At Spa Sanctuary & Salon Corp. in Granada Hills what’s known as the Brazilian Blowout is in high demand even amid controversy over claims that the hair straightening treatment poses serious health hazards. Stylists there perform about 40 treatments a week, smoothing unruly, frizzy and curly hair for the special rate of $250 per application (versus the regular $300), with results lasting up to three and a half months. “The product works great, everyone’s loving it,” said owner Seven Sage, adding that demand for the product has not dropped, nor have stylists stopped offering it to their clients in light of the escalating health concerns. “We haven’t had a single complaint,” she said. Meanwhile, the debate over its safety rages on. The California attorney general’s office has sued the North Hollywood manufacturer Brazilian Blowout for failing to warn users that the product contains high levels of formaldehyde – a chemical known to cause cancer. Canadian health officials have urged salon workers to stop using the product (which has already been banned in Brazil) and Dallas-based firm Baron and Budd has filed a class action lawsuit against the company on behalf of hair stylists seeking to recoup the cost of the Brazilian Blowout product. All the while Brazilian Blowout maintains that its product is safe to use, backing its claim with results from recent studies. Brazilian Blowout executives did not return phone calls to the Business Journal. In a report issued in October, the Occupational Safety and Health Agency in Oregon concluded formaldehyde gas exposure levels resulting from the product were safely below Action levels. In the same report however, Oregon OSHA announced that after two rounds of testing it had found high levels of formaldehyde in the Brazilian Blowout hair smoothing solution, even in containers labeled “formaldehyde free”, which prompted the issuing of a safety alert. “This can cause cancer; that can cause cancer; anything can cause cancer these days,” said Sage, who like many in the haircare industry, is waiting to make a judgment call until the nebulous cloud of information surrounding the highly popular and coveted product clears. “I’m waiting to get all the facts, look at all the studies and do my research before I form an opinion. Right now it’s all ‘he said, she said’.” The truth about the health risks is hard to discern. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that it’s working with state and local authorities, as well as OSHA, to determine if hair smoothing products including those by Brazilian Blowout aid in causing health problems. Big for stylists The dilemma for hair stylists and salons is whether or not to walk away from a profitable revenue stream and discontinue offering the product, and if not, what, if any, precautions they should take when using it. “This is a tremendous income stream, it’s gigantic, it’s the reason many stylists are able to keep their doors open today,” said Cindy Van Steelandt, Director of Marketing for Zerran International Corp., a manufacturer of haircare products headquartered in Pacoima. Steelandt, whose company offers a permanent hair straightening system free of formaldehyde, is concerned that popular hair straightening products, including Brazilian Blowout, do not warn users of the presence of formaldehyde. Company’s claims On the Brazilian Blowout website, the company claims their product is formaldehyde free. However, studies have confirmed that the product can emit formaldehyde gas when using it. The crux of the concern centers around the final steps of the Brazilian Blowout process, when the keratin solution is usually fused to the hair with a flat iron and the heat can cause formaldehyde vapor to be released. Spa Sanctuary & Salon Corp. is beginning to think about the possibility of designating a separate area specifically for the Brazilian Blowout treatment, so that those concerned about the formaldehyde gas, do not have to be exposed to it if they don’t want to.
Hair-Raising Times at North Hollywood Hair Product Firm
