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My Illegal, Flammable, Fabulous Hair Treatment
The next step was to blow dry my hair. Dayler put on a surgical mask, and handed one to me. This is probably where I should have second-guessed my decision and called the whole thing off, but the draw of being able to wash my hair without having to struggle for an hour with smoothing mousse, a blow dryer and heat rollers for a fleeting effect trumped the immediate dangers of what the Centers for Disease Control describes as a “colorless, highly toxic, and flammable gas.”
So I obediently put on my mask and adjusted the small metal strip across the bridge of my nose. As he started the blow dry with a big round brush it began pouring rain. Oh, the irony. I was sitting in the rain getting my hair straightened—this would truly be a test of the power of the product.
Another hairdresser on her break came outside for a cigarette. “Do you mind if I smoke?” she politely asked. Because a cloud of hot formaldehyde already surrounded me, I didn’t see how a bit of secondhand smoke would do any harm, as long as it didn’t ignite the fumes.
I could see the results immediately. My hair really was silky straight, smooth and shiny, even in the rain. The last step was to go over the hair with a flat iron to “close the cuticles.” I looked in the mirror and it was as if I was sitting there with the hair of someone more genetically blessed than myself. When I arrived home, with my hair still flowing despite the humid weather, my 7 year old, unprompted, told me I looked “attractive.” He noticed.
I once had a friend who told me I shouldn’t color my hair because her grandmother never colored her hair and she lived until she was 98. I always suspected that while my friend’s intentions were good, her logic was faulty; surely there were other factors that led to her grandmother’s longevity. I have had the neurotoxic protein Botulinum injected into my forehead to minimize wrinkles. I think I even let a dermatologist once talk me into using sterilized cadaver cells to plump up my lips. I wear four-inch heels despite the risk of bunions or fallen arches, and surely my shapewear cuts off the circulation to my butt—that can’t be good. I jog until my Achilles tendons burn and replace meals with diet shakes that give me gas. In light of all this, what’s a little formaldehyde between friends? Is it better to look good than to feel good?
Probably not, but my hair does look mahvelous.
Laura Bennett was trained as an architect but has since established her career as a fashion designer by becoming a finalist on Season 3 of Bravo's Project Runway. Bennett lives amid complete chaos in New York City with her husband and six children, Cleo, 20, Peik, 13, Truman, 10, Pierson, 6, Larson, 5, and Finn, 2.
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Laura Bennett was trained as an architect but has since established her career as a fashion designer by becoming a finalist on Season 3 of Bravo's Project Runway. Bennett lives amid complete chaos in New York City with her husband and six children, Cleo, 20, Peik, 13, Truman, 10, Pierson, 6, Larson, 5, and Finn, 2.
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Laura Bennett was trained as an architect but has since established her career as a fashion designer by becoming a finalist on Season 3 of Bravo's Project Runway. Bennett lives amid complete chaos in New York City with her husband and six children, Cleo, 20, Peik, 13, Truman, 10, Pierson, 6, Larson, 5, and Finn, 2.
exploora
This article must be a joke.
Pittypat
Laura, I was a histology technician before they started warning about the dangers of formaldehyde, and practically bathed in the stuff. No kidding, I had my hands in it all the time, AND breathed fumes. Plus, when dissecting dead animals in high school and college back in the sixties, our specimens were preserved in formaldehyde, and stored in it, and we breathed tons of it. And I am quite healthy at 63. It really is genes rather than chemicals, you know. So I must believe you are in very little danger from this straightening.
I have very curly hair, and spent the sixties straightening it one way or another. However, these days I recommend Ouidad, whose salon happens to be in New York. Her special technique is truly wonderful, and releases you from the fear of water. I use the frizz control gel all the time, and it works even in Louisiana! You would have to embrace your inner curl, though.
maryb7
We did research on formaldehyde years ago, because our company used fabrics for childrens' products. If I remember correctly, formaldehyde is a known carcinogen; the colorless gas from it causes what is called Undertaker Eye Syndrome. How attractive!
Seriously, it is very hazardous and anyone using for their hair either is uneducated about it or just nuts. We had to protect our employees from it, and we did not have the actual formaldehyde, just the residue on fabric.
DBFan2009
hi, laura - interesting article. i'd not heard of this straightening process before. my hair is similar to yours, but most of the times i just let it curl. i would have killed for long, silky straight hair when i was teenager, but now, eh, no so much.
but this treatment - not sure about it. it looks great, but when i googled this process several sites warned of the physical dangers, including cancer. if it is applied directly to the scalp as part of the process, then i think, aside from flammability, i'd have some valid reservations about this.
no one really knows what the long term effects of the process will be - including cancer - but most advise using the one without formaldehyde.
it wasn't all that many years ago that hair dyes weren't considered safe. so, yeah, i think we can thank the FDA for making what we use now "safe."
formaldehyde? thanks but no thanks.
sophia5
I was in a department store one day and a woman
had two identical style shoes in two different sizes.
She asked me which pair looked better.
I told her they were exactly alike.
She said one pair is a size bigger than the other.
I asked her, which pair is more comfortable?
She said, that's not important, which one's look better.
I said, one size up or down is not that obvious,
especially since both shoes were solid black.
I couldn't believe it, but there was the proof,
that no matter what physical calamity might
ensue down the road, present vanity trumps
any possible consequences.
Keep treating your hair with that stuff.
Maybe someday you'll grow some extra body parts . . . or
maybe the chemicals will seep into your brain.
Who cares about long term health,
when you can "preserve" short term vanity.
Lnfitz
I have crazy curly hair, and completely get it, Laura.
For those of you born with straight hair, curly hair is either a blessing or a curse. (I have a friend that brings a flatiron to the beach for frizz emergencies.)
Many smart, fabulous women with curly hair have the internal debate ... I could get an hour back 3 times a weekno weather worries? How poisonous is it, exactly?
Jessica150
Hilarious. I wish more people "got" Laura, but I get it and love it! You rule!
anathan
Yeah, that's all fine, but is Pierson 6 or is he 7?
nova-sys-eng
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/43/9/4382
Carcinogenicity of Formaldehyde in Rats and Mice after Long-Term Inhalation Exposure
"Squamous cell carcinomas were observed in the nasal cavities of 103 rats "
Potchie
Hi, Laura!
I've had this treatment done and I love it... and I am still alive.
Maybe it's being Brazilian and all... ;-)
It was quite an adventure having mine done too, but I love your adventure better. Much more dramatic! Well, your final result sounds like mine: FABULOUS hair.
I'm going for another treatment at the end of the summer.
It lasted 3 months!!!! No blow drying every other day is a gift! I saved so much time and money. Worth every penny... and fumes!
Josh says hi to Peik!
Hope you're having a great summer.
xo
Pat
SansSouci572
That is not true about the Japanese straightening messing up the color, nor that they all have naturally straight hair.
ArielAZ
I would worry more about the fumes in the lungs. Don't think the mask helps much. Wonder how Dayler's lungs are doing.
finderj
*sisgh*
Oh, the things women do to be 'attractive'
exploora
Are you saying people actually do this?
Jessica150
Yes exploora...people actually *do* this...is that surprising? In a society where people have surgery to improve their appearance? And this is just chemical straightening of hair...
exploora
I learn so much on this Beast.
I love America. :)
exploora
I like Laura's articles, I just find it hard to know what is true, and what is added for dramatic effect.
I can't believe people wear a mask to get their hair done.
I wonder if she forgot to tell us about the consent form a person has to sign.
synapse
Laura, you're fabulous and flammable,
and I'm not talking about your hair.
Thank you.
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