Anyway, prior to coming to Korea, I wanted to get Magic Straight at my salon in California, but was going to cost approximately 800 dollars!!! Here in Korea? It was only 60,000 won, which is 48 bucks! Raise your hand if you love Asian beauty products! Let's see those hands, people!
Also, my hair is so much straighter than my 200 dollar CHI could ever hope to accomplish. And, Darcie, I can hear you cursing me out from across the globe! Don't hate! I'll mail you my CHI;)
I was a bit worried about damage, since the chemicals used to straighten hair are so harsh, but, let's face it. My hair is already fried from my changing its color every time I get a wild "hair." Plus, using the heat of a hair straightener everyday, even if it is ceramic and ionic, is not great for one's hair, so I decided a permanent straightening would be the lesser of two evils.
The result???? My hair feels silky smooth! I hope it stays this way. There are great Korean conditioning treatments with squid ink about which my friend, Juliet, raves. I will probably starting getting them on a regular basis to keep my luscious locks as healthy as possible.
So what is Magic Straight and how does it work?
Japanese Magic Straight is a new hairstyle treatment, which uses heat to restructure the bonds in your hair to create permanent straight hairstyle that will last from six to eight months. The popularity of this treatment is growing daily with many featured articles in magazines such as Vogue, Lucky and In Style, just to name a few, and the trend setting of the fashion industry. Born in Japan, launched in the US just a few years ago, Japanese Magic Straight is taking the hairstyle world by storm. It is also known as Thermal Reconstruction, Ionic Re-texturizing and Magic Perm. And it is truly a magic for those who struggled with blow dryer every morning to achieve the straight hair look.
The process is a complicated one: Hair is treated first with a specialized foamer to protect the hair, then the straightening solution, which breaks the shaft’s cystine bonds and has the same potent smell as regular perm solution. Hair is then coated in plastic and left under a heater for up to 40 minutes, depending on its texture and wave. After a washout and blow dry, specialized flat irons (which can adjust heat between 150 to 220 degrees) are used on one-inch sections of hair. The ironing process can take up to an hour and a half, sometimes employing two stylists at once. The irons permanently lock in the straightness.
Like regular perms, neutralizer is then applied and left in, which stabilizes the pH balance. Hair is then rinsed, treated and blown dry.
As with perms, clients must not shampoo their hair for two days. During this period, they also must leave their hair perfectly still — no barrettes, pins or bands. Some even warn against tucking your hair behind your ear for fear of bending the hair permanently before the shaft has completely stabilized. (http://www.londonkoreanlinks.net/)
