Charles Worthington

The treatment for coloured hair has been designed for hair that has had some permanent colour or mild highlighting. People with coloured and highlighted hair should always be careful about over-treating their hair. Straight & Smooth is not suitable for hair that has been bleached in the last 2-3 years, including highlights and very light colour shades. It is also not recommended for extremely damaged or very dry hair. Please make sure you check the packet before trying it to ensure it is suitable for use on your hair type. See images below for guidance.
Examples of hair that has been highlighted to much for our treatment

Examples of hair that can have our treatment

Hair grows at a rate of roughly 1cm a month. Damage from bleaching is irreversible. It will take 1-3 years for your damaged hair to grow out, depending on the rate at which your hair grows and the length of hair you have. You will need to wait 1-3 years after heavily bleaching your hair before using Straight & Smooth, even if you have another colour on top of this.

If you are at all uncertain, we advise you contact your hair stylist for expert advice before using Straight & Smooth.

Straight & Smooth is not suitable for people who have henna dye in their hair.

Metal salt dyes, also known as colour restorers, are used to gradually add colour into the hair, typically grey hair. Metallic salt dyes provide a slow and more natural looking change in colour.

Most well known colour restorers are those that gradually 'reverse' the hair greying process and bring back natural looking colour. Using Straight and Smooth on hair that has been coloured in this way will potentially strip-out and lighten the colour.

If you have used a hair colourant that gradually adds colour to your hair over several applications you have, potentially, been using a metallic salt dye. Please check with the manufacturer or with your hairdresser before using Straight and Smooth.

No. Testing hair damage on strands of your own hair is not practical. This can only be done in a laboratory with special equipment and controlled conditions.

This product is not suitable for hair that has been bleached and should not be used on it. If you do use this product then it may damage your hair and cause breakage. It is likely that the hair will be become drier and therefore more brittle, which causes the hair to break.

Hair grows at a rate of roughly 1cm a month. Damage from bleaching is irreversible on the hair fibre. It will take 1-3 years for your damaged hair to grow out, depending on the rate at which your hair grows and the length of hair you have. You will need to wait 1-3 years after bleaching your hair before using Straight & Smooth.

Yes, our salon tests show that semi-permanent colours are not significantly affected by our treatment. Ensure, however, that you leave your colour to settle for 2 weeks before treating with Straight & Smooth. You will need to use the Coloured Hair variant. After treatment, you will need to wait at least two weeks before applying a permanent or semi-permanent hair colour, highlights or perms.

If you have used a permanent all over home colour it should be fine as long as it is not a bleaching or a high lift product. However, the best way to check this is to consult your hairstylist.

Charles Worthington takes looking after your hair very seriously and wants to ensure that you have a satisfactory experience with each of our products. People with coloured or highlighted hair should always be careful about over treating their hair and that is why we provide the most detailed guidance on using our products.

Previous chemical treatments can affect the health of your hair and you need to be careful about applying the product on already chemically treated hair. We recommend that Straight & Smooth is only applied after three months of any chemical hair treatment. We also recommend that Straight & Smooth is not applied to very damaged or brittle hair.

Our tests on coloured hair show no significant colour fade on most permanent hair colours.

We have had customer feedback since launch that the treatment does cause bright red colours to fade. We advise customers with bright auburn and red tones to perform a strand test before using Straight & Smooth.

Cut a small bundle of hairs (50-100) from you head and fasten the root ends tightly together with adhesive tape. It is often best to cut the hairs from the back of the head where the hair is longest. If you clip-up the outer layers of your hair with hair clips, you can cut a few hairs from the layers underneath. If you are worried about cutting the hair all from one clump, you can take 10-20 hairs from 4-5 different sites. Make sure you cut the hairs from as close to the scalp as possible.

You can treat the hair 'strand' with our products as directed. When the hair is dry you will be able to compare the colour of the 'strand' with the rest of you hair. If the colour change is unacceptable, we advise you not to use the treatment.

The colour fading test will show whether Straight & Smooth is likely to cause any colour fade to your hair. Testing for potential damage or how the product will work is more complex and does require laboratory equipment; you would not be able to test for this yourself by doing a strand test.

Straight & Smooth can be used on black hair. However, we don't expect this product will be strong enough to straighten Afro-hair. This product is not a relaxant and is not effective on Afro Caribbean hair and it cannot be used on hair that has been straightened using a lye or non-lye relaxer.

CW Straight & Smooth works like an 'anti-perm', it makes wavy/curly hair straighter. It does this by resetting the bonds in your hair, and changing your hair's 'memory'. After the treatment, you hair will want to stay straight. It will, for 4-6 weeks, not 'remember' that it is wavy/curly.

Straight & Smooth resets the bonds in your hair using an active ingredient called 'cysteamine'. This active is able to penetrate the hair and temporarily reprogram some of the protein bonds inside. When the treatment product is washed out, the chemical reaction starts to reverse and the bonds reform in a new configuration. As a result your hair is 'set' in a straighter shape.

The neutralising conditioner contains a patented combination of conditioning agents that give your hair an extra soft, smooth feel and which also control frizz. The conditioner also contains a specially formulated fragrance and a small amount of hydrogen peroxide to neutralise the odours that come from the reaction of cysteamine with the hair.

The Straight & Smooth product is formulated with cysteamine instead of thioglycolate (the chemical found in traditional perms). This allows us to use a lower, and safer, pH for home use. We have also removed ammonia, and the product itself is virtually free of 'pungent' odours.

CW Straight & Smooth is comparable to home hair colourant products. Having your hair treated in a salon will give you similar effects, but you will get the salon 'experience' i.e. direct expert advice and expertly applied treatments. However, as for hair colouration, many women will choose to treat their hair themselves as home treatments are cheaper and easier to fit around busy lifestyles.

Yes. Root-lift will be reduced on straighter hair.

Straight & Smooth has been formulated to give you a result that lasts up to 40 days and 85% of women who tried this product at home agreed that their hair was still straighter after 40 days. Nevertheless, the results will always depend on your hair type and condition.

After 6 weeks your hair 'remembers' its curl and everything goes back to where it started.

During the treatment the hair goes through a chemical process to reset its memory. This process releases a very small amount of molecules that have a strong and distinctive smell. Your nose is very sensitive to this smell and will detect it even though it is present in extremely low levels on the hair. These molecules are harmless and will have no effect on your health or the condition of your hair.

Straight & Smooth has been formulated with a fragrance designed to reduce the malodour as much as possible.

Our tests have shown that, in most cases, the malodour disappears after the first 2-3 washes.

The smell intensifies on wet hair, as the water helps to release these malodorous molecules.

The aftercare conditioner contains a special fragrance which has been designed to reduce the malodour as much as possible.

Unfortunately there isn't any way to get rid of the smell quicker – it should disappear after 2-3 washes.

The products should not irritate your hands, especially if your patch tests showed no skin reactions. We take consumer safety very seriously, and the gloves are provided as an added precaution to protect your hands.

If you cannot brush the back down easily then the best solution would be to ask a friend or relative to help you apply the product. Make sure they use the gloves, especially since they will not have done the patch testing.

If you have hair clips it is sometimes useful to clip segments of hair 'out-of-the way' to make sure your get to all parts of you hair, especially the lower sections at the back of your head. It is best to spread the product through your hair section by section to get an even coverage.

It is not necessary to brush your hair continuously for 20 minutes. The comb should be used to get the straightening treatment and conditioning neutraliser in contact will all of your hair. You should aim to get full and even coverage.

It is also important to make sure your hair is detangled and as straight as possible when using the products. Once your hair is straight and in contact with product, further combing is not necessary.

If you have very long hair you may wish to re-comb the hair once or twice during treatment to ensure that it remains straight but you should not continuously comb it during the treatment in order to avoid damage to your hair.

We tested a number of comb designs when developing the product and we found that this design was the best for detangling the hair. However, if you find that your own comb or brush works better with your hair type then there is no reason why you shouldn't use it instead of the one provided.

After any chemical treatment the hair needs some time to settle and for the new bonds in the hair to 'set'. Wet hair is always weaker than dry hair, and prone to more damage whilst it is being combed and detangled. As a precaution consumers are advised not to wash their hair for 48 hours after treatment.

This product has been designed to make your hair straighter and smoother than before even if you leave it to dry naturally. However, in order to achieve the best look, we recommend that you blow dry your hair, but it is fine to allow your hair to dry naturally.

No. We recommend the product is used every three months (12 weeks). Your hair needs to rest between semi-permanent treatments in order to avoid over-processing your hair and maintain its healthy condition.

The aftercare conditioner has been especially formulated to detangle, smooth and soften the hair and to control frizz. We recommend that you use it for as many washes as possible after using Straight & Smooth from your first post-48 hours wash.

The treatment should not be applied if you have sensitive or damaged scalp / skin.

Do not use the treatment and seek medical advice.

If, at any point, you find any of the products irritate your scalp, rinse immediately, whilst wearing the gloves provided. Use plenty of water to ensure the product is completely removed.

If your scalp was irritated by the Straightening Treatment, and it had to be removed before the end of the treatment period, do not apply any of the other products, and seek medical advice if necessary.

If your scalp was irritated by the Conditioning Neutraliser remove the product and seek medical advice if necessary.

If your scalp was irritated by the After care Conditioner, seek medical advice if necessary. You can use your normal conditioner instead.

Rinse your eyes immediately with plenty of water and seek medical advice. If wearing contact lenses take them out before rinsing your eyes with water.

Don't worry, simply put your gloves on and wipe it up with a damp tissue or cloth, then dispose of the cloth/tissue in the bin. Gently clean with a dilute surface cleaner.

Yes, both treatments can be used in conjunction with Straight & Smooth.

Unlike other Shine products that are available, the Salon at Home Shine Booster products contain oils which penetrate the hair shaft, making your hair shinier from within. The key ingredients in the treatment are derived from Coconut oil which has been proven to penetrate and condition hair. Heat also helps activate the oil which is why we have included the plastic cap within the kits which seals in heat from your head.

We wouldn't recommend applying the product on hair that is wet as the oils do not penetrate hair as effectively as when used on dry hair.

This depends on both the thickness and length of your hair. The kit contains enough product to treat an average head of hair four times but adjust as necessary. If your hair is bleached, you may need to use more as heavily colour-treated hair will naturally absorb more product.

Yes, we would recommend using the product in conjunction with Straight & Smooth to help keep your hair in optimum condition.

The cap seals in heat helping to activate the oil in the treatments. This allows the oil to penetrate each hair shaft ensuring the best results.

If your hair is fine or more prone to grease, then shampoo twice when rinsing out the oil. When applying the conditioner, only run this through the lengths and ends of your hair avoiding your scalp.

Not a problem. For continued best results, we would recommend that you use Charles Worthington Results Brilliant Shine Shampoo and Conditioner.

Don't worry. If you get any of the treatment in your eyes, just rinse thoroughly with cold water straight away. However, if your eyes are still irritated after rinsing, make sure you seek medical advice.

Absolutely, the Salon at Home Shine Booster treatment is designed to be suitable for all hair types and colours.

We recommend that you place a towel over your shoulders to protect your clothes whilst applying the products, however if some of the oil does get on to your clothes, use a stain remover and wash as normal.

Not a problem. We recommend the product be left on the hair for 10 minutes but it can be left on for longer without any adverse effects.

CW Salon at Home, Strength & Repair is a regime that restores dry, damaged and fragile hair by intensively moisturising to improve condition, whilst protecting against breakage.
This breakthrough concentrated treatment miraculously transforms dry, lifeless hair into stunningly silky locks, by penetrating deep into your hair cuticles. This innovative formulation has been enriched with our unique Renovoil Complex™ and is scientifically proven to strengthen hair and reduce breakage by 93%.

We wouldn't recommend applying the product on hair that is wet as the oils do not penetrate hair as effectively as when used on dry hair.

This depends on both the thickness and length of your hair. The kit contains enough product to treat an average head of hair four times but adjust as necessary. If your hair is bleached, you may need to use more as heavily colour-treated hair will naturally absorb more product.

Yes, we would recommend using the product in conjunction with Straight & Smooth to help keep your hair in optimum condition.

The cap seals in heat helping to activate the oil in the treatments. This allows the oil to penetrate each hair shaft ensuring the best results.

If your hair is fine or more prone to grease, then shampoo twice when rinsing out the oil. When applying the conditioner, only run this through the lengths and ends of your hair avoiding your scalp.

Not a problem. For continued best results, we would recommend that you use Moisture Seal Shampoo and Conditioner with the Strength & Repair oil.

Don't worry. If you get any of the treatment in your eyes, just rinse thoroughly with cold water straight away. However, if your eyes are still irritated after rinsing, make sure you seek medical advice.

Salon at Home Strength & Repair treatment is designed to be suitable for all hair types and colours.

We recommend that you place a towel over your shoulders to protect your clothes whilst applying the products, however if some of the oil does get on to your clothes, use a stain remover and wash as normal.

Not a problem. We recommend the product be left on the hair for 10 minutes but it can be left on for longer without any adverse effects.