Blogging has afforded me the luxury of many complimentary beauty treatments. It's a privilege and payback for all those years sweating away, working for free.
When I was an intern at an American magazine and working for a global PR firm as their remote skivvy (actual job title. Well, it should have been), I would watch in awe as the senior team members, writers, and bloggers would get invited to swanky events and get to try the latest treatments. My days of being guinea pig...*coughs*...pampered princess were coming.
These days I get to try all manner of beauty treatments and I love it. Why? Because often the people that invite me to their salons are masters in their arts and I always feel so looked after. That's certainly how I felt when I got the keratin hair treatment at Labrea Hair in Sydney's CBD.
The treatment is so good that the salon is almost always booked out. You have to get in quick. Maryam Geddes, the founder, knows a thing or two about hair, and, I can promise you this, you're in very good hands.
I was apprehensive about trying keratin. I'd read too many bad reviews and was put off. A meeting with Maryam put me at total ease. She assured me that my hair was in safe hands and that keratin would do wonders. Rather than it being unsafe for hair, it actually can be beneficial to damaged locks. Mine were dry and fragile and they needed some vavavoom.
Keratin, you see, is only dangerous if it includes formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is carcinogenic and can strip the hair of its goodness. Most keratin treatments don't have formaldehyde now, but it can be produced when certain other ingredients are heated on the hair. At Labrea, everything is safe, vegan and free of nasties. Why? Because Maryam had a bad experience at another salon, so she set out to make and manufacture her own. She's a scientist as well as a creative when it comes to hair. She knows what works.
My hair is poker straight, but my concern was that my hair felt thin. It had been stressed. The treatment was applied to my hair after a gentle wash and massage. It was then left on for 40 minutes before the technician washed it out. After that, my hair was dried off and then was flat ironed to seal in the keratin. The result? Super soft, silky hair that looked much longer and healthier.
Maryam also did a little trim of the ends of my hair to remove the dead ends. My hair looked 100 times better. It was like I'd stepped out of a heavily filtered instagram picture and I was so happy.
So, there you have it guys. I'm an official keratin convert and I recommend that you all go and get yours done soon. Let's do hair goals together.