It’s been almost 12 weeks since I first used Zerran Reform to straighten my hair. Zerran is a non-relaxer permanent hair straightener that I first talked about here. My last relaxer was in October 2012. My initial results were amazing (see pics here). My hair was silky straight and I was happy that I potentially had a replacement for relaxing my hair.
For my first wash, Reniece recommended that I do a hot oil treatment with grapeseed oil (review coming soon). My first wash went well and my hair was easier to detangle. Unfortunately, my hair still looked texlaxed and wasn’t bone straight which was my goal. This meant I still had to blow dry and flat iron my hair instead of simply roller setting (my secondary goal). My previously relaxed hair was straighter but my newgrowth still looked completely natural, especially along my hairline.
Reniece agreed to reapply the treatment after a few weeks. So during the last week of May, I went back to DC to redo the Zerran treatment (photo below). However, I could tell immediately that my newgrowth was still resisting the Zerran. It rained after I left the salon and my hair pretty much reverted back.
My natural hair is very coarse and I suspect that’s the reason the Zerran couldn’t get my hair bone straight. If you want to loosen the curl pattern of your natural hair without relaxing, then I still recommend trying Zerran. Also, if your hair is fine textured, it will probably give you bone straight results. However, if you want bone straight hair AND your hair is coarse, the Zerran might not work for you.
So what’s the next step for my hair? I discussed my options with Reniece and we agreed that I can relax my hair after doing 3 months of weekly treatments to rebuild my hair. Although the Zerran is not a relaxer, the application process requires lots of heat, so my hair is still in a compromised state.
I’m going to be doing a grow out challenge to get my hair back to full waist length. Right now its a bra strap length but with a “V” shape. I’ll post details for the challenge and how to join this week.