Is Brazil for Children?

With the rainy weather we've been having in NY, my hair is like a Chia pet that keeps growing.

Today, I decided to get rid of the frizz once and for all, or at least for a few months. My stylist told me about a treatment called the Brazilian Keratin Treatment. It's a product that gets brushed on each strand of your hair while its dry and then it's ironed with a flat iron over and over about 10 times for each section in order to lock in the product. You need to leave the product on for 3-4 days before you can wash it out. If you get your hair wet during this time, you must dry it quickly and straighten it again. It's only day 1 so I can't wait to see how it turns out. Right now, it feels like someone left a heavy, soapy conditioner in my hair.

For a mom with a one-year-old, anything I can do to save time is a Godsend. If this service allows me to cut down styling time and jump out of the shower and go, it doesn't matter what I had to do to get there.

When my stylist first mentioned the Keratin treatment, I refused it before she could even explain what it was, "there's no way that I am going to put any straightening product in my hair."

Even though it does take 2 hours to dry, I enjoy having thick, coarse, wavy hair. It's tranformable and bounces and flips with curl at the end after a beauty-salon blowout. Straightening would destroy that. I didn't even give her a chance to tell me about the product.

That same weekend, I attended a baby shower and during the party, I overheard three girls talking about the Keratin treatment. Why is that the moment I hear about something new, I hear it again an average of three times over the course of a few days? Was I not paying attention before? Is it that I'm now aware of it? Or, is it a karmic moment taking place?

I proceed to ask question after question to these women and when the baby shower is over, I call the salon for an appointment. After three hours of this treatment, I'm told that I can't wash it out for 3 days. I cannot get it wet. But the worst is that I can't clip it up or put it in a pony tail. I remind my stylist that I have a 13 month old at home who loves to tug on hair if its not tied back. "You need to keep it straight," he re-confirms. "And, keep your hair away from your child's mouth too." Keep it away from her mouth but don't clip it back? Clearly, this stylist is in his 20's and has never been around a young child. All they ever do is put stuff in their mouth. I leave the salon a little poorer but richer in experience. It's day 2.

My daughter hasn't tried to eat my ends yet and I'm half way to seeing the results.