Brazilian Blowouts in the news again

[buttercupmcgee]

Scary.

http://jezebel.com/5889630/folks-are-still-getting-brazilian-blowouts-cancer-be-damned

[joflakes]

It sounds horrid but I don't really know what it is other than very chemical and formaldehyde filled...

[Synnovea]

"Speaking of, does anyone want to rub gasoline into their eyes? I hear it's a great way to make them shiny and iridescent."

Ha! I love Jezebel.

[buttercupmcgee]

"Speaking of, does anyone want to rub gasoline into their eyes? I hear it's a great way to make them shiny and iridescent."

Ha! I love Jezebel.

Haha, I know. Love the ladysnark.

[elizlovescrisro]

I have Brazilian TV and they had a feature on blow outs and how the formaldehyde black market is strong. They even had an undercover reporter go buy some, and many salons that offered formaldehyde-free blow outs were actually mixing it into the products. Several women shared their near death experiences. Scary stuff.

I love my hair but I love my life and lungs more.

[Amber_Maiden]

Good, funny, article!!

[Maverick494]

Hmm, it all sounds so evil but I'd take it with a pinch of salt. My best friend had it done (I came with her because I was curious) and there were no fumes, no near death experiences, etc. It actually smelled good and her hair still looks good two months later. A far cry from all the horror stories I've been hearing.

[buttercupmcgee]

Hmm, it all sounds so evil but I'd take it with a pinch of salt. My best friend had it done (I came with her because I was curious) and there were no fumes, no near death experiences, etc. It actually smelled good and her hair still looks good two months later. A far cry from all the horror stories I've been hearing.

I'm glad she had a good experience. I'm pretty sure, though, that the near death/cancer scare is about what can happen down the road, not right there in the salon chair.

I tend to be cynical about hysterical reporting too, but this just keeps popping up. It's no secret that formaldehyde is not meant to mix with the living.

[Nedertane]

Wait, what exactly do they DO in a Brazilian blowout? This is the first time I've ever heard of it. As I'm attempting to research it, I'm rather skeptical of their claims that it "benefits anyone's hair type, and leaves no damage behind". Mhmmm...

[buttercupmcgee]

Wait, what exactly do they DO in a Brazilian blowout? This is the first time I've ever heard of it. As I'm attempting to research it, I'm rather skeptical of their claims that it "benefits anyone's hair type, and leaves no damage behind". Mhmmm...

"Brazilian hair smoothing treatments (also called Brazilian Keratin Treatment, BKT, Brazilian Blowout, Escova Progressiva, Keratin Cure or keratin straightening) are a method used by licensed hair stylists of temporarily smoothing the hair by sealing a liquid keratin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratin) and a preservative solution into the hair with a hair iron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_iron)."

The "preservative solution" contains formaldehyde, which is why it's iffy.

Here's the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_hair_straightening

[buttercupmcgee]

Wait, what exactly do they DO in a Brazilian blowout? This is the first time I've ever heard of it. As I'm attempting to research it, I'm rather skeptical of their claims that it "benefits anyone's hair type, and leaves no damage behind". Mhmmm...

"Brazilian hair smoothing treatments (also called Brazilian Keratin Treatment, BKT, Brazilian Blowout, Escova Progressiva, Keratin Cure or keratin straightening) are a method used by licensed hair stylists of temporarily smoothing the hair by sealing a liquid keratin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keratin) and a preservative solution into the hair with a hair iron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_iron)."

The "preservative solution" contains formaldehyde, which is why it's iffy.

Here's the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_hair_straightening

[HylianGirl]

The reply I said wasn't posted ended up appearing after a while o.o

[HylianGirl]

I had written a looong relpy but it didn't post x.x here I go again:


Hmm, it all sounds so evil but I'd take it with a pinch of salt. My best friend had it done (I came with her because I was curious) and there were no fumes, no near death experiences, etc. It actually smelled good and her hair still looks good two months later. A far cry from all the horror stories I've been hearing.


I know lots of people who did it, that didn't have any bad side-effects, and many of those side effects actually occur on the long run, not as you are on the salon.

I did a Brazilian Blowout like 4 years ago (my hairdresser recomended it to me to get rid of bleach damage x.x). I didn't know as much about hair as I do today, so I went for it. My hair looked really nice, my scalp did not burn and I didn't die. But a while later my hair started to fall... I'd just pass my hand on it and a chunck would come out. I used to have really thinck hair (everybody commented about how thick it was), nowadays I have half to 2/3 of what I used to have, and I'm still trying to recover the thickness I lost even though I have already gotten rid of all my chemically trated hair. I also remember that the "treatment" had a very strong chemical smell.

[sweetestpoison]

buttercupmcgee is right, it's not an immediate concern, it's a few years down the line after regular treatments type concern. Kind of like cigarettes.. i guess that's why people are more inclined to do it.. if they don't see something happening immediately they don't care as much, they think, oh it's a long way away before it does any real damage. It's more harmful to the stylist than the recipient. The stylist is the one being exposed to the chemicals constantly. The recipient only gets it a few times a year, if that.. the stylist is doing brazilian blowouts on a monthly, weekly, or in some areas maybe even daily basis.

[long]

I know someone who was getting these and her hair started to fall out.

[HintOfMint]

Hmm, it all sounds so evil but I'd take it with a pinch of salt. My best friend had it done (I came with her because I was curious) and there were no fumes, no near death experiences, etc. It actually smelled good and her hair still looks good two months later. A far cry from all the horror stories I've been hearing.


buttercupmcgee is right, it's not an immediate concern, it's a few years down the line after regular treatments type concern. Kind of like cigarettes.. i guess that's why people are more inclined to do it.. if they don't see something happening immediately they don't care as much, they think, oh it's a long way away before it does any real damage. It's more harmful to the stylist than the recipient. The stylist is the one being exposed to the chemicals constantly. The recipient only gets it a few times a year, if that.. the stylist is doing brazilian blowouts on a monthly, weekly, or in some areas maybe even daily basis.

I too am more worried about the stylist who has to perform them far more often than any client has to receive them. I wouldn't feel right patronizing a service that I know causes health problems for the person providing it to me.

[Amelie]

That's actually crazy :o people to strange things in the name of 'beauty'

[Beckstar]

I like my headful of wild crazy 'fluffy/frizzy' curls! Bring on the :cheese: and leave off the :poot:.

[Tisiloves]

I've always been pretty skeptical of the whole "liquid keratin" thing anyway, formaldehyde can be scary stuff, my Uncle's an undertaker, and it used to be pretty standard for embalmers to get cancer.

[Cimorene]

Yet another reason to stay far, far away from all hair salons. As if I needed another reason. :uhh:

[holothuroidea]

I try my best to understand the things that people do, but things like this (along with botox, collagen injections, plastic surgery, etc.) I am afraid are just beyond my comprehension.

I have no idea why someone would knowingly sacrifice their health to meet these "beauty" standards. It's much more beautiful to be healthy and whole, IMO.

:twocents:

[SunlightShines]

That's some scary stuff! I had a stylist that tried pushing the Brazilian Blowout on me. He said it would be wonderful and it would smooth down all my damaged hair! I told him no, I heard about all the problems with them, but he kept pushing it? $$! I have a new stylist now!

[PixxieStix]

Yikes. I was considering a perm when my hair hit APL (pre-LHC), but after a little reading my mind ran screaming in the opposite direction. Sounds like OSHA is having a fun time with this.

[HylianGirl]

Hey just wanted to add something, 4 years ago when I did it, I didn't know there were formaldehyde in it, and many people I knew did it with no problems, and then again, I didn't know as much about hair as I do today, so... yeah, people make mistakes, I'm glad I didn't have any permanent damage from it, and I would never do that again, I love my hair texture now ^-^ and even if I didn't I'd try something like hair wraping to get straight hair. Chemicals like that will never again go near me x.x


And I too have concern about the professionals who do use those often, many people don't realize how much dangerous it is for them.

[jacqueline101]

I was going to get a brazilian blow out to straighten my hair after that article for get it.

[Vanilla]

My mom gets these about once every 4 months. I'm not sure if she gets the formaldehyde free ones. She has 2b/c wavy short layered hair and it frizzes out like crazy.

I've tried to reform her with LHC methods, but she isn't interested. I don't think she's had a blow out done since my wedding last fall.

[HylianGirl]

@Vanilla all Brazilian Blowouts have formaldehyde, the formaldehyde-free bottles are unreliable, tests have already revealed that they actually have 8-10% of it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60XZA6RzaDU

[Sammich]

Am I the only one who thinks funny when I read "Brazilian blowout" ?

Anywho, yeah, sounds chemically. :D

[Vasilissa]

My goodness, why do they still make this product at all?! The only thing they did is changed the label...! We do live in crazy a world... Everything is about money... :(

[midsummernight]

I got a Coppola Keratin Treatment a few years ago. I dont know if that products had formaldehyde in it. That was during the time I decided not to flat iron my hair regularly. But it did nothing for my frizzy hair. And I even experienced some hair loss. Never again. But I have some cousins who do it and I warned then against it. But they love it so much they are unlikely to stop doing it.

[SakuraGirl]

Gotta love that sarcasm!

[Sillage]

Am I the only one who thinks funny when I read "Brazilian blowout" ?

No you are not! :rolling:

[Vanilla]

@Vanilla all Brazilian Blowouts have formaldehyde, the formaldehyde-free bottles are unreliable, tests have already revealed that they actually have 8-10% of it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60XZA6RzaDU

Thanks for the link! I highly doubt she would stop getting the treatments, as they do work pretty well on her hair, cancer be damned.

[Johanna]

Yet another reason for me to avoid salons, the smell mixture of dyes and all the different hair treaments does not make my nose happy.

When I hear the term 'Brazillian blowout', it does not conjure images of hair for me, more like Diaper explosions. o_O

[Allychan]

I had written a looong relpy but it didn't post x.x here I go again:




I know lots of people who did it, that didn't have any bad side-effects, and many of those side effects actually occur on the long run, not as you are on the salon.

I did a Brazilian Blowout like 4 years ago (my hairdresser recomended it to me to get rid of bleach damage x.x). I didn't know as much about hair as I do today, so I went for it. My hair looked really nice, my scalp did not burn and I didn't die. But a while later my hair started to fall... I'd just pass my hand on it and a chunck would come out. I used to have really thinck hair (everybody commented about how thick it was), nowadays I have half to 2/3 of what I used to have, and I'm still trying to recover the thickness I lost even though I have already gotten rid of all my chemically trated hair. I also remember that the "treatment" had a very strong chemical smell.


Hey just wanted to add something, 4 years ago when I did it, I didn't know there were formaldehyde in it, and many people I knew did it with no problems, and then again, I didn't know as much about hair as I do today, so... yeah, people make mistakes, I'm glad I didn't have any permanent damage from it, and I would never do that again, I love my hair texture now ^-^ and even if I didn't I'd try something like hair wraping to get straight hair. Chemicals like that will never again go near me x.x


And I too have concern about the professionals who do use those often, many people don't realize how much dangerous it is for them.

Ditto. I too had it done a couple of times to my hair without knowing about the negative consequences. What set me on my long hair quest, was when I started shedding like crazy and my ends just kept snapping off. I now love the texture of my hair and am hoping to reach my goal length by August where I hope to maintain until ALL the damage and stringy ends from my Brazilian Blowout will be cut off!

[HylianGirl]

Ditto. I too had it done a couple of times to my hair without knowing about the negative consequences. What set me on my long hair quest, was when I started shedding like crazy and my ends just kept snapping off. I now love the texture of my hair and am hoping to reach my goal length by August where I hope to maintain until ALL the damage and stringy ends from my Brazilian Blowout will be cut off!


Good luck ^-^ I know what it is like, I did that for a long time, untill last year I decided to cut off all the damaged hair and went back to shoulder O.O You don't have to do that, but I was kinda sick of having hair with diferent texture shoulder down and decided to do that. But indeed, it does feels good to like the hair just like it is, without forcing it to be what it isn't meant to be ^-^

[irishlady]

Ugh some people are weird, whatever happened to natural beauty? :(