COMPETITION ALERT!

Win a 20% voucher for a Brazilian Blowout at The Retreat.  All you need to do in send an email to win@beautybuzzhk.com with the title PLEASE HELP MY FRIZZY HAIR, recommending a friend to look at The Retreat and BBHK.  Both you and your friend will be entered into the draw.  The more friends you recommend, the more chances you have of winning, and of course your friend can also invite people!  The more people you invite to enter, the more chances you have of winning!  The cost of the treatment is $2500-$3500, plus The Retreat are kindly giving away a FREE Brazilian Blowout shampoo and conditioner to first time visitors (valued at $450 each), so if you win, you could be saving yourself $1600!

Terms and conditions apply.  Competition finishes on August 30th.

Is the Hong Kong humidity playing havoc with your hair?  Having a bad hair day?.. or bad hair year?  Then BBHK may have the cure for you.  The Brazilian Blowout is the latest craze from Hollywood and has just hit the shores of Hong Kong.

As a lifetime sufferer of frizzy puffy hair, the idea of a magic potion that could tame my messy locks obviously got me whooping with joy, and trotting off to The Retreat in Repulse Bay to try the treatment, but does it work and does it harm the hair?

The Brazilian Blowout is a brand of the popular Brazilian keratin treatments, only this one takes as little as 60 minutes and you can wash your hair right away and can last as long as 12 weeks. (other brands require you to wait 1-3 days to let the product take hold).

Some salons have been known to falsely advertise the “Brazilian Blowout” when they are actually using something else, then you don’t even know what you’re getting. Some products contain much harsher chemicals than others, while some stylists claim their product is “chemical-free.”So it was good to know that The Retreat have the one-and-only original product.

How does it work?
Gaps in the hair structure causes it to bend and coil, creating curls and frizz.  These gaps also cause hair to absorb moisture, so those of us who were not blessed with naturally super straight and sleek hair have little gaps in our hair structure that suck up all that lovely Hong Kong humidity.  Lucky girls.  The keratin formula in the Brazilian treatments coat each hair with protein, filling the gaps, creating a more sleek, smooth, solid strand that says noooo to humidity.

Doin’ it and Doin’ it and Doin’ it well

Even though the idea of super sleek and basically tidy hair every day was enough to get me all giddy, the idea of putting chemicals on my hair always scares me.  Quite frankly I quite like having hair on my head, and the possibitity that something can go wrong and I end up bald isnt too appealing.  But when I heard that the guru of sleek, Jenniffer Aniston has this treatment regularly, along with other hollywood stars such as Nicole Richie, Halle Berry and  Lindsay Lohan, I decided I was in safe hands.  It also contains no formaldehyde which is a major culprit ingredient for hair product offenders.
I booked my appointment at The Retreat, and said goodbye to my frizzy hair forever.  The treatment was surprisingly simple.  My hair was washed properly to remove any products, then the solution was applied.  It was then blow-dried and flat-ironed to ’seal in’ the keratin to the cuticle.  My only problem with the process was when the flat iron was being used, the heat on the product caused my eyes to water like crazy, so I would possibly advise bringing a pair of sunglasses (yes i know you will look like an idiot, but who wants to smudge their mascara!).

Much to my dismay my hair was washed again.  It looked so beautiful and straight, the thought of runing it brought a lump to my throat, but I was assured this was all part of the bonding process.  I was then passed over to the master hairstylist who snipped my locks to perfection.  Another blow-dry later, I stepped out of The Retreat looking like a million dollars.

With this particular Brazilian keratin treatment you can wash your hair immediately, (unlike others that you have to wait 3 days without tying up your hair), I did actually wait 3 days to wash my hair because it looked so incredible.  Living in Hong Kong, I have resigned to the fact that as soon as I leave a salon, I puff up like a poodle, and look bedragged within about 45minures, but three days later, I still looked like I just stepped out of the hairdressers.

I finally washed my hair, and let it dry naturally to see if the familiar fuzz ball would be staring back at me in the mirror, and I was amazed at what I saw, my hair actually looked like I had already blow-dried it! It was super straight, super sleep and super shiny.  Result!  I ended up dancing around my bedroom doing my happy dance.

Three weeks later
In the height of Hong Kong summer my hair is still sleak and smooth, but not quite as smooth as day one.   In fact I think I like it more.  Even though I love the idea of really straight hair, being a girl with volume and oomph in her hair, I sometimes feel like I have lost a bit of my charachter when it is too straight.  The best thing is there is no frizz at all in my hair, and it is still super shiny, but with movement and very loose waves that people spend ages trying to tease into their hair.  They advise you to buy the Brazilian Blowout own brand shampoo and conditioner to extend the life of the treatment, which contains acai berry among other products to zap life into your hair. I just ended up buying the conditioner, as at $450 dollars each is quite a lot, but  you can use any brand,as long as it doesn’t contain  sodium chloride (salt, which breaks down the keratin treatment).  I love the smell and the texture of the conditoner, and if it is helping to maintain my hair, then I will carry on buying it, but next time with the shampoo too.  2010 will go down in history as my summer of love with the Brazilian Blowout.

Where?
The Retreat
1st Floor, 33 Beach Road
Repulse Bay,
+852 2803 1860

How Much? SPECIAL BBHK OFFER ALERT
The prices are $2500 – 3500 and includes a homecare kit of shampoo and conditioner for first time customers. Normally priced at $450 each, so that is a saving of $950.