It Actually Works! Products that Are Effective on Asian Hair

I don't know what it is, but there is something about Asian hair that makes it immune to hair care products such as straightening creams and sprays. Especially to all you Japanese girls out there, you know what I am talking about! We have thick, course, and hard hair that seem to have a mind of its own, that does not succumb to styling gels, creams, not even to curling/straightening irons - they just stay in original position you woke up in and in the same form. Needless to say, Asian hair is very unmanageable. Most of the products out there are for Caucasian, which is mostly fine and soft, and its accurate to say that Asian hair is a neglected type of hair in the hair care market.

Luckily, after much trials and errors, I have found a cure! Out of all the straightening products that I have tried in the past 5 years, there are only 2 products that live up to its claim - Wella's Straightaway from its System Professional line and Kiehl's Heat-Protective Silk Straightening Cream. Both make my hair straight as they claim, but the latter is slightly more effective.

Both have the same application procedures, which is to apply on damp hair and blow dry straight or to apply on dry hair for more control and shine. But for stubborn course hair like mine, I take it one step further to achieve a more effective result and I straight iron my hair after the product is applied (in addition to using it as directed on damp hair) As a result, instead of taking approximately 60 seconds to have each 1 inch section of my hair straightened if I were to attempt to straighten my hair without any products, each section of my hair will be straight in 10 seconds. As a bonus, it leaves my thick course hair soft and shiny. The difference is more drastic with Kiehl's straightening cream, which makes my hair "silk-like" as it promises. It's a miracle!

The draw back is that depending on the length and thickness of your hair, you may need to use large amount of products and from the costly, but small size of a bottle/tube in which they come. But like many other things in life, some things are just worth it.

The only draw back is the fact that it may be hard to get in stores. If you are a fan of ordering everything online, you are in luck if you want to get your hands on the Kiehl's products, as all their products are available on their website, www.kiehls.com. But if you are more of an in store shopper (whether it is to save money on the cost of shipping or the preference to actually physically look at the product you purchase), this might be more difficult to do, since Kiehl's is only available at a Kiehl's boutique, Nordstrom's and other smaller beauty places scattered sparsely in major cities. But Kiehl's products are easy to find compared Wella's products from their System Professional line, which are only available at selected fine salons that meet a certain criteria. It is actually available only to Salon Professionals, so unless you know someone in the business, it might be very difficult to order this particular product.

Although it may be costly, finding hair care products that straightens Asian hair (especially Japanese hair) was well worth the investment, as I finally discovered products that actually work. And those products are probably not the only ones out there that work, With more time and trying out new products, I may come across and discover a more effective product that Kiehl's Heat-Protective Silk Straightening Cream.