Stephanie Marquesano takes her daughter to OUIDAD!!!!!!

I have already talked about my daughter's keratin disaster, so I actually skipped a whole chunk of hair history for her.  OUIDAD is a lifesaver!!!!!! Ana totally knows everything about cutting curly hair, and while the haircut and products are expensive, to us it is well worth it.  Her first haircut at OUIDAD was when she was about 11 years old.  Her hair was down to her butt, and, if it wasn't pulled back, really had the potential to grow to immeasurable proportions. Ana basically carves and slices out a good portion of the bulk, which made a huge difference.  It still wasn't really enough.  Ana always talked about softening her hair, but my big concern was using a straightening process.  After the disaster with the keratin, my daughter was petrified to do anything.  In fact, it took until just recently (at the age of 15) that she finally begged to have her curls softened.  The results have been great.  She has every bit of the curl that she had before, except her hair has less density, and little frizz.  There was no burning, no damage and hardly any smell.  Ana did not leave the product on for too long, she figured it was better to see how it took in her hair first.  Next time, and there will definitely be a next time, she will probably ask to have it in a little longer.

Stephanie Marquesano tries Coppola Keratin

Sooooooooo, it was time for my next hair experiment.  After Japanese straightening for many years, I decided I was ready to grow it out.  As the Japanese straightening process does not wash out (at all), there is obviously a huge difference in texture between the new growth and the part still straight.  As a grown woman, mother of a teen and pre-teen, there was no way I could do a typical 1 1/2 to 2 year stint of growing out my hair without some help.  I decided to try the Coppola Keratin, at my local salon, and it worked beautifully. Since I am pretty good with a flat iron, my hair was straight throughout my time using the keratin products. By the time I did the process 3 times (over about 1 1/2 years, and let the last one grow out) I was ready to go curly.  One day I simply washed my hair, put in some gel, and cut off the bottom that still had the original Japanese straightener in it.  I am still getting used to it, 4 months later, and I am deciding my next hair move.  Up next, my daughter is ready to try something else for her hair.

Stephanie Marquesano, Keratin - a new option?

Well, there has been so much on the news about Brazilian or keratin straightening products.  I can give you the perspective from two heads, my daughter's and mine.  After researching, calling the company, getting recommendations from friends and doing a consultation at a salon, I chose to have my daughter use the Coppola keratin treatment.  I was assured that her hair would not be straight (she wanted it curly with less frizz), and that it would, however, take a lot of time.  They explained that Coppola had a new product called the Chocolate, and it would work better on her hair, but it was just as safe ---lies, lies, lies!!!!!!!

Well, my daughter was nervous, she heard from people that the stuff smelled terrible, and she was afraid to see what it would do to her hair.  Disaster struck early.  She had a terrible reaction to the fumes coming out of her head.  In fact, it was so bad that they moved the chair outside into their courtyard.  So they were now doing her hair in the street, with extension cords for the flat iron and blow dryer.  We were both so upset when it was over, and I felt terrible.  She couldn't wash her hair for 3 days, it looked greasy and gross, and the reaction freaked us both out.

A search revealed that Coppola DID NOT MAKE A PRODUCT CALLED CHOCOLATE.  Coppola put me in touch with the salon's distributor who explained that the brand that made Chocolate did contain  real levels of formaldehyde.  I stormed the salon, and received a full refund, as well as a little extra.  I think they were worried that Coppola would pull the line because they had a huge Coppola poster hanging, but they used another product.  The worst part, it didn't even work.  By the second time she washed it there was no benefit to this disaster.  Up next, I actually try Coppola at another salon.

The Best Japanese Straightening - Ever!!!!!!

Okay, so the first place, which I don't even remember the name of, did a reasonably good job.  But, out shopping one day, I ran into a friend with extremely curly hair.  She had the most beautiful straight hair I had ever seen.  It was glossy, shiny and healthy looking.  She kindly shared the name of the salon, Momotaro in Scarsdale.  Yamaguchi did a fabulous job straightening my hair.  The results were perfect!  In fact, for 9 or 10 years, I happily returned twice a year for the best straightenings of my life!  I could add curl to my hair with a curling iron, manage the growth with a flat iron.  It was amazing!  In fact, Yamaguchi was so good at what she did, that she could blow and flat iron straight my daughter's hair in under an hour and a half.  This is no small feat considering her hair is longer and thicker than mine ever was. But alas, after all of those years, I began getting bored with my straight hair, so it was time for another change.  Next stop, keratin!

The first Japanese Straightening...

I went to a local salon to try the latest craze in straightening - Japanese Straightening.  It was an amazing process, which I completely ruined the first time, but I'm getting ahead of myself.  The year was 1999, and I could not take my hair for another minute.  It took so long to do anything with it, and I was so tired of pulling it back when it grew (from heat, humidity, sweating, whatever).  I guess the flat iron was invented in the years since my last relaxing with Glenn, and this new added twist to the straightening process was one that I was excited and nervous to try.  First, they put the stuff through your hair, then they rinsed and flat-ironed, then they conditioned and neutralized, rinsed it out, blew it dry, and sent you on your way.  The biggest no-nos were putting a clip or tie in your hair, which would leave a permanent dent, or sweating.  It was June, I played tennis, I sweated and got ridges.  I had to have parts redone, but overall I really liked the results.  It wasn't, however, perfect.  I still had that ridge at the top of my scalp, ringing around my head, and so my goal was to find the perfect place to do the process.

Stephanie Marquesano - I have a curly girl of my own

So, when I had my own daughter in 1996, I could not have been more excited and surprised when she was born with black straight hair sticking up all over her head.  I figured that even with my hair and my husband's wavy thick hair, maybe just maybe, somehow I had beaten the odds and had a baby with straight hair.  My son had golden and brown ringlets, and I was really shocked by my daughter's hair.  I should have known my excitement was going to be short-lived.  We went to Disney World when she was 7 months old, it was March, it was freezing in NY and, of course, her little head had not been exposed to much humidity.  I remember watching her sweat for the first time in the heat and humidity of Orlando.  I looked at the nape of her sweet neck, and there it was - - -frizz.  I called my mother who found the whole thing somewhat amusing.  Now that I had a curly girl of my own, I would have two heads to worry about!

Stephanie Marquesano - Relaxing, a whole new experience

I was the only girl, make that the only person, in my entire law school with an afro - period.  It was not that attractive - seriously. Remember, this was a time when one of the only hair products was "No More Tangles" or some leave in conditioner by Wella.  It was time for me to figure out what to do with my hair.  The one thing I knew, it was too short and layered to make straight.  There would be no weight to hold it down (something every curly girl knows is a necessity).  It was time, again, to grow it out.  Except this time it was to get it long enough to potentially ruin it again.  This was not a great time socially to do this.  I had ended a relationship with my boyfriend, I was living in Manhattan in the law dorms, and my hair would be looking awful for quite some time.  I remember french braids, multi hair tie ponytails, and hats as attempts to make my hair somewhat presentable.  By year two of law school I was ready to research my next move.  Armed with information and my mom's credit card, I made my way to Bumble & Bumble (alone).  I remember sitting in the chair, and discussing with Glenn the perils of my past experiences.  He confidently assured me that I was no longer straightening my hair, but relaxing it.  I would still have my curly hair, it would just be looser and easier to manage.  Whatever he did, it worked.  There was minimal burning, hardly any stinging or smell, and my hair actually relaxed.  I let him cut bangs, which were extremely easy to blow straight, and I had a pretty cute hair style for what seemed to be the first time ever!  I stayed with Glenn through his move to Pipino Buccheri, my graduation from law school, my meeting my husband to be, getting married (in fact I still look at my wedding pictures and love my hair, Glenn was so nervous he literally almost passed out in the bridal room) and moving to the suburbs. When I got pregnant, I was afraid to put any relaxer in my hair, and, somehow in the chaos of new motherhood, I lost Glenn. I had very curly thick hair through that period, and it was always being pulled back.  When the fog cleared, my son was in kindergarten and my daughter was 3.  It was time for my next hair move...

Stephanie Marquesano - Finally embracing the curly girl in me...

So, after the mall disaster, I sort of enjoyed my straightened hair.  But, I was petrified to straighten it again. Left with no other option, I let it grow out.  It literally took over a year and a half of weird ponytails, buns and other assorted pull backs of my hair to finally get the straightener to grow out.  The question was what to do with all that hair.  About a month before high school graduation I cut my hair in a curly do.  It was sort of like an afro, only longer in the back. I actually used a hair pick too! Sometimes I loved it, sometimes I hated it. Once I actually got so engrossed in a conversation with my hair dresser that I ended up with two inches of hair and a tail in the back! Other times it seemed so big that it had a life of its own.  Looking at pictures from that period in my life, I can't believe I actually had a couple of serious boyfriends and many dates with that hair. I kept my hair that way for all four years of college and my next hair experiment began during my first year of law school.

Stephanie Marquesano - The Salon in the Mall, Disaster Strikes

Bad idea, bad choice, bad burns! So, at some point I got the wrong lady at Ollie's.  My mom had enough.  For some reason she thought it would be a good idea to go to that corner place in the Kings Plaza Mall.  You know, the place that you just drop into when you are shopping and somehow thinking you need a haircut.  Sure enough, it was also a weekend, and my friends were at the mall too, so everyone got to watch the disaster unfold.  The person straightening my hair (Taylor was her name) had no clue how to straighten hair.  She literally rubbed the stuff directly into my scalp, and then brushed it through my hair.  The pain was excruciating at first, but at some point my whole head went numb.  By the time she rinsed it out, the blisters were rising, and connecting with each other all over my scalp.  My mom almost had a heart attack.  I am not kidding, she was hysterical.  I remember her pacing around the house, and my dad begging her to calm down.  At the time, I didn't realize that what she was most afraid of was that my hair was going to fall out.  Thankfully, all I had time to focus on was the agony I was in.  My mom brought me to her hairdresser, and begged him to find a solution for the mess she had gotten me into.  I must have been 15 or 16, and twice a week, for something like 8 weeks, I literally had scalp treatments designed to heal, ultimately remove the scabs (I know it is gross), avoid infection, and keep my hair connected to my head.  Miraculously it worked.

Stephanie Marquesano - The Ollie's Experience

I have no idea what they used, but Ollie's in Kew Gardens/Forest Hills, Queens, NY was quite the experience. You walked in, sat in a chair, and moved down the line until it was your turn.  Usually there were 3-4 women who spoke no English busy straightening hair.  My mom would scope out the best at her job, and obsessively hope that she would be the one to do my hair.  See, the goal was to get rid of the ridge along the upper back of my head, and my mom was sure that not everyone could do that.  The best part of the Ollie's experience was that I never got burned.  yes, my scalp might have been numb or tingly for a few days, but no blisters or burns! Honestly, my hair looked like straw, but, hey, it was straight!

The first straightening - age 10

The first time my mom took me to straighten my hair I was 10 years old.  The lye based product smelled terrible, and it burned various parts of my scalp.  My hair looked somewhat straw like, and we had to wrap it to get it remotely straight.  A big roller was placed on top of my head, with the hair from my crown wrapped tightly around it.  Then, the rest of my hair was tightly wrapped around my head and secured with those old fashioned metal clips.  A plastic hair dryer was placed over my head for hours, and the results were marginal at best.