Chemical Hair Services: Perms, Relaxers, and Curl Reformation

Flashcards covering key vocabulary, product properties, procedures, analysis parameters, and service essentials for hair relaxers and curl reformation services.

Curl Reformation Service

A service that creates a new, looser curl pattern by first relaxing or reducing the natural curl pattern and then perming or reforming and rebonding the hair into a new curl or wave pattern.

1970s Reforming Products

Early curl reforming products developed to provide tightly curled hair with an easier styling and maintenance method, including Pro-Line products, California Curl, and the Jheri curl system.

Curl Rearranger

A chemical product used in a curl reformation service applied to the midstrand, base, and ends to reduce the natural curl pattern before wrapping.

Curl Booster

A product applied to the top and bottom of each rod in a curl reformation service to ensure complete saturation during the reforming process.

Curl Activator and Instant Moisturizer

Additional maintenance and styling products used in a curl reformation service to maintain and hydrate newly reformed curls.

Preparation Area

The initial service phase that includes greeting the client, setting up and arranging the workstation with disinfected tools, properly draping, and performing a hair and scalp analysis.

Procedure Area

The chemical processing phase focused on ensuring client safety, executing chemical application steps, performing comb tests, rinsing thoroughly, and neutralizing the hair.

Completion Area

The final service phase that involves infection control, discarding non-reusable materials, determining client satisfaction, recommending home-care products, prebooking appointments, and completing the client record.

Connect

The service essential phase centered on meeting and greeting clients and communicating effectively to build rapport.

Consult

The service essential phase involving asking questions to discover client needs and relaxer history, analyzing physical features, hair, and scalp, explaining solutions, and gaining feedback and consent.

Create

The service essential phase focused on ensuring client comfort and safety during service execution, explaining chemical processes, and teaching at-home hair maintenance.

Complete (Service Essential)

The service essential phase where the stylist requests specific feedback, recommends home-care products, suggests future appointment times, and completes the client record.

EPA Approval

Environmental Protection Agency validation required for salon disinfectants, which may come in concentrate, liquid, spray, or wipe forms.

Porosity

The ability of the hair to absorb moisture, liquids, or chemicals without breaking.

Elasticity

The hair's ability to stretch and return to its original length.

Texture

The actual size or diameter of an individual hairstrand.

Density

The number of hair follicles per square inch, classified as light, medium, or heavy (or thin, medium, thick).

Five Relaxer Steps

The five sequential procedural steps followed during any chemical relaxer service: Section, Apply, Comb or Smooth, Test, and Neutralize.

Base Cream (Basing)

A protective chemical cream applied around the hairline and ears prior to a relaxer application to protect the client's skin from chemical irritation.

Smoothing

The process of redistributing the relaxer product along the hairstrand using the back of a comb or fingers to help relax and reform chemical bonds into a straighter position.

Relaxation Test (Comb Test)

A diagnostic check during a relaxer service performed with a comb to determine if the hair has reached the desired level of straightness or requires further smoothing.

Blotting

The act of removing excess water with a towel after rinsing relaxer chemicals to prevent diluting the neutralizer and to check for un-rinsed chemical residues.

Acid-Balanced Neutralizer

A shampoo, lotion, or stabilizer that rehardens (locks) hair into its new straighter shape and restores broken disulfide bonds.

Sodium Hydroxide Relaxer

A strong alkaline relaxer product with a pH of 11.5–14 designed to straighten tightly curled hair.

Ammonium Thioglycolate Relaxer

A chemical reducing agent with a pH of 8.5–9.5 that softens and swells hair while affecting hydrogen and disulfide bonds during thio processing.

Relaxer Tools

Implements used in chemical relaxer services, including an applicator brush, non-metal tail comb, and shampoo comb.

Relaxer Supplies

Non-permanent consumable items needed for a relaxer service, including a cape, cloth towels, protective gloves, and plastic sectioning clips.

Relaxer Equipment

Permanent salon fixtures required for chemical relaxer services, including a hydraulic chair, timer, and shampoo bowl.