I keep seeing these Groupons flying around for Brazilian Blowout. Some of my clients and friends have participated in these and when they describe their experience to me, it sounds nothing like Brazilian Blowout. I want to shed some light on what Brazilian Blowout is all about and what it’s like. I’ve even got a real live testimonial and pictures of a recent client. Know exactly what you are paying for and what to expect. There are actually salons out there who say they’re doing Brazilian Blowout, but it’s some other product!!
First things first.
Brazilian vs. Keratin
The Brazilian Blowout is the original smoothing treatment and the best on the market. It improves the condition of the hair and each subsequent treatment leaves the hair healthier than before. It uses a Brazilian Super Nutrient Complex, rich with Acai, and a proprietary polymer system. These amino acids coat the hair and smooth the cuticle, leaving the hair shiny, soft, and incredibly healthy! It can be used to lock in color or just cut frizz. It is NOT a relaxer and will not get rid of your curls, just the frizz. It cuts down blow dry time and flat iron time. There is no down time, so you can wash your hair right away, you can clip it up or tuck it behind your ears. You can do your color right before the blowout or two weeks after. I’d recommend doing it before to lock in color.
Keratin Smoothing depends on the product you use, but for the most part it’s long protein chains similar to the keratin that hair is made up of. This is sealed on to the hair and the result is smoother, stronger hair. Each subsequent time the hair will be stronger, but like anytime you use products with protein the hair doesn’t feel as soft. After the treatment is put in you must leave it unwashed and straight for 3 days. You shouldn’t clip it up or tuck it behind your ears.
With both systems the curl is not relaxed, rather the frizz is eliminated. To have lasting results, use the corresponding shampoo and conditioner. It’s best to not wait until the treatment is completely out of your hair to do the next one.
Both treatments can be fairly expensive, so make sure you’re getting it from someone you trust. If you’re considering getting a groupon, take the trip to the salon that is offering it and ask to look at the bottles of treatment. There are many salons that use the words “Brazilian Blowout” and “Keratin Treatment” interchangeably. Don’t fall victim.
In my opinion, Keratin smoothing should be done if you’ve got really damaged hair. And it shouldn’t be done back to back, over and over again. I honestly think keratin should be added to the hair in the form of products like leave in treatments or shampoos/conditioners. I don’t prefer Keratin Smoothing.
Aftercare Tips and Tricks
At J. Tailor Salon, we specialize in Brazilian Blowout. I am certified and guarantee my work, provided you follow my instructions. I am extremely meticulous about the procedure and do not cut any corners. This is the only way I can be sure that your results will last. There is a shampoo and conditioner that I include with the treatment that will also help to make results last. If you get your Brazilian Blowout done somewhere, please make sure they are completely instructing you on the after-care. If your stylist tells you that it’s ok to use any shampoo and conditioner as long as it’s sulfate free, don’t listen! Yes it’s better to use a sulfate-free shampoo/conditioner, but after you’ve gotten a Brazilian Blowout done, use the AntiFrizz Shampoo and Conditioner that is recommended for it. It has the same amino acids in it as the solution so it will help the results last much longer. If done properly the Blowout should last about 12 weeks. There is a gradual fade from the hair so you won’t have a line where the new growth is like you would with a relaxer. Make sure you get your next blow out before it is completely gone from your hair. I know the mentality is to try to stretch as long as you can, but you want to build on the last treatment, this way it will get healthier and healthier each time.
Formaldehyde
I am going to be completely honest, yes, there is formaldehyde released when performing the blowout. If you’re pregnant or nursing, don’t get one done. They don’t have research, for good reason, on the effects on pregnant and nursing women. Not many volunteers for that study! However what they’ve found in their lab tests is that boiling broccoli releases more formaldehyde than the blowout. The way I see it is that there is more harm around me on a daily basis, the food I eat, the microwave, second hand smoke, etc. A while back when Brazilian Blowout came on to the market and became the best smoothing treatment around, there was some bad press that was leaked. You will always have the skeptics and haters when a product is doing this well. After using it and performing this on my clients, I can tell you from my experience that it doesn’t make me sick like a keratin treatment does. When I do keratin treatments I get headaches and feel nauseous. It also makes me lethargic and I’m pretty much out the rest of the day. I don’t get that when I do blowouts. I’m not here to convince you that it’s ok, I’m only telling you the facts and sharing my experience.
A Testimonial
I recently performed a blowout on a client and wanted to share pictures and her experience with you. I want to make sure you know exactly what you’re paying for. My personal take, I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t do it!! The hair is silky soft, so shiny, and very easy to manage. This particular client, took some convincing, but I could just tell that everything she was complaining about would be solved with this magical treatment!
Here is the before:
Model has naturally curly frizzy hair with damage from previous chemical services and mechanical damages from flat ironing frequently. Hair frizzes easily and has a large amount of volume.
This is her hair combed out and wet before application of the Brazilian Blowout Solution.
After we blow dried and flat ironed, we rinsed the hair and conditioned it with the Brazilian Blowout Acai Deep Conditioning Masque. This is the final step in the blow out. My clients hair is frizzy even when wet on a normal day. After the blowout it was smooth! You can see the difference already!
The picture below is after the rinse when we blow dried with just fingers. It only took 5 minutes to get the hair completely dry. Had she done this before the blowout, her hair would have been a giant afro. As you can see you don’t lose the curl, just the frizz. I finger dried her hair to show even when messily blow dried it is still manageable. Had I used a round brush she wouldn’t have even needed to flat iron.
It took less than 15 minutes to flat iron her hair. I took large sections and quickly ran the flat iron through. Here are the results:
Here is what my model had to say about the experience:
“I was skeptical in the beginning to put my hair through yet another chemical treatment. My hair was wiry, frizzy, coarse and damaged. I had fly aways on top of my fly always. My hair is extremely dense and on a normal basis, it took me 30 minutes to blow dry my hair and almost another 45 minutes to flat iron it. Who has that kind of time?!?
Shreeda asked that I try the Brazilian blowout to see if I could tame my hair.
When she began working on my hair I could immediately feel how her hands were just slipping through my hair. There was no burning or harsh chemical smells. When she was done flat ironing my hair, it literally felt like silk. It was extremely light and airy.
Then as per the instructions, Shreeda was supposed to wash the product out. This I thought for sure was going to undo all of her hard work and I would be right back to looking like a chia pet. As with my last experience with getting my hair treated with keratin, my hair would go right back to being huge and rough when I was done blow drying it. Not this time. I used my phone timer and it took Shreeda just under five minutes to blow dry my hair using only her fingers. The first word out of my mouth was wow! My hair did not have the wiry, frizzy look to it. It hadn’t grown three times it’s normal size! I would have walked out of the salon doing nothing more.
But just for curiosity’s sake, Shreeda went ahead and flat ironed my hair to see how long it would take. She was able to take larger chunks of hair then I normally would have when I straightened my hair and it took just under 14 minutes to do! I am so happy I did this treatment. Not only does the product make my hair smell amazing, it feels great and light and manageable. I feel like I finally have time to do my hair instead of throwing it up in an ugly bun all the time.”
My Own Experience
I can speak from personal experience as well. I just did the blowout on myself and I’ve never been able to just blow dry my hair and go. I have no choice but to curling iron it. And on top of that I can never just curl it, I have to smooth the roots with a bioionic flat iron and use a ton of products to eliminate frizz. After the blowout, I was able to blow dry my hair, which took me less than 5 minutes and just smooth my ends with a flat iron and I was done. It literally took me 7 minutes to do my hair. And it looks polished and beautiful. That is a huge difference from the normal 45 minutes it would take me. My hair hasn’t been this shiny and healthy in a long time. I urge my clients to come talk to me about it to see if it’s a good fit. This product is amazing and it will change your life!
If you don’t want to get the whole blowout, you can try out the treatment with a Blowout Express or Blowout Mini. We also offer the Split End Repairing Treatment.
Here is a before and after of one of my clients that did the Split End Repairing Treatment.
xoxo
Shreeda
***
I’m going to go over the steps, so that if you’ve gotten something called a blowout in the past, you can see if it really was or not.
First, the hair is washed with an Anti-Residue shampoo. Usually I wash the hair several times to make sure it is squeaky clean.
Second I apply the treatment all over.
Third I blow dry the hair smooth and then flat iron. I even use the Brazilian Blowout iron! The ironing is the most important part because the heat form the iron is what activates the product. There is no harsh smell and fumes that will give you a headache or make your eyes burn. The product smells great, like Acai berries!
Fourth, I rinse out the product. I know! After all that hard work, we just wash it right out!
Fifth, I deep condition with the Brazilian Blowout Masque.
Sixth, I style the hair with a few products and PRESTO!
The Furry Couch 
So I went to the salon I grew up in, hasn’t been there in a while and saw they were advertising BBs now. I had recently gotten one from a different salon that does all the steps you list, but after reading your post, I realize that I got a keratin treatment today and I’m pretty upset. What effect is this going to have on my hair? Is there any way to salvage it? He said to not rinse my hair for 3 days, and not use any clips or headbands, etc etc. Should I say something? Because this is honestly really irritating, my hair feels thick and stiff, not the way it does after the other salon does it.
I apologize I am just getting back to you. I had a baby! To answer your question…the keratin is a lot heavier si I’m not surprised at how you feel. It should fade out gradually and then just switch back to BB. It’s frustrating to get duped like this but I honestly think most salons just don’t think there is a difference. If they would just get certified they would know better!
Hi, great blog! I’ve been getting the BB treatment for years – just the way you spelled out above the right way. My hair is very much like the woman in your “pictorial” both in texture and length. I have two questions. First question is are there any tricks for the stylist when doing the treatment that would help avoid the flatness on the top of my head? Don’t get me wrong, I like the straightness and lack of frizz but there is virtually no lift on top and so my hair separates at my cowlick which (normally) only happens when my hair is dirty. My second question is about the shampoo and conditioner, after the fact. I find the BB products very heavy and my hair gets dirty within 2 days, There has got to be another product I can use. I’ve read what you’ve written about this, I used to use the Morocan Oil Shampoo and Conditioner instead of the BB products and I would get 4-5 days between washings and the BB treatment itself was not compromised. But in the last year it started to feel the same way as I’ve experienced with the BB shampoo and conditioner. Your thoughts? Are you not allowed (literally or ethically) to suggest any other products to use? Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can impart!
Hey! Great questions. So the stylist can do the flat iron part like normal maybe about 1.5 inches from the root and then go back and do the root in thicker sections. This will leave some volume at the root but still smooth it. As far as products, I have several clients who don’t prefer the BB products. I have them use Livingproof products but still use the BB Masque every few washes. LP keeps hair cleaner longer and helps cut down nimber of washes which in turn means the BB stays longer. The Masque from BB is the only product that has their propietary protein in it so it helps refresh the blowout.
Thank you. Could you be a little more specific as to which LP products – they have quite a lot!
It depends on your hair type but in general the No Frizz franchise works great for my clients and me.
Hi, Just had a BB and am going to St Lucia. Can I use the brand “Sun Bum” oil and/or leave in treatment to protect it?. I do have the proper Shampoo etc from my stylist but am looking to protect it on the beach and in the ocean. thanks 🙂
As long as what you’re using doesn’t contain sulfate it should be fine. You’ll always run a little risk on vacation. If the hotel water is mineralized or chlorinated it will strip out the BB no matter what you use. Same thing with getting it wet in a pool. Have a fun and safe trip!
Hi, I just got a Brazilian blowout done but the stylist did not perform the second rinse and did not apply the mask. She said this is because the results last longer without the second rinse. Is this true? This is the first time I’ve gotten a Brazilian blowout that didn’t apply the mask. My hair doesn’t feel or look as sleek as it usually does.
I disagree. It lasts half the time the way she did it. Did she send you home with the mask?
No she didn’t. I happened to buy the masque though. If I apply it can I salvage it?
If you haven’t washed yet, yes. Rinse hair for several minutes until the hair feels less slimy. You want to rinse the excess solution. Do NOT shampoo. Apply the masque and leave on for about 5-10 minutes. Rinse hair thoroughly. After that you can style as usual. It’s important you don’t shampoo it in this step. And after you do all that you should be good for at least 12 weeks.
I got the treatment on 11/24/16 and LOVE it. I’ve been using OGX Ever Straight Sulfate & Sodium Free Brazilian Keratin Therapy Shampoo and Conditioner. I also love how soft it all leaves my hair. My question is I had my procedure done at a hair school and they did not tell me about the mask or using special shampoo/conditioners so hopefully I haven’t been ruining it. I wash it about twice a week. If I go get the mask should I be ok using the current shampoo/conditioner and add using the mask once a week? Should I go buy the special BB shampoo and conditioner? My hair was thick, curly, dry and frizzy before the treatment.
It helps to use the products to make the blowout last longer. As long as what you are using is sulfate free
Sorry accidentally hit send too soon! As long as it is sulfate free it won’t do damage but definitely get the masque. It has some of that protein in it to refresh the results. Not all of my clients live the BB shampoo and conditioner so instead they use No Frizz from Livingproof plus the masque and that works for them. Sulfates and minerals can strip out the BB faster. I’m so glad you loved your results!!
Hi there! I’m trying to figure out if my stylist is giving me the full BB or the express BB… both times she has asked me if I wanted express and I said no I wanted the full because it last longer and she has said ok. I’ve read the steps and she is doing all the steps but it takes her like 20-39 min tops for the whole process! I know I have short hair but the first time I got the full BB many years ago, the process took much longer and I felt the results lasted a lot longer than these past 2 times with this new stylist… What exactly is the difference between express BB and Original/Full BB? Thank you!
With the express the application is more in larger sections and not meticulously applied in smaller sections. The ironing is also quicker with less passes. And finally the rinse and condition step is omitted. If she’s done in 30 minutes she is most definitely skipping steps. Does that help?
Hi, Just coming back to say thank you so much for the Livingproof recommendation. My hair feels much cleaner and I get a good 4 days between washing. I augment with the masque every other wash. Here’s a new Q: I keep hearing (on various products) that buying on Amazon (for example) it is possible to be getting an in authentic product? Is that true or just a scare tactic? Such a great blog!
Thank you and I’m so glad the products worked out! So yes it’s highly likely you’ll end up with counterfeit or expired product. It’s called diversion and it’s a HUGE problem in this industry. Shady companies are luring consumers with cheap price tags and really convincing imitation bottles. Just like there are knock off purses there are knock off salon products. They cut the product with various chemicals or substances or sometimes it’s simply cut with water. Think of it like getting medicine from a pharmacist vs. a sketchy guy under the bridge. You have no idea where the products were sourced or who is sending them to you. Anyone can sell on Amazon. Salons and any authorized retailer of salon product have to sign contracts and can guarantee authenticity. Additionally if you have an adverse reaction there is recourse when dealing directly with a salon. They can contact the manufacturer or give you a refund. But who would you go to yell at if you get a chemical burn from the concoction you bought on Amazon? I personally dealt with this. Two of my clients decided to buy Lanza products on Amazon and both had a full body rash after using. It was all along the trail the stuff took when the rinsed it off. Scary! Another instance was when I bought my face wash at Nordstrom Rack. Any of those places like Marshalls TJMaxx etc sell expired product. The face wash I bought had that plastic expired smell that cosmetics get when they’ve turned. I hope this was helpful…let me know if you have any more questions!
BANGS! I have very long multi highlighted layered hair. I’ve been a BB’er for years. After moving to another state and finding someone here to do the BB, my bangs became weird so I grew them out. Well I decided to bring them back and now I remember why I grew them out. The person that does the BB is not my regular stylist (I drive for a much cheaper price). Just got a BB last week and we agreed it made sense to cut/create the bangs before the BB so that the stuff can be applied with the bangs down on my forehead. You gave me great feedback before and solved other problems I was having post BB. Do you have any advice on this one? The ends of my bangs (which are minimal – sort of wispy – my forehead is still visible… but the ends are about 2″ off my face. This morning I tried putting a little mahogany oil on them and just holding the blow dryer to blow straight down, but no improvement. My stylist thinks maybe I should have a heavier bang hoping the weight would solve the problem but I know it doesn’t look well on me. Any suggestions you might have would be great!
They should settle after a few washes but it sounds like they were flat ironed at a curve toward your face and I normally do it the opposite way so the bangs swoop down instead. Does that make sense? So what’s done is done. It should be fine after a few washes don’t fret.
When doing the BB do you apply the stuff keeping the bangs on the forehead, the side, or straight back? As for flat ironing, what do you mean by the “opposite way”?
The opposite direction of the natural fall. So for example side swept bangs are worn down in front of the face so I round brush them back instead of wrapped around the brush coming forward they are down up and around the brush going back. So I flat iron simarly.
Back again! 🙂 A month ago I got a BB. My usual stylist was on maternity leave so she set me up with a colleague. A month later my hair is exactly like it was the day it was done. Best one I ever had. When I shared this with my regular stylist, I asked her to find out if her colleague might have done something different. This was all via text which is her preferred way of communicating (not mine). In her response she was livid and said they both do the exact same thing. Having had this process done for so many years from so many different people, having moved several times, I know that the end result can be different – but not this drastic.. I’ve heard that there is a recently new formulation, they’ve changed their narrative about the Masque (15 minutes not necessary), now have a new spray. The woman that did this awesome BB did all the same steps, no spray was used. Was it all due to her technique (whatever that could have been) or the new formulation (if there was one)?
I agree – I’ve had really different results from different salons/stylists. Could it have to do with the water (hard water?) or is it their technique? And my stylist no longer does the after-rinse or masque; she says its not indicated anymore. This last one didn’t last 8-9 weeks. I moved and I think the water is hard, so I installed a water filter on the shower at her recommendation. Not sure there’s any difference. I’m scheduling my BB every 10 weeks, not 12. 😦