Nail Salons in Sharpstown

Hair Relaxers: Breaking Nature's Bonds

Thanks to hair relaxers, you can walk into a salon curly and leave straight. Zoom in on the chemistry of your curls with Groupon’s introduction.

Human hair is flexible enough to run wild as a mountain stream one day and fall as straight as water over the Hoover Dam the next. But to make lasting changes to its texture, you need to go beyond the reach of styling tools down to the chemical level. All hair is made of keratin, a hard protein that’s also central to our skin, nails, and exoskeletons. To form a single hair, keratin molecules link together in different patterns with the help of three types of chemical bonds: hydrogen bonds and salt bonds, both of which break easily in water and reform when dry, and disulphide bonds, which can only be broken by certain chemicals. In straight hair, the disulphide bonds are evenly aligned. In curly hair, however, the bonds occur irregularly and at odd angles, causing the hair to twist and kink on its way down.

When you style your hair with heat or water alone, you break the weaker hydrogen and salt bonds to allow your do to take a new shape. Once water touches your hair, however, the bonds reform in their customary way, and you’re back where you started. Chemical relaxers, therefore, work by dissolving the hair's tough, waterproof disulphide bonds and preventing them from reforming in their normal pattern.

The most powerful hair relaxers contain sodium hydroxide, otherwise known as lye. Given lye’s presence in drain openers and oven cleaners, you might guess that it can be quite harsh on human skin, which is why no-lye relaxers made from guanidine hydroxide are also common. There is a trade-off, however: some find that lye relaxers are harder on the scalp but gentler on hair, and work more quickly so that you can get back to staring at your hair in the mirror sooner. An experienced stylist can recommend the best method for your hair.

Lavish Looks Salon beautifies women of all ages and cultural backgrounds in its upscale and relaxing atmosphere. The stylists can dramatically change looks with relaxers, sew-in weaves, and hair extensions, or they can renew existing 'dos with color, highlights, and blowouts. At the nail bar, the staff treats guests to long-lasting gel manicures and nourishes nails with silk oil and hot towels. Sea salt, masks, and lotions soothe dry, tired, and cracked feet. But Lavish Looks doesn't just attend to the hair and extremities—the salon also has a makeup artist who can create looks that pop and a waxing technician who removes unwanted hair all over the body.

The stylists at Lily Salon and Spa shower clients with personalized attention when performing a variety of salon services from haircuts to highlights to Brazilian blowouts. They also take care to use only high-quality products when they are adding dimension with color treatments, reducing frizz with Japanese straightening treatments, or transforming manes with special occasion updos.

The master groomers at Nails by AkyJills polish talons to perfection with OPI products at highly sanitized stations and relieve stress or aches with targeted massage. Solo beauty seekers or pairs sipping beverages kick back in AkyJills' inviting salon as nail beautifiers primp upper and lower limbs with mini mani-pedis. Both services tend to extremities with a thorough nail shaping, cuticle trimming, and choice of polish color. Manicures in both options may be upgraded to a Bio Sculpture gel no-chip manicure for $20 per person. Aestheticians augment the treatment with a gentle massage that works an organic moisturizer, smoothing hydrator, and demo tapes from their cousins' bands into clients' hands. A choice of Swedish or deep-tissue massage eases the strain on muscles by using either gentle strokes or firm pressure to dissolve knots.

Virginia Griffin owns Kismet Nails, a hidden gem concerned with sculpting and polishing nails with an expertise that comes from ten years of experience. She coats nails with solid-color shellac or turns each surface into unique works of art that can feature everything from arabesque designs to diamond-studded patterns.

While she generally conducts business from within the salon, Virginia also hits the road for mobile services, meeting clients in homes or offices. She even puts aside entire days to take care of bridal, birthday, or little princess parties, helping clients look their best as they walk down the aisle, grow a year older, or usurp their mothers’ thrones.

Jessica Santos tends to heads of hair at Salon Love, where the stylist deftly creates new hairdos. Using all-natural products from brands such as Aveda, she cuts and styles hair, offering extras such as deep-conditioning treatments. She also breathes new hues into 'dos with single-process color treatments, partial highlights, and full highlights.