The best hairstyle is as straight as can be
To obtain straight, perfect, and tidy hair is her objective and passion as a stylist. She has created her own system to straighten hair, and the most important salons in the world trust her. Yuko Yamashita is our Sunsilk expert on straight and smooth hair.
It's the stuff of a perfect science fiction heroine, an attention-grabber at the Academy Awards, a tsunami of coolness once the cap has been taken off: straight hair.
SS: what creates perfectly straight hair? Is it the right balance of moisture? What to you look at to know that your hair is perfectly straight?
Y: To maintain perfectly straight hair, daily care is very important, because it is necessary to control the moisture balance inside the hair strand, especially the damaged parts of the hair strand. Each woman must take care of their hair day to day.
Determining whether hair is straight or not is very easy for me. Just moisturize the hair, then dry it. Shampoo the hair, then dry it without using conditioner or treatment. It is then obviously visible whether or not it is straight.
SS: Is it difficult to achieve having perfectly straight hair? And what are the barriers to obtaining perfectly Straight hair?
Y: I think that daily care is very important and can determine how long the hair stays straight. I really want to educate women about the important factors of daily care, the choice of shampoo and treatment, and maintenance.
The barrier is balance. An example from my experience. By choosing good, luxurious ingredients, the cost of products became so expensive that customer didn't buy many products. So even if I develop a very good product, if the customer doesn't buy much of it, I can't make the customer happy. In the development method for products, finding such balance is one of the barriers to bringing good, straight hair to women.
SS: how does the Yuko hair straightening technique work?
Y: I created my straightening system in relation to Japan's culture, because most girls have straight hair, and some girls who have curly hair are annoyed and concerned because they are different.
Additionally, if their hair is straight, it is very easy to transform or arrange their hair into another hairstyle. The best hairstyle if as straight as can be. So many girls want to have straight hair. I love my work, I'm also female, so I can understand the psychology of all women wanting to be loved.
That string desire is driving me to make something special, to bring happiness to every woman. So my straightening system was born from girls' wishes, to solve the concerns they have. At that time, straightening was done by spreading a product on the hair and applying tension. It was damaging to hair, and often caused troubles. So my thinking was to straighten the hair by ironing it.
Not with tension, but just by using an iron to heat the hair. That was my innovation, and it worked well. However, the problem was the temperature that had to be applied to the hair. Japanese regulations only allowed heat of up to 80º Celsius to be applied to hair. But my technique needed a temperature of 180º Celsius. I was stressing the importance of this constantly, and finally my appeal caused Japanese regulations to change, allowing heating to 180º Celsius. Along the way, many competitors and people put pressure on me because my technique was so unique.
However, I didn't give up, and I finally achieved recognition for my hair straightening system, including amendment of the law. This system is for controlling moisture and temperature.
SS: If someone comes to your salon and wants straight hair, what is the first thing that you are going to look at on her head, and what are you going to try to fix first if she doesn't have perfectly Straight hair? is it the ends? or the roots?
Y: I first look at how damaged the hair is. Some girls who are trying to have straight hair have partly damaged hair. The selection of hair products for damaged hair is very important. Scalp health is also very important, and scalp health can be improved by the proper choice of shampoo and treatment, and appropriate use of daily care.
SS: What are the common misperceptions that people have about straight hair?
Y: The most common misperception that women who are trying to get straight hair have is that it may damage the hair. This is very important – it all depends on daily care methods. Proper daily care can improve damaged parts of hair.
SS: Do you consider yourself a perfectionist?
Y: I'm someone who seeks perfection. This comes from my desire to help those who are confused and who do not understand how to properly care for their hair. There are too many varieties of shampoo on the shelves, so many people do not understand what makes up proper daily care and which products to choose based on the properties of their hair. I want to offer as many suggestions and as much advice as possible in order to make people happier with their hair.
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