Brazilian Blowout: My hair's savior

Those who have known me for many years know that my hair is naturally a hot mess.  My hair is thick and plentiful.  It also wants to be wavy as a mofo on one side of my head, while wavy AND curly on the other.  I try to not let people see me with my hair in its natural state.  Here is a rare glimpse at the untamed beast:

December, 2009.  Cookies = duck lips, hair = swoot.

Unnerving, right?  For about 12 years, I spent 45 minutes every other day drying and flat-ironing my hair.  I devoted nearly 100,000 minutes of my life to frying the ends of my hair, just to have straight locks.  Early in July, 2010, as I was having my hair cut and colored for the last time before our wedding at the end of the month, my stylist and colorist at Salon Hazelton worked their magic.  They convinced me that I would be a good candidate for a Brazilian Blowout (BB).  They told me that it would not only immediately improve my hair's health and appearance, but that I would no longer need to run that flat iron through my hair daily.  I thought it was too good to be true, but I was intrigued.  The three of us decided that it would be best to wait until after our wedding--if not for a few other reasons, all of the swimming I'd be doing in salt water a few weeks later on our honeymoon would lessen the strength of the application.  Brazilian Blowout had to wait.

http://www.brazilianblowout.com/bb_original/

I had read a little about the BB and became curious, but thought it was all too good to be true.  I found it difficult to find any legitimate negative reviews of the BB.  I did read some bad stuff about off-brand BB and similar keratin treatments, but I knew that at Salon Hazelton, they would only use the best of the best.  All of the hullabaloo about the product allegedly containing formaldehyde didn't bother me, either.

After a couple of months of toiling, I finally booked myself an appointment for my first BB in October, 2010.  The application of the BB intrigued me.  First, my hair was washed with some special shampoo to remove any and all doo-doo from my hairs.  Then, I was rinsed, not conditioned, and dried.  Nicole (my colorist) then put a little bit of fear into me--she put on some creepy, black latex gloves that I am pretty sure she does not wear when she colors my hair.  She spent about 30 minutes painting the BB onto my hair, section-by-section.  The smell is really very pleasant, almost floral and fruity.

Just when I felt like it was time to rinse this stuff off of my head, Nicole blew my mind--literally!  Ba-zing!  The BB was not rinsed, but instead blown dry into my hair.  This is the only part of the process that has ever bothered me.  Every time since the first, it has been about halfway through blowing dry that I have experienced some temporary irritation in my nose; it's not nearly as bad as the burning irritation I remember from getting a perm in 1994.  Once I was all good and dry, I was a bit concerned--I got a peek in the mirror and saw that my hair was still a big, poofy, wavy mess.  Did the BB fail?  Is my hair hopeless?  And am I going to have to pay for this?!

No, no, and no.  Wait, yes to that last one.  The BB is sealed in and becomes effective with heat, so the final step to the process was flat-ironing the treatment into my hair.  My limited understanding is that some of us have wavy wigs because our hairs are porous.  With heat, the keratin/protein in the BB fills in all of those pores.  The result is instantly healthier hair AND complete resistance against humidity.  Read: NO MORE FRIZZ!

The masque.

I left Salon Hazelton that day happier than I had ever been after a hair appointment in the past.  Hmm, maybe I was a bit happier/giddier after getting my wedding-do.  But anywho, I was so excited to show off my beautiful new hair to Joe.  It was recommended that I wait a couple of days before washing for the first time.  During that couple of days, despite my worries, my hair did not get greasy or nasty at all.  When I finally washed, as instructed, I did so without shampoo and instead with a masque.  After showering, I busted out my blow dryer.  After less than ten minutes, my hairs were completely dry, smooth, and straight.  Best of all was that I did not at all need my flat iron.  I was so happy that I cried.

Since then, I think I have had three or four BBs.  I had my last BB about three months ago--each treatment maintains its strength for three to four months, largely depending on how often you wash your hair.  During marathon training, I was washing six to seven times per week and my BB is still holding strong.  Here is a photo of me just a couple of days ago with freshly blown-dry, but unflat-ironed hair.

A smile only achieved with hair serenity.

You can see that I am starting to get some of my little fly-away wingies around my face, but check out how straight and smooth the rest of it looks!  It may sound corny, but the BB has made me so much more confident as I do not constantly need to worry about frizz and kinks or my hair flipping up in the back.  Perhaps most importantly, I have been able to save so much time without all of the lengthy blow-drying (15 to 20 minutes) and flat-ironing (another 20 or so).

Admittedly, something that kept me away from the BB initially was the cost.  Lots of articles online suggest that a BB will run anyone at least $300 per treatment.  I learned that is only true in big markets, such as LA and New York.  If you go to an upscale salon in the Midwest, the real BB is a fraction of what it costs in the big cities. Look at it this way: the treatment lasts months, so one BB every three to four months costs far less than getting hair colored even more often--that is, if you are willing to spend so much on color every couple of months, you should be able to justify the amount you spend on the BB less frequently.

Long story short: If you have ever thought about getting a BB, find a salon that does the real thing and get it done.

Update: Just got another BB on Friday, June 1st.  Above is what my hair looked liked after the first time I washed it, one day later.  I used my usual Aveda Smooth Infusion Style Prep and Damage Remedy Daily Hair Repair.  I have been told I don't need to be using the Damage Remedy, but I use it anyway.  I blew it dry on medium heat WITHOUT a comb or brush.  Amazing, huh?

Does your hair drive you crazy?  Are you thinking about getting a BB?  Do you think I'm awful for subjecting Nicole to those "harmful fumes" quarterly?