Posts with tag hair straightening

Stephan Zenz is a DJ turned stylist who has worked on hair in London, Germany, and now has a salon in the Philippines where he tends to the manes of the rich and famous. He's worked with every hair type under the sun and has some real goodies to share.

Now that we've got that out of the way onto his styling tips.

Isn't it always the case?

Either you have stick straight hair and you want it curly, or you have unruly curls that are just dying to be straight. But what if getting those straight locks could potentially kill you?

It's called the Brazilian method, "escova progressiva" in Brazil, and it is the new trend in hair straightening. Say "goodbye" to the Japanese method that was so trendy a few years back, because apparently, the Brazilian method is the way to go. This method promises glossy, sleek and voluminous locks – for about six weeks. The process costs between $150- $600 in salons.

What's the bad part you might ask? One word: "formaldehyde." Formaldehyde is known to cause cancer, and the amount used to straighten hair is more than ten times the amount deemed safe by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel.

These chemicals can prove to be particularly harmful when you treat your hair at home. A 33- year old woman in Brazil actually died from this process. According to the National Health Surveillance Agency "What we thought possibly happened was that after doing the treatment, she was in the bathroom taking a shower and the heat caused a heart attack. She died in the shower."

I don't have naturally straight hair and it drives me crazy, but not crazy enough to apply formaldehyde to my hair.

What do you think? Is beauty worth the risk or just plain stupid?