The Brazilian Blowout Before and After at Taylor Taylor in London

Well dear reader, yesterday I spent three hours in a chair suffering for you. That’s right. I was suffering as my head was massaged, as I sipped cocktails and watched as a woman with magical talents (and formulas) transformed my long limp locks.  I suffered because for three hours I wished I could have taken you all along  with me for the ride. For yesterday I had my first experience with the Brazilian Blowout at the first salon in London to use this wondrous transformation kit, Taylor Taylor.

For those of you not familiar with the Brazilian Blowout, look to Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Richie, Halle Berry, Salma Hayek or Lindsey Lohan. Do these ladies not have hair that we all covet? Well, they also have one secret that they all share to keep their locks looking luscious – they swear by the Brazilian Blowout.  Now we aren’t talking about that horrible Brazilian that involved formaldehyde. No sir! This Brazilian Blowout, that the stars swear by and which is offered at Taylor Taylor, involves a super nutrient complex that actually improves the condition of your hair and makes it appear about a hundred times healthier than it was before the procedure. 

I think so many women believe, and with good reason, that going into a salon and having a long procedure done on their hair will involve harming their hair for the greater good of looking good We all have that theory that there is a price to be paid to be beautiful, right? It’s actually what I thought.

I hadn’t done my research properly and I did think that I was booked in yesterday for a hair transformation that would leave me with beautiful hair but also with consequences that would surface later. Imagine my surprise when Ashley, the Brazilian Blowout specialist at Taylor Taylor, informed me that the path we were about to embark upon together would leave me with my healthiest hair ever. Praise be the hair Gods!

Ashley led me first into a tiled wash room with dim lighting. A small Buddha sat in the corner caressing a scented candle and I considered, for a nanosecond, stopping and praying to the powers that be that my hair come through this process without a hitch.  I knew I was in good hands but I’ve worked for two years to grow my head of hair to this point and I’m very protective of my strands! A clarifying shampoo was applied and reapplied to make sure my hair was “squeaky clean”.  Apparently some people can require up to six shampoos. You get the feeling, with Ashley, that she knows exactly what she is doing and will take as many steps necessary to make sure you get your desired result. I only required two shampoos and for some reason felt quite smug about that. I walked out of the wash room with a bit of a spring in my step. It is, after all, the little things that cheer us up these days.

Upon getting comfortable in on my golden throne, I happened to glance sideways and thought I resembled a Vermeer. Not in a conceited way – check out the pick and tell me if my hair up in a wrap and no makeup doesn’t make me look the Girl with a Pearl Earring? I may be warped, but I had to snap a pic and tried to look as sullen as possible while doing so. There is something about Taylor Taylor that brings out my creative side. It might have been the fact that I was sitting next to bunnies wearing crowns, nestled under mushrooms. No I’m not having a hallucination…check this out…

So onto the process.  Ashley combed out my hair. I’ll go ahead and say now, I have a lot of hair so this process for me took a long time.  However, having good girl chat with Ashley helped the time fly by.  And and it might also have something to do with the fact that Taylor Taylor have a bar with unlimited free creative cocktails that will set you taste buds dancing!  After the comb out Ashley applied the smoothing solution much like one would apply colour to the hair. Here’s a major plus with the Brazilian Blowout. You know when you go to the salon and the stuff they put on your hair smells absolutely disgusting? Well, not with this treatment. It was heavenly…because, again, this stuff isn’t hurting your hair it’s helping it!

After the solution was put on the hair Ashley proceeded to blow dry each section as you would a professional blowdry after a cut. Now you would think this was the long part of the process but you would be wrong. The part that takes the longest is the straightening! You see, the solution is sealed into the hair by way of a lovely GHD iron.  Each section of hair is run over with a straightener between two and eight times – depending on the condition of your hair.  Again, time flies when you are having fun and we were finished in no time.

I was given about five minutes to enjoy the soft, straight, gorgeous hair before Ashley turned to me and said “Ok, let’s go wash it out.” That’s right. You’re hair looks picture perfect and then it all gets washed right out! At this point I’m sure people say, ” No, stop. I like it like this.” But rest assured dear reader, your hair looks just as good, if not better after the wash out.  The rinse was quick and followed by a hair mask that would provide additional conditioning for the hair. This is like a full spa day for my hair!  Five minutes into the mask I was given an extra special treat in the form of a ten minute head massage! I’m not usually one for rest and relaxation, but I could have laid there all day with my head in a basin if such services were provided continuously.

I eventually returned to “the chair” and was given my final rough blow dry.  This is meant to be more or less exactly what you would do on your own every morning.  You just jump out of the shower and run a dryer over your head, right?  Well, that’s not what I have ever done. Most mornings, in order to achieve “good hair” status, I spend between 45-60 minutes trying to get my hair in “done”.  

However, after the Brazilian blowdry…I will look like this after simply blowdrying for a few minutes….

Finally the before and afters you’ve been waiting for…

So there you have it. Are you impressed? I was!  Very impressed, in fact. Of course I had sheer terror on my face when I looked outside and saw that it was pouring rain! That shouldn’t surprise me as I live in London but I was hoping the city would cut me some slack.  Ashley took one look outside and said “this will be a good test.” Umm….excuse me, no it won’t. Ah, but wait! This is not the old Brazilian blowout that would be ruined with one drop of water within four days of the treatment. The Taylor Taylor Blowdry allows you to get your hair wet directly after the treatment with absolutely no consequences! Thank God…that means I can shower (too many horror stories of meeting editors that hadn’t showered for days after a straightening treatment for fear of ruining the effects. Let’s just say perfume didn’t cover everything up sadly).

Now I know you probably have a few questions.  I asked as many as I could think of that you might need answered.  Let’s start with the most important question that you’ve been wanting to ask since the start of this article… 

the cost!

What if I told you that you could have a professional blowdry for less than £3 a day? If a professional hair stylist offered you that deal you would snap it up in a heartbeat. Well, the Brazilian Blowout lasts for three months and on average would cost a woman less than £3 a day over that period of time. That’s just giving up a few glasses of a wine a week in order to pay for the treatment. For me, that’s good value for money.

Now, in keeping with being completely transparent, my hair was more expensive.  The Brazilian Blowdry for my massive head of hair was £350.  However, that’s still less than £4 a day and I am more than happy to part with that kind of money to have stellar hair.  The cost for the treatment is determined by the length and thickness of your hair. I recommend calling to schedule a consult so that they can give you an accurate quote.

  Is there any hair type that can’t have a Brazilian Blowout?

The answer is NO! Every single hair type – coloured, highlighted, short, long, damaged, healthy, straight or wavy – will benefit from this treatment.  It takes whatever hair you were given in life and, quite simply, makes it better. Even if your hair has already been chemically straightened, the Brazilian Blowout can help.

Will the Brazilian Blowout stop my hair from growing? 

(ok, this sounds a bit strange but someone did ask me this yesterday so I thought I’d address it)

No! In fact, Ashley was telling me that she has met with several clients who have had the Brazilian Blowout on short hair in an effort to grow out a happy and healthy head of hair.  It conditions your hair, it doesn’t halt any growth or hurt anything. I know we all want to think the worst of such a miracle solution. But honestly, this is the real deal. It’s healthy, it’s fabulous and it works.

What’s the maintenance like for this treatment?

It’s as easy as switching your shampoos. Ah, I can see you now rolling your eyes and saying “I knew there was a catch.” Well, there’s no catch. You just have to buy shampoos that are phosphate free. These are easy to find these days and Taylor Taylor has selection of moderately priced shampoos they will sell you right there on the spot. A personal favourite of mine is Rahua shampoo that can be purchased over at Cult Beauty.

I give the whole process two thumbs up. But this won’t be the last you hear from me about it. I’m truly putting it to the test and I’ll give you regular updates on how I progress so that you can determine if the Brazilian Blowdry is the right thing for you.

Contact info for Taylor Taylor….make sure to ask for Ashley and tell them the fashion goose sent you…

137 Commercial Street, London, E1 6BJ

Tel: 020 7377 2737

BOOK ONLINE NOW

Share:

Looking for Something?

×

Never miss a post! Sign up to my newsletter for exclusive first looks, blog updates and personal general musings, delivered every Monday, straight to your inbox: