Mark Garrison, the owner of a salon on the Upper East Side of Manhattan that bears his name, set aside a floor for the treatment, equipped it with special ventilators and began providing industrial-strength respirators to his clients and stylists. And a West Hollywood salon, John Frieda, relegated its straightening treatments to an open-air courtyard.
Just like the permanents that were once the height of fashion, the lucrative process of converting frizzy or kinky hair into smooth locks produces unpleasant odors. But is it dangerous, especially to the operators who apply the product repeatedly?
Last month, the beauty world was rattled when the occupational health agency in Oregon found significant levels of formaldehyde in the hair-smoothing solution sold under the name Brazilian Blowout. (A common ingredient found in many products, formaldehyde is a recognized carcinogen if it is present at high levels.) The agency said it had conducted lab tests after receiving numerous complaints from stylists citing nosebleeds, breathing problems and eye irritation after applying the product. Last Friday, Oregon authorities broadened their warning to include other hair-smoothing products, particularly those described as“keratin-based,” and said employers should take steps to protect their workers.
The report came soon after a warning from Canadian health authorities about the potential dangers of Brazilian Blowout. Subsequently, the United StatesFood and Drug Administrationannounced that it was working with state and local authorities to determine if Brazilian Blowout and similar products, known generically as Brazilian or Keratin treatments, are safe. The F.D.A. does not approve cosmetics other than color additives in advance, but will respond to consumer complaints, said a spokeswoman, Siobhan Delancey.
Brazilian Blowout, also the name of the company based in Los Angeles that distributes the solutions by that name— which it says are manufactured in Brazil by Cadiveu— initially repudiated the Oregon findings. But in response to the most recent report, it said that the Oregon tests showed that formaldehyde exposure from Brazilian Blowout was“safely below” permissible levels.
The warnings have prompted various responses from salon owners. Some, like the Sally Hershberger salons in Los Angeles and New York and the John Barrett Salon at Bergdorf Goodman in New York, decided to ban the brand Brazilian Blowout, but continue to use products from other companies. Some manufacturers acknowledge that their products contain formalin, a substance made up in part of formaldehyde, but say the amounts are insignificant.
Michael Angelo’s Wonderland Beauty Parlor in the meatpacking district of Manhattan stopped doing Brazilian treatments years ago because of the presence of formalin. Michael Angelo, the owner, said he began offering the Brazilian Blowout solution again when the company assured him the product was formaldehyde-free, but has now ceased altogether.“A lot of money went out the door,” he said.
Other salon owners believe the health agencies are overreacting.“I say, you putBotoxin your face, lead in your lipstick, and you smoke,” said Mr. Weisberg of the Neil George salon.“Pick your poison.” He said his salon does up to 20 treatments a week, mostly using Brazilian Blowout, and has no intention of stopping.
At Studio Noi, a small Los Angeles salon, Mar Fujimoto, the owner, said she had personally performed the Brazilian Blowout 300 times in six weeks after discounting the price to $125 from $300. She said the company had assured her that the product was not harmful.“I trust their claims that it is formaldehyde-free,” she said.
Questions about the safety of Brazilian treatments have been raised for years, most notably in a widely read 2007 article in Allure magazine. Yet for many salon owners and stylists, who are usually independent contractors, it is hard to contemplate eliminating such a profitable procedure.“It’s one of the most popular services we’ve had in years,” said the salon owner John Barrett.“People think it’s an absolute godsend.”
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