I got a GINA Curl!!!

healthyhair2

healthyhair2

Well-Known Member
And I am so happy with how it turned out!! Gina Rivera of Hair's Talent is AMAZING at working with textured hair. This process is done with a Thermal Reconditioning product. The hair is shampooed,conditioned and then straightened with the Thio-based cream. After the cream is rinsed,the hair is wrapped on perm rods, saturated with neutralizer and dried under a dryer. After all this ,the hair is rinsed thoroughly. Conditioned and moisturized. This was a very time intensive process, taking about 5 and a half hours.
I could not be happier with the results and will return in 4-6 months for a touch up. I am staying on top of my conditioning treatments, especially moisturizing. For those of you who may be interested , I can blow dry, wrap , roller set and flat iron this hair. Gina does a straight variation of this process, for those of you who like straight hair only. She recommends and uses Nigelle hair products. Please note, my hair was**NATURAL** with some demi-permanent color on the ends. This is a THIO-based product that CANNOT be put OVER a relaxer!!
Here is her site: http://www.hairstalent.com/Home.html
Three other AA ladies came in the salon while I was there. One had natural hair, the other two had the straight TR. They got blow-outs and their hair didn't shed one bit!

Yes, my hair is damp in this pic. I don't wear it "wet" every day :)

**Correction to the "Gina Curl" process** Please READ From Wendy @ Hair's Talent

In your description of the process, you mentioned that the neutralizer was added to the perm rods and placed under the heater. That part is not correct. She puts in her own additives to strengthen the hair. Anyone who should try to attempt this will end up severely damaging their hair if they used neutralizer instead!


My apologies ladies, didn't I mention I was very tired the day I got this done? :)
I made a mistake in the first posting and have added the correction from another stylist at Gina's salon. Let me caution you again, that this isn't something to be attempted at home. Whether you get Gina to do it or another professional, make sure you are honest about your hair care and previous chemicals--even if it's just henna.
I will post a new pic of my hair tomorrow ,because the curls have loosened AND it has grown already.
 

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This is what my hair looked like before. My hair texture was mostly 4b. I was dealing with LOTS of frizz, even though I kept my hair conditioned and moisturized. Gina did comment on how healthy my hair was. So,there you have it ladies. Thermal reconditioning IS for our hair. It can be great , when done by someone who KNOWS textured hair. Most people who say, it doesn't work for us have no training with our hair types and are AFRAID. Or, they don't care to learn how to deal with KINKY hair. Any questions? I will be glad to answer and will keep you posted on my progress. This was done on July 3rd.
 

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Theresamonet said:
Looks cute op. I lope you can find long term success with this process.
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Thank you! I believe the Gina Curl will be a great answer for me. I will do this process 3x's a year at the most. The best thing was that my previously colored hair did not break at all. Neither did my natural hair. Gina is really adept at adjusting the formula to your hair density, type and texture. Yep, no shedding , breakage--nada :) Just keep up on the conditioning treatments. Will keep you all posted on my progress.
 
Honi said:
Cute. The process almost sounds like a Jherri curl. How do you keep the curls moisturized.
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The process is similar, except a Japanese straightening product is used to take the curl and frizz out of the hair first. Women who want straight hair would stop the process here and then the hair would be flat ironed, after shampooing and conditioning. For me, I was put on perm rods with a neutralizer on my hair, dried and rinsed. I think I got the order correct! This is a 1-step process, for Body/Cold waves(Jherri curl) it's a 2 step process (curl re-arranger).

To keep the curls moisturized, I use V Violet Oil Moist ,Dudley's PCA Moisture retainer or Oyin Dew. Gina actually used, Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie. I don't care for the smell of SM. You can use anything that will keep your hair moisturized and it does not have to stay wet.
 
It looks like a curly perm. That process sounds LONG lolol but I'm glad you like your new hair. Would be interested to see how this holds up.

I personally don't like it. I'm just not a fan of the curly perm look.
 
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NefertariBlu said:
It looks like a curly perm. That process sounds LONG lolol but I'm glad you like you're new hair. Would be interested to see how this holds up.

I personally don't like it. I'm just not a fan of the curly perm look.
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I will have to send you more pics then. It does not stay as tightly curled after the first few weeks. It is very versatile. It can be blown out, flat ironed, braided, or wrapped. I am the opposite of you, I wanted my hair to be curly without effort. I do like that I still have choices.
 
NefertariBlu said:
Hmm, I would like to see what it looks like a couple of months from now just out of curiosity.
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I will definitely take pics and post them so you can see. As the hair grows, the weight of the hair elongates the curl pattern. Next time, we will use larger rods. I have never been more excited about my hair and seeing growth!
 
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TamaraShaniece said:
Do you prefer this texture over your natural curl pattern?
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I do prefer this texture, because I am able to actually comb through my hair :). My hair was VERY thick as a natural. I had gotten to the point where I didn't even want to do 2 strand twists on it because it was so much hair! Now my hair feels light as well. I guess the weight of it was more than I thought. It is easier to rinse my scalp too, which helps me avoid flakiness from conditioner not being rinsed properly. Now, I have what I consider true wash and go hair. I shampoo 2x's a week, but mist and moisturize EVERY day. My hair dries in a flash too--no blow dryer.

**I'm not anti-natural. I just needed a better solution for myself and I knew another relaxer wasn't it. The research that I did on Wave Nouveau ,Ferm Perm , Design Essentials Wave and Carefree Curl kept pointing to shedding and breakage, so I kept searching for a better option. I felt like the Gina Curl was what would work for me.**
 
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MilkChocolateOne said:
it is a jheri curl. the process and chemicals ( Ammonium Thioglycolate aka thio) are the same.
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You are right in that the active chemical is the same. However, the product used is a Thermal Reconditioning Product made in Japan. It is actually more like a Perm used on Caucasian hair. You certainly are right though, in that Ammonium Thioglycolate is used in all these products, what changes is how many steps are used to achieve the results. Unlike a Jherri Curl, there is no rearranging step, so the process is NOT exactly the same. You can look at her site or YouTube, http://www.hairstalent.com/curlsandtr.html . I also get to keep my hair dry and flat iron with no problems. I am partial to the curls though:)
 
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It looks really cute ,I m happy you found something that works for you and gives you more styling options.
 
MilkChocolateOne said:
do a search for vigorol and new era. Vigorol and new era were thio based relaxers. I don't know if they are still being manufactured. You can still find the old kits at asian beauty supply stores.
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There are some women who have done their own Thermal Reconditioning/Japanese Straightening on their own using Bio Ionic, Magic Straight and other Japanese Straightening products. You can certainly Google it. Personally, I would not try something like it on my own, but if you feel confident enough, more power to ya! If you decide to get it done make sure that the stylist has worked on LOTS of women with hair texture similar to yours. Also, be sure that your hair is in optimal condition before hand. Another interesting thing that I learned was that sulfur based products will shorten the life of the process. So, no sulfur growth aides for me :(
 
OP your hair looks great. I'm really interested in seeing your progress overtime as it gets longer. Glad you found something that works for you :)
 
MileHighDiva said:
healthyhair2

What does the sulfur do you that shortens the life of the service?

Sent from my Speak & Spell using LHCF
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Evidently, the sulfur can encourage frizz and dryness , which will affect the curl pattern. It can encourage reversion. Since this is a fairly expensive process, I guess I have to trade long-lasting results for faster growth. Or the other way around :)
 
Hi OP, this is a great post, a really nice refreshing change. I wish that salon was here in the UK, I would go there for a blow dry in a FLASH!
 
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