Two years ago, I would have like someone to answer my question about what is the difference between rebonding and smoothening (or straightening).
Because now, I wouldn’t be experiencing the torment that I am living.
We are all slaves to our hair.
We all want healthy hair without frizz, smooth as silk that dances in the wind and is straight, as straight as the hair of Polynesian women that dance hula.
But Mother Nature doesn’t make all of us women equal.
In her infinite wisdom, she gave me curly hair genes.
And when I say curly, I mean spongy, rebellious, untamable hair that doesn’t listen to my orders.
Every time that I got up in the morning, I had to fight for two hours in front of the mirror to try to give some sort of shape to my hair.
But I always lost the battle, because my hair did whatever it wanted.
Do you know what it feels like when you can’t even tame something as simple as your own hair?
That day, I had arrived to the office in a bad mood. At lunchtime, one of my coworkers came up to me cautiously.
It’s because my bad mood was scary. It seemed like I had foam coming out of my mouth.
When I told her that I really felt miserable because I couldn’t control my hair, she recommended that I do a rebonding treatment.
It’s safe to say that that same day, when I left work, I ran to the salon to get a rebonding treatment done.
I would mortgage my house if it meant having manageable, straight, frizzless hair.
I didn’t have to mortgage my house.
But what I did mortgage was my hair.
That’s why, before you go running out of the house to get a rebonding or smoothing treatment done, listen well.
Because the health of your hair is at stake.
And there are some paths with no return.
That’s why I’ll tell you:
- What rebonding is and what nobody can bring themselves to tell you about the treatment
- When it is best to do the smoothening treatment
- The differences between rebonding and smoothening
Do you want to know what happened with my hair after I did a rebonding treatment?
Then I invite you to read my own hair horror story.
Tabla de Contenidos
What exactly is a rebonding treatment… and what no one dares to tell you
I was there, sitting in the beauty salon as if they were going to hand me an Oscar.
But I was far from that. What I would do was receive a rebonding treatment that would leave my hair straight.
But a completely weak and fragile straight.
In rebonding they use two chemical products. Two very, very aggressive chemical products.
The first is a relaxing cream, which should be called the destroyer, and the second is a neutralizer.
That relaxing cream penetrates the deepest part of the hair cuticle to destroy the natural bonds of the hair.
Those bonds which are small links of a chain, are those that genetically make your hair straight or curly.
In my case, the relaxing cream entered with all its destructive force to open those links and change the molecular structure of my hair.
After dividing my hair into various sections and waiting forty minutes for the relaxing cream to act, the moment came to reveal the work of art.
To do this, they applied a vapor with a type of flat iron. At this point, I started to regret it.
My scalp was feeling a bit irritated, but I was already in the middle of the dancefloor, so I had to keep dancing.
After about an hour, it was unending!, and when I thought it was done, they rinsed my hair.
And now waiting for the hair to dry. When my adrenaline was about to explode, they applied the second product, the neutralizer.
This product is what makes the links, now changed, in the cuticles link back together.
Another forty unending minutes. Once again, time to rinse and dry.
And once again, the flat iron.
When, finally, the rebonding had finished, after almost five hours in the beauty salon, my hair looked spectacular.
Completely straight and it danced the hula. No frizz, and absolutely manageable.
When I was about to put a few pieces behind my ears, a scream came out of the stylist’s mouth.
“Don’t even think about putting your hair behind you ears, nor using sunglasses for a month! It could leave marks in your hair.”
That’s where my disappointment started. I ran out hold my hands down to not put my hair behind my ear.
And a month later, my desperation started.
I was losing tons of hair without even noticing.
Because my hair was so fine, that it didn’t even get stuck in the teeth of the comb. But it fell out onto the floor uncontrollably.
And that’s when I learned the truth.
The rebonding treatment is not for every type of hair.
Just very thick, healthy hair, that hasn’t been bleached and colored in at least six months y can tolerate rebonding.
It doesn’t matter how much you want straight hair. You should choose a smoothing treatment that doesn’t damage your hair and leave it at the edge of the abyss.
Because you should know something else, that no one will tell you clearly, even if you have the healthiest, strongest hair in the world, rebonding will damage it. The damage will be small, but it will be there.
And you will be a slave to aftercare, and spend fortunes on deep moisturizing masks to get back the health of your hair.
Also, if the chemicals are manipulated poorly, or if they are left on for too long, they can produce burns on the scalp. As in my case.
So, if you want straight hair, what treatment can have less-damaging consequences?
If I could go back in time, I would do the smoothing treatment.
Do you want to know why?
When it is best to do a smoothening treatment
smoothening also uses certain chemical products, but different from rebonding, it doesn’t alternate the molecular structure of the hair.
Of course, they are less damaging because they act on the external layer of the hair.
The problem of straightening is that in very curly hair it doesn’t offer the same results.
What I mean is, that type of hair doesn’t get a perfectly straight hair effect.
However, it reduces frizz, because in the end, what they use to straighten the hair is keratin, a protein that is found naturally in the hair.
So, what a smoothing treatment does is nourish your hair and close the external part of the cuticle so that you don’t get frizz.
Also, the straightening can be done perfectly in recently dyed hair, or if you will apply the dye to or three days after doing the straightening.
In addition, you will be able to put your hair behind your ears after barely three days.
Is it still not clear for you?
Keep reading because I will also tell you how my hair is today.
The 5 principal differences between rebonding and smoothing
Differences in the application process
- Rebonding: The use of very aggressive chemical products that when incorrectly manipulated can burn your scalp or ruin your hair. It produces changes in the molecular structure of the hair.
- Smoothening: Softer products like keratin, only influence the external layer of the hair.
How long do each of the two treatments last?
- Rebonding: can last a year in the hair. The roots will need retouching, because in the length, the changes are permanent.
- Smoothening: lasts between four and five months, depending on how often you wash your hair
What damage does it do to your hair?
- Rebonding: in super-resistant and strong hair, the damages are small.
- Smoothening: Doesn’t produce damages to the hair because the keratin nourishes and moisturizes it, sealing the open cuticles.
For what type of hair do you recommend each of the treatments?
- Rebonding: curly, very healthy and strong, and even then be very careful.
- Smoothening: For all types of hair where you want to eliminate frizz and give a straight look to the hair. In curly hair, the curls can lengthen to form smooth waves.
Cost difference
- Rebonding: Extremely expensive! You should do it in a salon, and because of the characteristics of the treatment, the best one that you can find.
- smoothening: Cheaper, you can do it yourself at home
My hair two years after rebonding
After seeing how I was losing hair by the ton for the first six months, I was a walking ball of nerves.
My hair felt fragile and weak and I was even afraid to touch it.
It had lost half of its volume and I felt desperate.
Two years after applying the rebonding treatment, my hair continued in the damaged category.
I cut my hair religiously to get rid of the parts that were damaged by chemicals because remember that the change in the molecular structure of the hair is permanent.
Hair treated with those chemicals never gets back it’s natural structure.
That’s why as the hair grows, the roots look wavy and the rest of the hair is straight. In my case, it was straight and damaged.
I still continue fighting to get back the health of my hair after rebonding.
And I spend a fortune on deep masks and ricin, argan, and coconut oil treatments.
I’m not the one to give you advice, but my experience can prevent many girls from committing the same mistakes that I did.
If you are still thinking about rebonding, take your time in the salon before doing it. Ask the stylist that carefully studies your hair to check and see if it is apt for rebonding.
After all, it’s your hair.
Now you know what the difference is between rebonding and smoothening.
And you, what treatment are you thinking of doing on your hair?
