I've never even heard of the Brazilian Blowout before. What exactly is it supposed to do? 

I have not had a Brazilian Blowout and do not intend to.  I've only had my hair highlighted and colored in the past.  The bleach does sting my nose but that's about it.  I have decided to quit coloring my hair.  I think natural haircolor is often the most beautiful choice for most people.

@AffinityInUnderstanding@xanga - It's like an extreme leave-in conditioner for people with curly hair that coats it for so many washes and either makes it straight (if you iron it) or makes curly hair not frizzy without other hair products (if you apply it and don't iron).

It lasts a few months, washes out and then you're curly again. It's kind of expensive but is an only option if your hair is too weak for harsher chemicals (like a straight perm/Japanese thermal straightening) or you don't want to change your hair permanently.

@StatelessPilot@revelife - In some ways I agree, but I think the problem is that, without some type of intervention, customers would never know the risks. I doubt they are having to sign anything before they get it done. If so, I take back everything I said. But I think the customers are going into this not knowing what is being put on their hair and what the side effects could be. Hopefully this rec from the FDA will help them make an informed decision, since the FDA isn't saying people can't get the hair treatment.

I"m a hairdresser that does do keratin treatments, also know as known as "Brazilian Blowouts." Here's the deal though....Brazilian Blowout is a brand name of a product, as well as the name people have adopted for all keratin services across the board even though there are many types of products available and many of them that do not use formaldehyde and are safe to use.

When the treatment was marketed to hairdressers as a service alternative to the more harsh chemical straightners, it' sounded like a dream alternative for me considering it wasn't going to be doing a lot of damage, but instead possibly fixing hair types that just cannot go through the traditional straightening services.  I also liked that the point of them wasn't so much straightening as it was frizz control.  With hair trends constantly going in and out of fashion, it was nice to think that I could offer a service that could help someone with unruly curl still keep and use their curl without having all the frizz, that would also help them with their hairstyle straightening when they wanted to wear their hair straight.

But after much research on my part, I came to the conclusion that the I didn't remotely feel safe with the formaldehyde issue, so I didn't get into them at the start and waited until the technology could offer me chemicals to work with that wouldn't be so harmful.

Now, we have organic keratin treatments that are formaldehyde free that work just as good as the original Brazilian Blowout brand.  I choose the sorts of products that are completely free of formaldehyde because I don't believe in risking the health of my client, myself and anyone else that may be present in the salon when I am doing a keratin treatment.

What I recommend to people looking into keratin blowouts is to see if the salon is using them as an alternative to formaldehyde laced ones, ask what the brand is and then make sure to request a formaldehyde free product if they have it.  The Brazilian Blowout product DOES have formaldehyde in it, where there are many other products out there that do not. I use the Simply Smooth line myself, but Pravana and many others are also formaldehyde free as well.

As to the price and that the hair re-curls later....

Keratin is a very expensive and unstable protein to synthesize, therefore the manufactors set our prices for the service because of the cost to make the chemical compound that get's passed on to the hairdressers in product expense. That doesn't mean that you should be paying someone something like $800 dollars or crazy numbers like that.  At the most for exceptionally thick, long heavy hair you should probably be paying about $350 to $400 tops.  For all other hair types it should be around $250 to $150 tops.  Get an evaluation about the price for your particular hair type BEFORE you book and appointment.

Also, a keratin blowout is NOT a straightener or for permenant straightening processes. If the hair does straighten after and stay that way it is probably due to how the hair type accepts the product into the hair.  What it is for is 100% frizz control with a softening of the curl of the hair.  So if you have very curly hair, this service could help you make your curl 100% more managable and frizz free.  If you have frizz problems even if your hair is straight, it will make your hair 100% frizz free and more than likely straighter.  The straightening effect of the process is directly affected by how curly your hair is.

Keratin blowouts are not permenant per se, but they are accumulative, which means that over time the keratin stays in the older hair down the length and strenghtens  that hair permenantly.  The product does build up in the hair over repeat treaments.  That isn't a bad thing and depending on how often you have the service, it will effect how well your hair retains the effects of the treatments over time. 

Here are the sort of people I recomment this service to:

People with very frizzy hair, with very tight curl that want their curl looser, people that have sort of wavy/sort of straight hair that just want it to be more smooth than wavy, people with fragil hair that need something to protect their hair and make it stronger, people with chronic split end or breakage problems that want help with it.

I hope this clarifies that the term "brazilian blowout", doesn't just cover one type or all keratin services, but more of a brand name that hasn't been in compliance with the FDA. 

Ask for organic products, request them and make sure they aren't using a brand that has formaldehyde in it.  And if you just love the way the products with formaldehyde in them work with your hair, make sure that both you and your hairdresser are wearing protective masks before the service begins.  All salons should have such masks for you if they are doing such services.

Never wanted a blowout. Now, reading this, I definatly am never getting one.

I had never heard of this before so I googled it and found the official website which provides MSDS saftey sheets for their products.

Umm...if it's got bloody MSDS safety sheets I'm not surprised it causes all those side effects. Beauty can be so fucking stupid sometimes.

Thats pretty scary. I've had my hair bleached a few times, in sections and my whole head (only once, hehe) and I remember one time when I was having some small sections bleached, it made my eyes water and my nose burn. Might have been a liiiiiiittle strong there.

Jeff Cardarella, President of Aerovex Systems, says, “OSHA’s testing shows that some of these products can create irritating levels of formaldehyde during performance of hair-smoothing services. This should tell every stylist that it is important to understand and follow all manufacturers’ instructions for safe use and proper handling. This is a good way to help minimize exposure to formaldehyde, as well as the many gases, vapors and dusts found in salons.  Another very important recommendation is for ALL salons to evaluate the efficiency of their ventilation systems. Some salons lack proper ventilation needed to ensure safety for the full range of chemical services offered, including color, bleach, artificial nail services and hair removal. New technologies have been developed that are highly effective for improving salon air quality.  This is an often-overlooked tool that ALL salons need to protect stylists and their clients. OSHA recently issued a warning that should be a wake-up call for our industry. Salons MUST begin to consider ventilation as an important tool. You can’t cut hair without shears, and you can’t have a safe salon environment with proper and effective ventilation.

Salons that provide proper ventilation control measures such as Aerovex Systems’ "Three Zone Protection" are able to ensure a safe salon environment.  The “Three Zone Protection Package” includes:

"Chemical Source Capture System" to protect the stylist's and client's breathing zone 

"The One That Works" Salon Air Purifier to cleanse the work station air & circulate fresh air throughout the salon 

"Dust Plus Filters" special salon filters designed to remove vapors & dusts from the buildings' HVAC system

 Jordana Kotlus, Lorraine Colour Bar, Santa Monica CA. received this comment from a client when she asked about her experience having a keratin hair-smoothing treatment performed in her salon, provided with Aerovex Systems' proper salon ventilation control measures:

 "I didn’t know what to completely expect, but I had asked around before going, and was told to expect that my eyes would tear up and that the fumes were going to be on the strong side.  I didn’t experience either one at all.  I had no issues with odors from the process or the burning of the eyes but Jordana did have a machine that vents the fumes [Chemical Source Capture System and Room Air Purifier by Aerovex Systems].  

For more information visit: http://www.aerovexsystems.com/chemical-source-capture-system-hair-salons/

@galliver@xanga - Regardless of the MSDS sheets I think it's fucked up that it has formaldehyde in it at all. 

@StatelessPilot@revelife - From my understanding in the article, the FDA is just letting people know that these blowouts are unsafe, not banning them. I think your criticism is misguided. People have the right to be correctly informed about the risks they are taking so they can practice that personal freedom and responsibility thing you mentioned. How is the average person suppose to know something is unsafe when they are being told otherwise by the seller, and do not have any outside sources verifying these claims? Sure, people have the right to make bad choices regarding their health, but they also have the right to know that the choices are, in fact, bad for their health. 

i got the blow out done last summer and experienced none of the listed symptoms. In all honesty, i loved it. 

@of_such_a_prodigious_paradox@xanga - Except for that nobody is responsible for them except for themselves. If you fuck your life or health up because you were stupid enough to put dangerous chemicals in your body it's your fault and you deserve whatever consequences you get. I'm all for letting stupid people fuck themselves up and making them pre-pay for treatment if they do. Such people are a cancer to society anyway and only work to bring the human race down anyway. I say just let natural selection/nature take its course. Survival of the fittest.