Services
- Contemporary and traditional haircuts
- Natural hair extension
- Blowdry (instantaneous, gradual, progressive, definitive)
- Highlights (various types)
- Dyeing
- Hair straightening
- Make-up for all ocasions
- Hot wax
- Serial frizz sufferer Sasha Patel thought she tried all the hair conditioning treatments around, to no avail – until the revolutionary ‘Brazilian blow-dry’ came along, and blew away her troubles forever...
"For as long as I can remember, my hair has been the bane of my existence. It’s thin, it’s frizzy, it tangles, and regular applications of bleach have left it wrecked, broken and fried. I’ve wasted hours blow-drying, straightening and wrapping a towel turban round my head while waiting in vain for conditioning treatments to repair the damage. I’ve spent hundreds on ‘miracle’ hair products that have ultimately made no difference. So when the salon I go to advertises a new treatment, the ‘Brazilian blow-dry’ (also known as the ‘permanent blow-dry’), I am sceptical. A deep-conditioning treatment that lasts up to four months, and actually works best on damaged hair? Oh, please. But these are desperate times, and I have nothing to lose – except more of my hair (I have heard this sort of treatment can result in hair breakage), so first I speak to London-based Brazilian blow-dry professional, Ivania Arantes.
A practioner of this blow-dry for two years, Ivania learnt the technique in Brazil, ‘where they’ve been doing it for over 10 years’. She is adamant that this treatment is safe; previously, similar treatments used different chemicals. The formaldehyde, she reassures me, is there to seal in the keratin (a protein naturally found in hair, skin and nails), and the key to getting great hair is to use less than 0.02 per cent of it in the solution; any more, and damage could be done to your hair.
After a wash and condition, the solution is applied, then dried, before sections are straightened repeatedly with irons. Then the hair is cooled, rinsed, conditioned and put under a dryer for 15 minutes. ‘You see the results immediately’, says Ivania. Couple of days later, I wash my hair, leave it to air-dry and almost weep tears of joy. No frizz, no tangles, no flyaways – even better, now when I wake up each morning, all I need is a quick comb-out. For me, the Brazilian blow-dry is miraculous, and the best thing to happen to hair since conditioner and highlights – quite literally, it can change your life".
