This is a keratin-based relaxing treatment for ucontrollably frizzy/curly hair. This is not about preferring straight to curls. I don't have curls, I have a bird's nest on my head which, even when I use a ton of product and conditioning treatments and blowdry it with a rollerbrush, I still look as if I haven't brushed my hair. Even with tons of effort I look like a homeless person, and it's just not a good look for work. What drove me to hair straightening was not so much vanity as total embarrassment at how unkempt I looked All. The. time. Think Bob Geldof, even after tons of effort. My boss must think I just don't bother to brush my hair. Anyway:
Had it done in May. Fine, no problems. Hair looked a million times better.
Had it done again Friday. Slight redness round the hairline. Saturday, tight scalp and more redness round the hairlines. Sunday, great big red welts all round hairline, hives, lumps behind ears, horribly itchy scalp and tops of ears all crusty. I thought my forehead was swollen too, but maybe imagining it.
I used hydrocortisone on the redness and moisturized my scalp with a plain Aveda hydrating lotion.
Monday the redness and tight scalp was quite a bit better.
Tuesday, I wake up with a swollen ridged forehead like the Incredibly Hulk, and swelling of my right eye. Get to work, co-worker says left eye is swelling, too. Went to doc immediately, told me to get antihistamine. By 4pm, eyes were worse - lots of swelling across the bridge of my nose and my inner eyes. My eyelids also were weighed down with fluid, giving me a glimpse 30 years into the future when my eyelids have dropped. Eyes look half the size and swollen nose bridge makes me look like Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Fast-tracked through the ER and given steroids. Still on them, still swollen, but think I will be OK.
Why? The main ingredient is formaldehyde. Brazilian Blowout is meant to be free of it, but it's not - the solution turns into formaldehyde when the flat iron is applied. Turns out formaldehyde is a powerful sensitizer, so in some people, the first contact sensitizes you, and it's at the second contact that all hell breaks loose.
People have had much worse reactions, where their entire head swells and they are in hospital for days. I got lucky.
Be very careful of hair straightening treatments! It's worth noting that I'm a beauty product junkie, have been since I was 14, and I have never reacted to anything else, ever. Including dying my hair since I was 14. Sun-In and years of box color. So think on!
Had it done in May. Fine, no problems. Hair looked a million times better.
Had it done again Friday. Slight redness round the hairline. Saturday, tight scalp and more redness round the hairlines. Sunday, great big red welts all round hairline, hives, lumps behind ears, horribly itchy scalp and tops of ears all crusty. I thought my forehead was swollen too, but maybe imagining it.
I used hydrocortisone on the redness and moisturized my scalp with a plain Aveda hydrating lotion.
Monday the redness and tight scalp was quite a bit better.
Tuesday, I wake up with a swollen ridged forehead like the Incredibly Hulk, and swelling of my right eye. Get to work, co-worker says left eye is swelling, too. Went to doc immediately, told me to get antihistamine. By 4pm, eyes were worse - lots of swelling across the bridge of my nose and my inner eyes. My eyelids also were weighed down with fluid, giving me a glimpse 30 years into the future when my eyelids have dropped. Eyes look half the size and swollen nose bridge makes me look like Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Fast-tracked through the ER and given steroids. Still on them, still swollen, but think I will be OK.
Why? The main ingredient is formaldehyde. Brazilian Blowout is meant to be free of it, but it's not - the solution turns into formaldehyde when the flat iron is applied. Turns out formaldehyde is a powerful sensitizer, so in some people, the first contact sensitizes you, and it's at the second contact that all hell breaks loose.
People have had much worse reactions, where their entire head swells and they are in hospital for days. I got lucky.
Be very careful of hair straightening treatments! It's worth noting that I'm a beauty product junkie, have been since I was 14, and I have never reacted to anything else, ever. Including dying my hair since I was 14. Sun-In and years of box color. So think on!
300x240.png)