Whether you’re looking for your yourself, or the perfect hot new addition for your spa, check out the goods on the controversial Brazilian Blowout.
Who says you have to live with the head of hair you were given? In my case I was dealing with a pretty severe case of the ‘white girl afro’. I recently had the Coppola Keratin Treatment (sometimes nicknamed the “Brazilian Blowout”) ‘performed’ on my skeptical scalp in San Francisco.
Yesterday, I walked into my neighborhood salon here in Denver for a quick bang trim. Within seconds, I drew a crowd: I was found-out, ‘exposed’ for the drastic difference in the texture of my hair since I’d last walked-in. And so, I recounted the 3-act “dramedy” of my experience for my stunned listeners. The so-called Denver urbanities gathered around to listen to an enchanted tale of unearthing treasure, a mystical secret from faraway lands.
Keratin treatments, cloaked in a shadow of darkness, mysterious concoctions of poisonous chemicals and torturous application techniques, have been deeply bashed on the web. I heard about the treatment, did my research and just barely glanced back at a life deprived of spontaneous hot tubing, pool-parties, water gun battles with boyfriends and hot yoga, before I dove in, damaged follicles first.
While many other treatments dubbed the “Brazilian Blow-out” or “Brazilian Hair Straightener” derive from toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde (requiring stylists to wear facemasks), Coppola’s revolutionary Smoothing System, avoids toxin by using the latest ‘nano-technology’ to seal in aldehyde (a derivative which is safer than formaldehyde) forming a film of protectant.
Vice president and director of education for Coppola says “We have a derivative called aldehydes, which is safer and more natural. We hooked up with a French chemist who gave us the nanotechnology so we don’t have a dangerous toxin airborne. Aldehydes encapsulates in the molecules. No fumes come up.”
The girls’ (2 actual females and token gay male) eyes widened as I told my story of the upscale salon in San Francisco, DiPietro Todd (www.dipietrotodd.com), one of the few spots on the globe certified to work with the Coppola Keratin Complex.
Ricardo, a deliciously metrosexual stallion from the Amalfi Coast of Italy– couldn’t have been better cast as the heroic male-lead to my ingénue. We laughed, we cried, we drank salon-quality champagne, likely from a box (do they make that?).
Act I: I was double washed and blow-dried until the term “white girl afro” began to seem like an understatement.
Act II: Protein-based formula was applied to each strand, taming my ‘fro into a polished fabric of hair.
Act III: The mop was then parted into silky ribbons to be passed over by a 450° flat iron, infusing Keratin deep into the cuticles of hair. After a shampoo 48 hours post-procedure I emerged, changed.
My hair’s personality (a lot of hair, fine strands, absolutely anything heat-related damaging it immediately, has never supported color..) is the awkward middle-schooler who becomes the leggy swan.
To feel the weight of my wet hair against my back was surreal – to watch it form the most perfect, frizz-free waves as it dried, had me do pirouettes on the bathroom tile.
One of the stylists runs her fingers through my newly soft, shiny and luxurious set of bangs. “You mean, this was like hair.. down there?” She says as her finger blinks southward.
“Yes it was!” I say, inflated. And that is truly how best to describe it, then.
Now, I have my life back, no wait.. this is the life I’ve never had, but always wanted.
Before: It took me 1 hour to blow-dry my hair straight, a process which I’ve coaxed myself into (with the promise of emerging with semi-normal looking hair) twice weekly my entire life. If I’d just ‘done’ my hair, you would know not to get me wet or I’d melt faster than the Wicked Witch of the West.
Happily Ever After:
- No more melt-downs.
- No more hair envy.
- The end of the road for split ends.
- A fresh trim cuts a perfect horizontal line across my back, like an Asian girl. In a magazine.
The treatment needs repeated every 3 to 6 months for maximum benefits. The more the treatment is applied, the fewer and father between appointments become necessary. Which is a bonus because the cost is great (between $350 to $550 per session), but the rewards are greater. Trust me.
So to you my fancy San Francisco practitioner of the Coppola Keratin Complex, I want to take your chiseled Italian cheeks in my hands and kiss you on the mouth.
I don’t know what to say other than thank you.
