Is Straight Hair Worth It? | The Healthy Beauty Project -by Todra Payne

Your Health or Your Hair?

I’ve never been particularly shy about my disdain for the whole “Straight hair is better” images  we get from music videos and fashion magazines. It’s one more thing to make women crazy (Is my butt too big? Is my hair straight enough?), since most of the world’s population has curly or wavy hair.

And it’s no secret that every chemical-filled straightening product on the market damages layers of the hair in an attempt to make nature follow trend. But the new class action law suit being filed against the makers of the Brazilian Blowout proves this business of straight hair is even more sinister than I thought.

Our story begins as one (and then several) hair stylists, some who worked in natural salons, experienced nose bleeds, burning eyes and throats, as well as breathing problems after working with the Brazilian Blowout Solution. For those who don’t know, a Brazilian Blowout is the hip, designer blow-out done with a solution that gets even the curliest hair textures (unnaturally) bone straight. Young girls desiring to “whip their hair back and forth” flock to salons for the “treatment”.

Salons were purchasing the product with the understanding that it was supposed to contain some sort of super straightening mojo that was free of formaldehyde – a nasty chemical linked to cancer. Hence the reason natural salons were also offering the product/service. Well, OSHA in Oregon tested the product and found – hold on to your seat here – formaldehyde.

Interesting since the makers of the Brazilian Blowout Solution was adamant that their product does not contain the nasty toxin. What thickens the plot is the amount of formaldehyde present – between 6.4% and 11.8%. Cosmetics are allowed to contain 0.2% as a preservative. Do you see the problem here?

We went from, “Our product doesn’t contain any formaldehyde,” to a product that contains enough of the toxin to cause nose bleeds during blow drying sessions. And possible death after prolonged exposure.

As the news travels (and it is traveling fast), salons all over the world are stepping forward to report their problems with the Brazilian Blowout Solution. Health Canada, a government backed health group, said their offices received complaints about the product. When they ran their own tests, they found it to contain 12% formaldehyde. Canada and Ireland are in the process of a massive recall on the product.

The FDA is yet to follow suit. But why doesn’t that surprise me?

Dallas-based law firm Barron & Budd is filing the class action suit. The suit focuses on the fact that consumers who bought the product purchased it in the belief that it was formaldehyde-free.

Here’s a  petition you can sign asking the FDA to get the makers of the Brazilian Blowout to take their product off the shelves through a voluntary recall. And warn customers of the associated dangers.