Monday, October 11, 2010

Brazilian Controversy Du Jour 10.11.10

After getting my Brazilian blowout done last Wednesday news of its controversy has just surfaced. This was the second time I have gotten it done and I LOVED it. the first time I couldn't even believe there was a product on the market that could make my crazy wild frizz prone hair so smooth, soft and lustrous. The second time I got just as amazing results. Frizz free soft and shiny hair, what more could I ask for? Well.... I guess a safe product?

Anyway, billed as formaldehyde free formula is is the safest of the keratin treatments on the market...or is it?



From WWD: The professional hair-smoothing treatment called Brazilian Blowout — one of the biggest innovations in the salon industry in the last decade — is enmeshed in a controversy that calls into question the safety of ingredients used in its popular salon service. Accusations that the formula contains formaldehyde — classified as a probable carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — has sparked a backlash from several high-profile salons and consumers clamoring for independent lab testing of the product’s formula.

The dustup began after the Oregon Health & Science University’s Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology last week released lab results that indicated the Brazilian Blowout formula ... contained between 4.85 percent and 10.6 percent formaldehyde.

The company, Brazilian Blowout LLC of Hollywood, markets the straightening treatment as formaldehyde free on its Web site and promotional materials. Its manufacturer, Cadiveu Brasil, also touts the formulas as formaldehyde free.

The 90-minute hair straightening process involves clarifying the hair with shampoo, applying the formula strand by strand, followed by blow-drying and flat-ironing the hair.

Brazilian Blowout chief executive officer Mike Brady and co-president and salon owner Devin Semler told WWD in an exclusive interview Thursday that its own recent tests conducted by Acc U Bio-Chem Labs of Glendale, Calif., showed formaldehyde levels ranging from 0.00049 percent to 0.49 percent. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), an industry organization charged with assessing the safety of ingredients used in cosmetics, has declared that in order for a beauty product to be considered safe it should contain 0.2 percent of free formaldehyde or below. Prior to this test, the firm was going by results performed by Cadiveu Brasil, which is based in the South American country, which showed even lower levels of formaldehyde, 0.0002 percent.

Brady said that if the formaldehyde levels found in Oregon are true, then the finger should be pointed to its manufacturer, Cadiveu Brasil.

Patty Schmucker, a consultant for Cadiveu USA, a U.S. counterpart of the Brazilian firm which was formed three months ago, said the results found in Orgeon are a result of Brazilian Blowout tampering with formulas.

Brady denied this accusation.

“I am very concerned because I want to do everything right,” Brady said, adding that what may be his only choice going forward is to sever ties with Cadiveu and establish his own, U.S.-based, FDA-regulated manufacturing plant that would batch test every shipment.

In a move that casts a doubt on the formula’s “formaldehyde free” claim, Frédéric Fekkai salons removed Brazilian Blowout from its service menu in September, just several months after offering it at each location. Its parent company, Procter & Gamble Co., had tested the formula and found levels of formaldehyde.

“We wanted to make sure this product was living up to its claims,” said P&G spokesman Brent Miller on why the company tested the formula. “The product billed itself as formaldehyde free. Our testing showed that it contained high levels of formaldehyde and, as a result, we no longer offer the treatment,” he said, adding there was a substantive difference between the level deemed safe by CIR and the level of formaldehyde found in the Brazilian Blowout. “We feel very confident in our science,” said Miller. "

What do you all think about this?
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16 comments:

  1. i saw a news report on this and my first thought was you and how much you loved it! very interesting to say the least.

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  2. I think we are playing with fire. I actually bought my own supply of the treatment by a brand called Advantage with Argan Oil. It says it has formaldehyde on the bottle but i assumed the FDA wouldnt allow it to be sold in the US if it contained high enough levels to be dangerous. Well when i was doing the treatment to myself i felt really sick and had to leave the room. Bad stuff :(

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  3. I saw a video about this on yahoo from ABC news, even the reporter who was doing the report had her hair done. In the end she wasn't sure what the outcome should be.

    I had mine done in August with the Coppola Keratin treatment and I had to wear a face mask while they did the ironing, they told me it doesn't contain formaldehyde but another aldehyde that has a strong vapor.

    This is definitely food for thought!

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  4. I'm glad I never had it done, but I just hope there's future adverse effects on those who did have it done.

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  5. I saw the results on girls who had it done and loved it,so i felt very tempted to have it as well (since my hair can get super frizzy),but now,i think i will just stick to buying a good straightning cream and blow dry my hair as usual.Afterall,a lil of frizz is not bad for the health right :)

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  6. Wow I had no idea. I've never had a blowout, but a lot of my girlfriends have. I will definitely pass this along to them!
    Thank you, for posting this!!!

    XOXO, CC

    http://thecupcakecartel.blogspot.com

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  7. Wow! That is terrible. I hope they get to the bottom of this.

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  8. I think you really should be careful, I´m from Brazil and this treatement is very popular here, but believe me there is lots of controversy around it, and that´s why most of the top hairsalons won´t performe it.

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  9. I heard about this last week, I too have a BB. Although, I still think I will continue getting it done. Unless further research proves more danger.
    xo

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  10. yeah i was seriously considering this till i found out this info recently /: pretty much if the treatment works, it has some dangerous chemical

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  11. everything causes cancer whether its the freaking microwave or certain sunblocks believe it or not, so if you like it then who cares?!

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  12. A loooong time ago when this trend first started I read in Allure about a girl actually dying from the formaldehyde exposure, I just assumed it was fine now?

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  13. In Canada, testing by Heath Canada revealed the formaldehyde level in Brazilian Blowout solution to be 12%- acceptable level is supposed to be 2%. I chose the get the Coppola Keratin treatment done instead of the Brazilian Blowout, even thought the Brazilian has a shorter much shorter curing time because I didn't feel the exposure to the formadehyde was worth it in the long and short term. Some news stories here showed quite few women with strange strawlike hair- the Brazilian procedure literally fried their hair off in a couple of months.

    I would personally find an alternative to the Brazilian Blowout Brand- so not worth it!

    http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/_2010/2010_167-eng.php

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