Many women are constantly troubled by their hair structure as certain types of hair are quite difficult in managing and fashioning into different styles. When the hair is unruly with frizz, you know how irritating it is to attain a certain style especially when there is humidity in the atmosphere. Such occasions cause women to desire smooth and manageable hair. Rebonding and smoothing are two different methods to get rid of tangling. There are many differences between rebonding and smoothing and knowing those differences will be useful in choosing the best treatment for your hair.
What is Rebonding?
Rebonding is a special technique that falls under the broad category of hair straightening. This is a method that makes use of chemicals which in turn seep inside the hair cuticles, breaking the chemical bonds in the hair strand that is responsible fo r making it curly or wavy. During this procedure, these chemical bonds are rearranged in such a manner so as to make the hair structure altered to become straight and smooth.
Rebonding is a procedure that should be approached with trained hair stylists. The entire procedure takes about 5-6 hours, and the straightening effect lasts for 6-7 months, which in turn is called a permanent effect. Since the effect is only applied on the hair strands where the chemical had been fed, with the growth of new hair, the effect of rebonding too disappears, making way for naturally curly or wavy hair.
Rebonding is rather expensive with the treatment costing more than $100.
What is Smoothing?
Smoothing is a procedure in which hair strands are sealed with a protein product known as keratin on top of which a preservative solution is applied onto the hair using a hot iron. This results in changing of the structure of the hair, giving it a smoother appearance. This procedure is legally banned in some countries because of theexcessiveuse ofkeratin than what is prescribed as safe since this could result in a number of side effects.
It has to be understood that smoothening is not straightening. The goal of smoothing is to iron out the unruliness and frizz in the hair, thereby making it more manageable. Further, the use of chemicals like formaldehyde makes smoothing potentially dangerous as the chemical has been suspected to be a carcinogen. Brazilian Blowout is a process that is same as smoothing. One thing common in all smoothing procedures is the use of keratin on hair.
What is the difference between Rebonding and Smoothing?
• Smoothing is a procedure that has been designed to make hair softer and smoother so as to make it more silky and manageable.
• Rebonding is a special technique that intends to straighten the hair of those who desire to have straight hair as opposed to wavy or curly hair.
• Smoothing makes use of chemicals that are different from those used in Rebonding.
• Smoothing still requires a rebonding if the desired effect is straight hair.
• Results of smoothing last for around 3 months while the effect of rebonding lasts longer for about 6-7 months.
Photos By: Geroithe Chia (CC BY- SA 2.0) leyla.a (CC BY- SA 2.0)
Further Reading:
- Difference Between Rebonding and Straightening