Brazilian blow dry advice

[Tobuyornot99]

Hello, I am absolutely fed up of my frizzy, wild, ever expanding hair. I've tried curly girl etc, but the problem is that chunks of my hair are curly and others straight, it's an absolute nuisance! I also have loads of hair, so blow drying takes a lifetime.
I'm considering a Brazilian as I at my wits end, it's about £100 though and I'm wondering if it's worth the money, does anyone have any experience?
Thanks in advance!

[JDSTER]

I’ve had it done a couple of times now. It soundscape like my hair is different to yours- certainly not ever expanding- it’s fine hair with a bit of a wave but not a nice wave that looks good unfortunately. If I washed and left my hair it would be frizzy and look terrible (I NEVER just wash and leave my hair- it’s inconceivable) Anyway, I’m much happier with my hair once I’ve had the blow dry. It still needs me to blow dry it after washing but it’s much smoother and sits nicer. I’m trying to not wash my hair every day because it does reduce the lifespan of the keratin blow dry. Mine tend to only lasts 3 months max. You need to use sulphate free shampoo, which isn’t hard these days. It is an expense but worth it for me.

[Redisthemagicolour]

My hair is described as 'bent' by me. Neither curly nor straight. Left alone it looks a mess. I straighten it every wash. I've had a Brazilian blow dry and it means all I have to do is rough dry then brush through and I'm good to go. It's great. If it gets wet in the rain it will straighten again if I blast it with the hairdryer and even if I can't do that it isn't frizzy, just wavy when wet. Because I don't have to use the straighteners it also stays in better condition. I'd say go for it.

[Tobuyornot99]

Sounds like you both have had great experiences, I'm sold!
Do you have to have it poker straight and flat on top, or would a good stylist be able to inject some body and just lose the frizz?

[flimp]

The BBD doesn't straighten your hair, it just makes it behave better. So it's less frizzy, easier to style and less likely to behave badly in damp weather.

I've been having it done for about six years now and I'm not going back to my old hair!

[DianaT1969]

Another positive from me. It took years off my hair. Soft, smooth and had a great sheen. I could wash, brush and lightly blowdry and it hung well without styling. I wash my hair once every 4 days and I'd say it lasted 4-5 months.

[RegionalTreasure]

You can do it yourself if you don't want to spend that much money. I've done it several times, it's great. You can get various kits from Amazon, there have been quite a few long threads about it on here that talk you through it.

[Aridane]

OP - a Brazilian will not make it poker straight - it will most likely just smooth out and even your hair.

Remember though after care - you will need salt free (chloride) shampoo and conditioner as salt washes out the keratin.

[Tobuyornot99]

Thanks for all your responses!
Regional I had no idea you could DIY! I might have this one salon done as my Christmas pressie from DP and see how I go.
I'm very excited now, maybe I'm overly optimistic but I'm imagining waking up like a film star every day

[villainousbroodmare]

I have thick wavy shoulder length hair and it took 4 hours in the salon. It was great and lasted 4-5 months but would be an impossible nightmare to do yourself. I have tried.

[Aridane]

I wouldn’t bother doing it yourself - if you keep your eye out for offers, it will be well under £100 (am in London)

[mrsharrison]

I was paying £140 every 3 months in the salon. I now buy the product online for £10 and diy. Its a good idea to have it done professionally first and watch how its done so you get the idea of what to do.
I love it!

[endthefarts]

I have mixed feelings about it. I have fine hair with a lot of pouffy, airy volume, wave and curl and the BB makes it flat and obvious how thin it is. It does make it a dream to manage in terms of no need to blow dry for the first couple of weeks and then just better looking, easier hair for the month or two after that. I asked the 2 hairdressers who've done it if it could be made less flat, but they said no - it has to be done poker straight. It looks fine after a couple of weeks and I think it would look nice straight away if I had more hair, I just look practically balding because my hair is so thin and it's really obvious because usually it's like a load of candyfloss which gives get illusion of thickness.

[JoJoSM2]

I used to get it done regularly for a few years. I had smooth, long hair afterwards and was able to grow it. Didn’t need blow drying either. However, it’s not great if you dye your hair. BBD can wash the colour out. If you do the dyeing after the BBD, you’ll lose the smoothing/de-frizzing effect.
I’d also bear in mind that the quality of the service can vary. If it’s well done, it’ll look amazing and last for ages. But I also had it botched on a couple of occasions and it looked awful.

[Moana123]

To those of you who have had it done, would it also solve hair problems from humidity? I’m thinking of having done as I’m spending next summer in Florida where it’s humid constantly...

[MammaAgata]

As others have said don't be fooled into thinking this is going to make your hair poker straight. It doesn't, it just makes it much more easier to manage. I have very thick wavy (frizzy) hair. I have keratase straightening (there are many different brands, BBD being one of them). When I have this done, I still need to blow dry my hair (using Babyliss Big Hair) but it takes 10 mins instead of 40, is much smoother, lasts longer etc. To begin with in the first few days your hair will be so smooth it's almost too flat and straight (well for me anyhow) but as time goes on and the product fades it gets less so. I love them, totally transformed my hair and so worth the money.

[quackingduck222]

I’ve been doing the DIY kits for over a year now and it’s excellent and I would highly recommend it.

Last year In the summer I had my hair cut shorter than I’ve ever had and it was unruly and kinking up so badly at the bottom it was having to constantly straighten it. It also went stupidly frizzy.

The DIY kit worked wonders, the frizz disappeared and it smoothed the hair out so it did appear straighter and it behaved so much better. The kink disappeared.

I redo mine every 3 months and wouldn’t be without it now.

To do it on yourself sounds difficult but it’s really not. It takes a couple of hours tho but for me I feel it’s well worth it as it saves a lot of time every time I style my hair.

[quackingduck222]

Moana - I had a treatment on last year when we went on holiday. I usually stuffer in humidity, my hair seems to expand when we go away. but not this time. It worked wonders.

[quackingduck222]

Here is a link to the kit I use.

I leave the treatment on for 20 minuets rather than the stated time. The original kit I was using was 30 mins, this is the exact same just rebranded so I’ve decided to go in the middle to be safe as my frizz is on the top section of my hair and gets appplied last.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brazilian-Straightening-Keratin-Treatment-100ml/dp/B00YUNTA9U/ref=sr114aait?ie=UTF8&qid=1513595134&sr=8-4&keywords=brazilian+keratin+treatment

[MammaAgata]

@quackingduck - can I ask, do you need to seal the products in with Hair straighteners like they do in the salon? That's the bit I am worried about, I'm rubbish at using straighteners.. But, considering my salon is going to charge me £200 for this treatment (I am going to get it done in January again) I am thinking I can do it myself!

[quackingduck222]

Yes you do. You go over each strand 5 times.

I take mine in small sections and just keep going over it. I put a mirror behind my head propped on something and have one in front so I can see the back and find it works really well.

[quackingduck222]

Mamma wow £200 is such a lot. Would definitely recommend you do it yourself in that case.

The one point I would say is with the product a little goes a long way. As long as the hairs covered your good. Put it on with a little brush and comb through so it’s all covered and that removes the excess product.

The time before last I put far too much on and it took ages to dry it in with the hair dryer.

As long as you have a couple of hours spare and have some patience you will honestly enjoy fine.

[Aridane]

You can get the BBD in London for between £49 - £69 on promotion in London. It doesn't have to be expensive if you look out for the promotions

[MammaAgata]

The first BBD I had was £250!! Then I didn't get it done for a couple of years because I couldn't afford to spend that much, but found a salon that did them for £150, but first one was 1/2 price. I have moved salons now and they charge £200 - although they haven't done it for me yet. I think I need to be looking at offers (it's very hard to get to London though with working full time) or to do it myself. The problem is it makes such a difference to my hair you sort of get sucked in to paying extortionate prices..

[BabyOrSanta]

For those who've had it done -
Is it one of those "you get what you pay for" things? So it's worth investing in? Or can cheaper be better?

[Aridane]

To be quite honest - and having 'been around ' quite a bit- I think it's much of a muchness, although I guess others will disagree.