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dani2480
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Brazillian blowout/Keratin treatment... any experience?
I'm considering getting a Brazilian Blowout or Keratin treatment for my hair. I have naturally wavy hair (not good waves), and I have to blow out and/or flat iron my hair daily. I tend to avoid getting my hair wet (like going swimming) because I'll have to spend an hour or more washing and blow drying my hair after. I had heard that some of these treatments will allow you to air dry your hair and have it dry straight (or however the treatment set your hair). That sounds like a dream come true to me!
Has anyone here had this done, or considered it? Any recommendations for what type to get, or where to get it done, or things to watch out for?
Re: Brazillian blowout/Keratin treatment... any experience?
I was going to do this until I found out the FDA was investigating the products because even the Formaldehyde free ones have higher levels of the ingredient than the FDA allows for use in this country.
So I am waiting until I hear more from the FDA on this. Which is a major bummer because I am like you, except have super curly hair (pregnancy changes everything, hormones, curlier hair, sweat more, etc...ahhhh how lovely, eh?) and am just looking for something to reduce the amount of time it takes to straighten because I prefer wearing it straight.
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Unfortunately, I have to flat iron my hair every day. I know it's not ideal and causes damage. And it does cause a lot of split ends (but I'm able to keep my hair looking fairly healthy with regular trims and deep conditioning). But leaving my hair in its natural state is seriously not an option (I end up having to style it just as much, if not more, to get it to look even decent in waves).
I wash my hair every 2-3 days. I blow it out as best I can, and then use the flat iron to touch up the areas that don't straighten right from blow drying. Then, on my non-wash days I use the flat iron to touch up the areas that have (without fail) reverted to being wavy after sleeping on it or becoming exposed to moisture or from being pulled back into any sort of style (ponytails, buns, etc. create really awful, deep creases in my hair where the rubberbands/clips were; and if I dry it in a bun it will retain the shape of the bun). I've even turned to sleeping on a silk pillowcase to help with the "bedhead", but it's only helped a tiny bit.
People compliment me on my hair all the time, and tell me they wish they had it. I wish I could give it to them! One week and they'd want to give it back. It's great when it cooperates, but I've had to learn to be a lion tamer to get it to behave!
And that's exactly why I'm considering these treatments. If it can save me some hassle, time, and damage to my hair from constant styling, I'd gladly pay.
I am in the same boat as you Dani. I flat iron my hair too. It sucks but when you have long thick and frizzy hair, it is the only option (aside from putting it in a ponytail).
I was going to look into these options until what PKW described. I have yet to see a suitable alternative.
I wasn't aware of this. I knew that there were some that contained formaldehyde (or other types of aldehydes), but had read that there were others that didn't contain those chemicals (although, I had also read those ones weren't as effective). I'm surprised so many salons offer it and it hasn't been approved by the FDA.
I'll have to do some research on that then!
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It's not so much that I don't want any wave. I don't mind a little bit of very soft, loose wave. But that's not what my hair does. My hair is like the Bay Area and micro climates -- go a little south and it's curly and kinky, go to the east and it's chunks of waves, go north and there's some random straight pieces that wouldn't hold a curl if you threatened to chop it off. I've tried so many different products and techniques to allow me to air dry (or minimally blow dry and that's it), but it never looks good -- or it doesn't hold for more than like 30 minutes.
I pretty much only straighten it to the point of looking decent. Sometimes that means I have to go all the way. Other times I can get away with a little bit of slight wave. Ideally my hair would naturally fall into gorgeous, long waves like a 1940's pinup girl. Instead, I wind up looking like I a hurricane hit my head!
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I've had a Brazilian Blowout done twice. I LOOOOVE it. Random strangers on the street would stop to say I had really pretty hair!
But there is the formadehyde issue. I'm not terribly worried. Every chemical hair treatment isn't really good for you. I would assume the real risk would be if you're exposed to it all the time -- like if you were a stylist doing them all day. Some places also have fans and venting (none that I've been to, though).
I have a groupon for another one that I'm planning to use later this summer -- I'd recommend looking out for the groupon-type deals. There are BBOs on there at least once every few weeks.
If you want your hair permanently straight, you might also want to look into the Japanese straightening.
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Yup. I have mostly straight hair but it has weird wave bits to it that are not pretty. I wash it every day or it looks greasy and kinky from sleeping on it (in a way that doesn't iron out easily) and I blow dry and flat iron every day! If I put it in a ponytail for 5 seconds and it'll get a kink that won't come out unless I iron it out.
Back long ago when I didn't give a damn, I'd let it air dry naturally and I'd never used a flat iron on it. And it was healthier than anything but the waves made me look disheveled and crappy.
So now my hair is less healthy and if I don't flat iron it looks so much worse, but I do and it looks good and way better than back when it was healthy but untamed. :P So I'm content having it be less healthy but look good.
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Pretty much all of this. I did have some hesitation before I got mine done. I just made sure to ask the salon ALL the questions I had. My best friend go it done a month or so before me at a different salon. She said there was a pretty strong chemical smell when she got hers done. I on the other hand kept waiting for the chemicals to come. I had no idea the chemicals were being applied when they were because it kind of smelled lemony to me. The shampoo and conditioner that I use even still has a slight lemony smell. I got mine through groupon, and will continue to do the upkeep. It has made such a HUGE difference in my hair. I will try to create a post tonight or tomorrow showing my hair curly, and how much volume it had even when I flat ironed it. Then what it is like now. I think a big thing is I made sure I went to a REALLY reputable salon to get it done. There are many different products claiming to be the "brazilian blowout". Let me know if you have any questions for me
Thanks everyone for the input!
If you've done it, and can remember what kind of treatment you had done and/or where you had it done (and don't mind sharing), could you post or PM me?
That would be awesome, if it's not too much trouble!
No prob. It's Moonshadow in Berkeley. Forget the stylist -- male, gay, latino or Pacific Islander or SE Asian. And then Head & Soul Salon. I had the owner, Seana Keville. Both were very good. I think Head & Soul may have been better but it may have also been b/c it was my second BBO and they're supposed to get better the more you do them. Seana also gave me a discount card for return customers (like $175 for the next BBO). She was super nice, too. I got the appointment time mixed up but she had time to do one, so she went ahead and did it anyway!
Wow, you learn something new every day. I had never heard of a Brazlilian blowout... Maybe I need to look into it too!
My hair has the same natural, but unflattering, wave to it that a lot of you are describing. I can't just let it air dry or it looks like a mess. So I blow dry it straight every day (I don't use a flat iron). It's such a time suck in the morning but I have to do it if I want to look presentable.