Matrix Opti Smooth Permanent Smoothing System Thermal Straightener - Normal Kit

I have naturally 3b biracial hair that is extremely frizzy. In the past year, I received two japanese straightening treatments (a virgin application and touch up), but have been pretty unhappy with the loss of elasticity and breakage in my hair after the treatments. I did, however, notice that the ammonium thioglycate (active ingredient in Matrix Opti Smooth and my Liscio Japanese treatment) left my hair shiny, frizz-free and healthy looking despite the breakage. I have tried BKT and traditional relaxers (phyto specific) and wasn't happy with the cost and short life-span of the first and the loss of curl structure/dullness of my hair of the second. I don't want straight hair, necessarily, just frizz-free hair that doesn't require hours of daily maintenance.After a lot of thought, I decided to transition out of my japanese treatment by cold smoothing with matrix opti smooth. I figured I would 'texlax' or cold smooth with ammonium thioglycate, and see if I could get the same frizz-free shine as my japanese, without the same damage and keeping my curl. I have a lot of experience relaxing at home and am comfortable with doing it myself.I bought the Matrix Opti Smooth kit (sensitive formula) and started with a test patch near my hairline, kept an eye on it for a week or two and noticed the hair was still curly but smoother, shinier and less frizzy than the rest of my regrowth. I recommend doing a strand test before any chemical treatment, especially if you have previously treated hair. It's the only way to be sure of the end result.I decided to treat my regrowth. I started by applying Milbon Protection Cream (90), also from amazon, to my japanese treated hair. The cream prevents previously treated hair from over-processing by slowing down the processing speed. It's necessary for anyone with damaged or highlighted hair, with healthy new growth. Then, I divided my hair into 4 sections, set a timer to 30 minutes, and applied smoothing treatment to the new growth only of the sections. The maximum recommended time for sensitive is 15 minutes, following an application time of 5-7 mins. My hair is thick, so realistically it would've taken 30 minutes to apply the cream to my entire head of new growth. Instead, I processed each of the 4 sections separately, at a consistent 30 mins of time/section from first application to rinsing. It takes me only ~8 mins to apply cream to each section, which ensures that my entire head is processed for about same amount of time. I do this to keep the curl pattern even. Otherwise, some areas are straighter than others.After 30 mins, I rinsed the section for 5-10 minutes and reapplied liscio protection cream to old growth, directly on damp hair. I applied neutralizing cream to the new growth of the section only and allowed the hair to neutralize for 10 minutes. Then I rinsed the section thoroughly for another 10 minutes. I repeated this process for each section.At least 30-40% of the curl is removed (maybe more) but my curl pattern is still cork-screw and elastic, with body. The treatment is very gentle, especially with the protection cream. My previously treated hair was unaffected. However, I did not find the 'smoothing' aspect of this treatment to be worth the time and curl reduction. My hair definitely feels 'rougher' although still healthy and is not smoother than it was before the treatment. I was looking for a product to kill frizz, I don't mind my curl pattern. Overall, I will not do this again and stick with BKT for smoothing. Remember, these treatments cannot be mixed with hydroxide-based relaxers and to be careful with processing and application times.UPDATE 4.2.18: After a year of growing out my hair from my Japanese and 8 months after my opti-smooth texlax, I have three obvious textures in my hair. The first is the stick straight texture from my japanese at the bottom, the second is a rough fluffy layer with a 3a curl pattern that has no ability to clump and is very frizzy, the third is my natural 3b texture which is slightly frizzy but clumps and responds to products nicely.The 3a rough and frizzy pattern is my opti-smooth texlax and it looks terrible. Dry, no response to products, poor curl pattern (no clumping), bumpy to touch and very very frizzy. I am very very lucky that I did not continue using this product to texlax as I transition; I would be miserable. I would NOT RECOMMEND for texlaxing.

I would give this product no stars really. It didn't work good at all for me. Unfortunately.

Wow my hair looks great ! Love this product ❤️ Follow instructions and it will turn out perfect