At-home beauty and hair products have been popular and a booming business for years and for many it makes perfect sense to use them. They are practical, less expensive than salon visits and with the right person applying the technique, you can look like you just came from a salon.
From hair dyes, to acrylic nails to relaxers; women have been using at-home kits on themselves and others for a less expensive way to be gorgeous. Smart? Sure, if you know what you are doing. Dangerous? Sure, if you do not know what you are doing. It truly matters on who is doing it and their level of so-called expertise.
Many naturals are already doing many of their own hair treatments instead of going to pricey salons and I happen to be one of them. Denver is downright ridiculous with their salon prices and now that I am natural I am a tad bit squeamish about going just to anyone to get my hair done.
I trim my own hair, have my sister color it with the Shea Moisture* Hair Coloring System, and do not apply heat, so no worries on that. As a matter of fact, most of the naturals I know are DIYers now that they are natural so as they rock their Twistouts, Fros, crochet braids and straight styles, I know the vast majority of them are either doing it themselves or having a friend or family member do it.
With all that said it comes as no surprise that after the Keratin Smoothing treatments hit the market a few years ago, someone would be working on an at-home version.
The Keratin Smoothing treatments allow for curly, coily or kinky* hair to lay flat longer with a sleeker look and with more moisture. How does it work?
Well, with the application of heat, some controversial ingredients and Keratin, these smoothing treatments can keep your straight hair straighter longer and without permanently altering the texture of your hair. Sounds a little too good to be true? Well, it depends on who you ask on how good they actually are.
The Brazilian Blowout has been in the news for quite a few years now and the biggest problems is its effect on the salon workers and the clients when applying it.
It originally had FORMALDEHYDE (a colorless pungent gas in solution) and when you heat up the hair to seal in the keratin, the mixture is aerosolized it creates a disturbing odor that would burn eyes, create breathing problems and headaches.
This became a serious problem with OSHA stepping in and trying to deal with all the complaints, sick workers and some clients.
“The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and several State OSHA programs are investigating questions and complaints from hair salon owners and workers about possible formaldehyde exposure from hair smoothing products.
Some of these products have been labeled as “formaldehyde-free…During Federal OSHA investigations, air tests showed formaldehyde at levels above OSHA’s limits in salons using Brazilian Blowout Acai Professional Smoothing Solution, labeled “formaldehyde free,” and Brasil Cacau Cadiveu.” Source
Now in all fairness to the Brazilian Blowout, they have since cleaned up their act and created newer versions that were formaldehyde-free but the stigma is still around and many activist groups are still fighting the use of this treatment.
Im too scared of heat damage for dat
The real question is what’s the hair color
I used the organix 30 day keratin treatment about half a year ago and my ends are still staight.
Oh, wow. I hate that happened to you.
Someone offered to do one for me.
Does it really work?
I used the Organix one before, and though I ‘toned it down’ from fear of my hair remaining straight or becoming heat damaged, it still actually worked. A little hair background: I have fine curly hair, all I have to do is see moisture and any straightness disappears. Even a relaxer didn’t keep my hair straight more than a couple weeks. Sometimes I have pressed it, and with plenty of oil and daily touchups it would maybe last a week. I used the keratin straightener, and it worked pretty well. I even perspired and it stayed straight. The things I did different than the instructions (it would have worked even better if I had used the instructions to the letter): I did use a light rinse out conditioner, as my hair gets dry easily. I evenly coated but did not heavily coat my hair with the keratin. I didn’t blowdry my hair, because I don’t; I do own a wet/dry mini flat iron, so when my hair was almost dry I used it for the first heat pass. I then used a regular flat iron, because it gets hotter, for the second pass, I didn’t apply the product all the way to my roots, but rather starting an inch from the roots, as I perspire too much and didn’t expect the root area would stay straight long so it would be a waste; also I figured if the rest broke off I would just have a short hairstyle for a while. All that said, I didn’t really have to touch up anything but a few spots near the roots and it lasted me 2 weeks, which was pretty good for me not using it as I was supposed to. Oh, the one thing I did to the letter was, open a window and aim a fan out the window to suck out the fumes-it smelled like coconut, but it still made me feel a bit scratchy, and produced a lot of smoke. I would do it again, if I ever feel like it!
My girlfriend tried it twice on her daughter;s hair and she loved it. Hey, Sister Colorado girl!
Lol! Heyyyyyy!!!!!
Thanks for that 🙂
Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen and is a danger to those applying it and to those wearing it. I researched the chemicals in the formaldehyde free formulas awhile back and basically they are using either precursors to formaldehyde ( turn into formaldehyde) or the byproducts of formaldehyde. Look up the chemicals in the product and make sure they aren’t just formaldehyde by another name. The industry has done this switcheroo for decades with lye and no lye relaxers knowing full well that sodium hydroxide was known as lye while potassium hydroxide was basically the same thing but they could call it no lye. The hair industry is banking on people being ignorant of chemistry.
You are so right. I am a former stylist, the main reason I stopped was because the chemicals and fumes started bothering me. A discussion we had, referencing lye vs no lye (these formaldehyde straighteners were not around yet), was that whether it was lye or not, it had to have very similar properties in order to have a similar end result. The only good thing about changing a main ingredient was that people who had gained a sensitivity to it could buy time with a new similar ingredient…until they became sensitive to that. Only part of why people get burns or pain is because of relaxers being on too long; another part of it is people having a reaction to the chemical because they have become sensitive. The formaldehyde debate is exactly the same, as you have noted. in many items, formaldehyde was replaced with formalin, or some other “spin off” of formaldehyde. All it does is buy time, before the same reactions and issues begin to happen again. It’s all technicalities and details: they skirt the issue by not having ‘lye’ or ‘formaldehyde’ on the labels, yet the warnings and precautions are typically exactly the same. If it were any safer, the warnings and precautions would be different. We used to read and learn about everything in products we chose to use, and when people decide to use home products, they should do the same. There’s no excuse to be uninformed now, the internet has made it easy to find the information you need. As humans, we really need to be more informed about what we put in and on our bodies.
I used tresemme 7 day smooth system it worked great first time my hair stayed straight all day. And I still have my curls!
Glad to hear it.
Just looked up some of the ingredients in OGX straightening system and am surprised to say I only found silicone, protein (keratin) and propylene glycol (known yucky). No formaldehyde. Looks like companies have cleaned up their act a bit. The reviews of these products vary. I would think using protein on your hair without a moisturizing conditioner would make it brittle at some point so beware of that.
propylene glycol IS the moisturizer in the above formula. it is what is in personal lubricant.
I get Brazilian blowouts once a year and love it…. My hair loves heat so I have no issues but I wouldn’t get it done more than that. I deep condition my hair through out the rest of the year in preparation for my next blowout.
How were the fumes?
Propylene glycol is nothing but anti freeze for your car…Everyone seems to have jumped on the band wagon for using this product in other products. It’s even in some foods Hawaiian Punch, etc…It’s gross
will it interupt the “going natural” process i am going through. i am doing just ok going natural but forsee some future problems. as i wait for my hair to grow out my relaxer, is this something that won’t hurt my hair?
Please, please, please stop throwing the baby out with the bath water! All products and tools are bad in inexperienced, undereducated, and unskilled hands. The best thing is to find an experienced, educated, skillful LICENSED COSMETOLOGIST to take care of your tresses! Don’t begrudge ab individual their economic dollars! Another important thing, please, please, please don’t underestimate the value of nutrition. Good nutrition in, good hair and skin out! ijs
http://www.lemonjellysalon.com
I’m confused cuz I brought a product tht a protein treatment tht has keratin in it is this the same thing In scared I’m going natural ma hair is already chemically damage I dont want this product to break it even more
I keratined my hair twice a year for 4 years before I got pregnant and it was the absolute besttook me 45 min to wash/dry and style my hair. It always felt and looked soooo healthy and had great shine. Never got frizzy and kept my curls elongated even when dry. And my hair grew like a weed. As soon as I stop breastfeeding the first thing I’m going to do is keratin my hair