A message from my mama (for real)

Breaking news to those of you considering the keratin straightening, but are squeamish about dousing your hair with Formaldehyde. (Not that I could blame you…)

La-mama-de-Alytude (i.e. my mom) reports that she had the new Formaldehyde-free version of the Brazilian Keratin Treatment in a small Brooklyn salon yesterday. She is SO excited about it that she pretty much threatened to disown me if I didn’t share the tale of her experience. (Though she refuses to allow me to share pictures. Whatever.)

For those of you new to my trials and tribulations, the Keratin Treatment is an innovative process that transforms hair that is frizzy and unruly into locks that are sexy and shiny. The treatment is keratin based, which is the primary protein of the skin, hair and nails. Ideally, this natural substance gives hair the ability to return to its original healthy, shiny, smooth state -and unlike other products available in the market, such as relaxers or the Japanese thermal reconditioning (my poison of choice), the Keratin Treatment straightens the hair without damaging or changing its texture. This means it washes out over time rather than growing out and leaving you with inch upon inch of frizzy root.

Thus why my mom tried it out. She refuses to give up her highlights, and thus, her hair is SO chemically damaged that the Japanese straightening that I am a slave to would likely render her as bald as a sumo wrestler.

The down side? It lasts only 3-4 months, and will start washing out way before that. I cant deal with that - I wash my hair so often, that for me, it lasted maybe two months. Not worth the time and effort! But for those of you with thicker hair (who don’t have Japanese straightening as an option) this is pretty darn cool - and I have to say, when I saw her tonight, her hair did look as sleek and sexy as if she had ventured over the bridge into the city to have it done!

She asked that I pass on to my friends and readers, though, that where she had it done is significantly cheaper than the city counterparts…though I warned her that me sharing this info will likely render that no longer so.

But if you find yourself in Brooklyn, check out G Concepts on Avenue U and East 20th Street (right off the Q train) and tell them Aly sent you. You can use the money you save to take your sexy new ‘do for some cocktails!