged bent hairs and it's continuing to break off. I've got patches of small little hairs on the top and one side of my head. Luckily I have somewhat thick hair, plus I have some long hairs that are kinda hiding the patches of broken hairs, so for now no one would notice just by looking at me (unless they looked closely at my hair). However, the long hairs that are left that are hiding the patches are also damaged with sharp 90-degree bends and I'm afraid before long they'll break off (which by the way, my bends are at about 1 inch from the root right now). It'll be interesting to see what happens, especially once all those 1 inch hairs start growing out longer (which btw, I have long hair to mid back). I'm still not freaking out yet, or at least not trying to. I've definitely lost alot of hair and if it wasn't for my semi-thick hair, I'd probably look pretty bad because of the thin-ness. But for now it's not horrible, even though it is frustrating.

About the products. Here's what I've been using. I use the PPT ID Care for a protein treatment - if you have damaged hair then use it once every two weeks, if you have normal hair then use once a month. This is a very important product to have. Then I've been using Redken's Extreme Shampoo & Conditioner as well as Redken's All Soft Conditioner, Heavy Cream Conditioner, Addictive, and Anti-snap. I love these products and kinda change them out depending on what I feel that I need. My favorite is the Addictive. It works wonders. The bottle says to rinse it out, however I find that if I use about 3-4 squirts on my wet hair and leave it in and style that it gives my hair LOTS of bounce and body, and shine. Although, because my hair is damaged (some of the hair that's bent is actually splitting near the bend and then breaking off) it still doesn't look so great the day after shampoo/styling (i wash every other day), so no matter what products I use, my hair still ends up looking dry and dull right before I wash again. It may just take some time before my hair can really get healthy again (although I'm sure if I was faithful in taking my vitamins and eating right that that could help some...) Some people rave about the Crede products, however I won't use their shampoo because it's got sodium hydroxide in it which is Lye (look at a Draino bottle!!). Also I've read some negative responses in addition to all the positives on Crede.

Anyhow, those are the products I've been using. I would mainly suggest you get some protein into your hair so that it can become strong and repair itself. Keep us posted! Good luck to you!
~Paisleygirl