Perfect Holiday Hair

Summer means beach holidays. Many of us envision our long locks glinting golden in the sun, yet the reality is the breeze, sand, water and salt will leave our hair completely strung out. This does not even count the amount of damage already done by straightening, taming, backcombing (one of the worst offenders), brushing and blow-drying that we subject our hair to throughout the working year. Recent reports that scientists have discovered the curly hair gene, and a pill based on this research to give you sleek straight hair is in development seems too far away for those of us who battle chronic bad hair days. However there is now an answer for Australian women that, beneficially, will not damage your tresses any further.

A treatment which was initially developed in Brazil for difficult Latino hair (often thick and frizzy) arrived on our shores a few months ago. The key ingredient is Keratin which is the main protein that makes up our hair and nails. Keratin has been used in hair care products for ages however this new type of treatment ensures the Keratin bonds to the hair for much, much longer. There has been quite a bit of hype surrounding these new treatments so I visited hair stylist Jon Pinkerton at Armadale (Vic) salon Blunt to find out the facts for myself. The brand he uses is called Global Keratin and is the original product from Brazil (there are competitors however my personal experience is only with this particular brand).

The process itself is quite simple. A clarifying wash, brush on the treatment (in your choice of yummy mint, strawberry or chocolate scents) for ten minutes, then blow dry and tong straight. At this stage you may see some “steam” rising from your hair which is completely normal and is simply excess product. Jon says that “you must find a stylist who both blow-dries your hair and then also straightens it, passing the tongs over the hair many times – that’s the key”.  Be aware it can take several hours or longer if your hair is in very bad condition. The best part? The worse the condition of your hair the better the product works. The main value of Global Keratin to me, rather than its straightening properties, is to restore your hair to untouched condition.

The treatment is best done away from major events. You have to keep your hair straight and unwashed for several days afterwards. Usually I wash every second day however had no problem lasting the four days (admittedly not being able to push it behind my ears took some willpower). For those with oilier hair it may pay to book in before a few days off. You also cannot use any product on your hair over those initial stages so I did have a few fly-away hairs sticking up at my crown. They gradually settled and were more easily tamed with a little spray afterwards (note: those curly, frizzy fly-aways in the body of the hair are gone instantly). Before your first wash your hair also feels like it has excess product in it to the touch though it does not look that way.

Now to the best features; Global Keratin can be used on any type of hair. You can colour it just before treatment if you like or two weeks afterwards. It gives a natural looking straightness – if you have super curly hair your locks may not become perfectly straight but will be much sleeker anyway – and does not make your hair limp, unlike some other methods. You do have to keep straightening your hair after treatment however I found manageability is greatly increased even when leaving it to dry naturally. The time taken and the amount of product used to dry and tame hair are lessened dramatically. The treatment is quite revolutionary in that you can also wave and curl your hair and simply re-straighten it again afterwards if desired. Rain and humidity no longer result in fly-away hair or frizz!

The Global Keratin treatment lasts up to four months depending on how little you wash it (with a sulphate-free shampoo) and costs several hundred dollars. The product itself is not prohibitively expensive so the price is due to factors including the condition of your hair, the time it takes a stylist to straighten and the fact that Global Keratin is only allowed to be sold for salon use at this stage. I would recommend Global Keratin especially for busy professional women and those who may spend hours in front of the mirror drying and straightening their hair and hundreds of dollars a year on lacklustre smoothing products. Until we can pop a gene-defying pill a treatment like Global Keratin may be the closest women with nightmare hair can get to their dream tresses. Your hair probably deserves a holiday from being wrangled into submission too.

Written by: Sarah Willcocks – Style Melbourne
www.stylemelbourne.com