i had a brazilian blow out

Many of you know that there is a hair salon near Dallas that I LOVE. They are always doing new and fun things, so I wasn’t surprised when the owner, Lori, called me to see if I was interested in trying something new. Yes! And then she went on to explain that it was a semi-permanent hair straightening procedure called Brazilian Blow Out. Oh yes! I have THAT kinda hair.   The kind that straightens if tortured into it, but my hair would really prefer to just be poofy.   I have lived my whole life with BIG TEXAS HAIR.   That is why I had to move to Texas…so my hair will fit in. I have read about several different hair straightening systems, but have never followed through on trying one.   I think I am still suffering for 27 years from post-perm trauma.   I got a perm when I was 14 and have had frizzy hair ever since that day.   I realize that rationally the perm didn’t create my forever frizz, but doing ANYTHING to my hair makes me a bit nervous. I looked a little further into the Brazilian Blow Out procedure and found:

• It doesn’t contain formaldehyde or any harsh chemicals.
• It improves the health and texture of the hair by creating a protein layer around the hair.
• It lasts 10-12 weeks and doesn’t do anything permanent to the hair.

Did I mention…yes? When I scheduled the appointment at Splurge Salon, they said it would take all afternoon, so I marked off my calendar. Here are the steps to the Brazilian Blow Out as I understand them:

1. Wash hair.
2. Divide hair into small sections and put on the magical Brazilian Blow Out potion.
3. Work the magical Brazilian Blow Out potion through the hair.
4. Blow dry the hair in small sections while straightening the hair with a brush.
5. Use flat iron on hair.
6. Wash hair…YES, after it is all dry and pretty they have to re-wash it and start all over again!
7. Blow dry the hair in small sections while straightening the hair with a brush.
8. Use flat iron on hair.
9. Whoo hoo!   Straight hair.

I ended up buying the Brazilian Blow Out Shampoo, Conditioner and the Daily Smoothing Serum which promised to make my newly straightened state last a bit longer. From start to finish it took them 3 hours – I have a lot of hair. I washed my hair for the first time a few days later and found that my blow-drying time was cut by 20 minutes.   The other thing that was pretty amazing was that I didn’t have to be careful about brushing the hair straight while blow drying because it wasn’t frizzy. It wasn’t frizzy. Previous to receiving the Brazilian Blow Out, I could NEVER blow dry my hair and then NOT use a flat iron.   My hair tended to take on the shape of a Christmas Tree without flat iron intervention. Now I can blow dry and throw it into a pony tail.   I still like it better when I flat iron it, BUT that time has been cut in half as well.   It is more like I am touching up with the flat iron than performing major flattening surgery. I have been really happy with it, but had no idea how it had changed my life until last week when I was out in the rain… I am standing in 100% humidity and I still have straight hair. This has never happened. This is a miracle.