Brazilian Blowout Will Have to Bear Warnings About Formaldehyde. Are You Satisfied?
For those new to the site, one of our kind-of claims to fame is for being early to sound the alarm, if you will, on the dangers of the Brazilian Blowout. Our book opens with a scene of us sitting in a fancy West Hollywood salon, choking on the formaldehyde fumes of this now infamous hair treatment. It marked the beginning of our journey into clean beauty—without the BB, there would be no book and no site.
Behind closed doors, we were later told that the negative attention brought upon the blowout, by us and other clean-beauty and public health advocates, helped serve as a catalyst for the lawsuit thrown down by California’s Attorney General back in November 2010. California has this nifty law called Prop 65 that stipulates products that contain carcinogens must feature a warning label on it. And now it’s been enforced for the first time.
Because not only was Brazilian Blowout not warning consumers and salon workers about the high levels of formaldehyde—as much as 10% according to some lab tests—in their treatment, they were also claiming some versions of the product were formaldehyde free. We’ve covered the story extensively and posted the original filing here. A few days ago the saga reached its conclusion. For now.
In a settlement, GIB, LLC, the company that makes Brazilian Blowout, must stop its deceptive advertising and pay $600,000 in fees, penalties and costs. Remember, though, as Virginia at Beauty Schooled points out: This applies to one brand and one brand only for now. There are countless other companies also making similar Brazilian blowout (lower-case b) formulas, and this doesn’t yank the procedure or the products from salons, either. It just slaps it with a CAUTION label.
Is it enough? No, but it’s something.
For those interested we’ve listed the settlement requirements below.
Requirements as listed by a Department of Justice press release:
- Produce a complete and accurate safety information sheet on the two products that includes a Proposition 65 cancer warning; distribute this information to recent product purchasers who may still have product on hand; and distribute it with all future product shipments. The revised safety information sheet — known as a “Material Safety Data Sheet,” or MSDS — will be posted on the company’s web site.
- Affix “CAUTION” stickers to the bottles of the two products to inform stylists of the emission of formaldehyde gas and the need for precautionary measures, including adequate ventilation.
- Cease deceptive advertising of the products as formaldehyde-free and safe; engage in substantial corrective advertising, including honest communications to sales staff regarding product risks; and change numerous aspects of Brazilian Blowout’s web site content.
- Retest the two products for total smog-forming chemicals (volatile organic compounds) at two Department of Justice-approved laboratories, and work with DOJ and the Air Resources Board to ensure that those products comply with state air quality regulations.
- Report the presence of formaldehyde in its products to the Safe Cosmetics Program at the Department of Public Health.
- Disclose refund policies to consumers before the products are purchased.
- Require proof of professional licensing before selling “salon use only” products to stylists.
To this day we still get letters and comments on old posts about women who have lost their hair, damaged their scalps or suffered in some way from the Brazilian blowout. Have you done it? Please continue to share your experiences. This this is far from over.
I noticed that the last time I was at my salon, some of the stylists had been newly certified in Brazilian Blowout. I was really disappointed to see that. I will considering using another salon if I find myself sitting next to someone who is having that done. I mean really, why put yourself at risk?
In the past, I’ve asked my salon to make sure they don’t book me at the same time as the BB. I’ve never seen it done while I was there, even though they have stylists trained in it, so I’ve kind of forgotten about asking. It’s not enough to have warning labels, etc., but it is a step in the right direction. Just yesterday I had one of my students approach me about the BB after I had talked a bit about clean products (I was lecturing on skin). The info on how scary the BB is has certainly reached the public, but I don’t know if people take it seriously enough.
I am a hairstylist
and have never done these in my salon
i work by myself now because i do not want any one else in my studio who does them
recently one of my clients had hers done
and 3 months later her hair was falling out
i have told her to report it
she is 27 years old and now her hair is noticeably thinner
another client had had two very bad bouts of coughs
bronchitis /asthma type stuff going on
both after the treatments
coinicidence? not so sure
she said she was told to use an inhaler now even if she doesn’t have symptoms
i was told by one client that her lungs were severely compromised for 6 months after the treatment
i have been doing hair for over 30 years and would be very upset if a product i was useing made my clients hair fall out
i would stop useing it immediately and find alternatives
I had never heard of BB before reading your post. I went to the website and saw this: “0% Formaldehyde released before, during or after the treatment.” I copied and pasted it. It’s scary how they can advertise a lie.
If you’ve ever had a Brazilian Blowout & need a shampoo to help you keep that blowout look, you need to use Shielo’s Hydrate shampoo and conditioner. It’s SULFATE-FREE which is what you need to use if you’ve had your hair straightend. And, if you haven’t had a Brazilian Blowout, it’s a great product anyway.
Reply To: California Law Urges Warning Labels On GIB LCC Brazilian Blowout And Acai Professional Smoothing Solution Products: Salon Hair Treatments
Home › Forums › Reply To: California Law Urges Warning Labels On GIB LCC Brazilian Blowout And Acai Professional Smoothing Solution Products: Salon Hair Treatments
January 9, 2013 at 2:42 am#85785
Anonymous
I settled a lawsuit with GIB insurers a few months ago. I used the treatment ONCE by a certified Brazilian Blowout salon that Brazilian Blowout recommended on their website. My attorneys had their products tested…they are LOADED with formaldehyde. There is 5 – 7 times MORE formaldehyde in the products than EMBALMING SOLUTION. I was allowed to fast track my case because it is reasonable to think I have less than 6 months to live. The product is inhaled and ABSORBED. Because my hair was so amazing thick and long…every time I layed on my hair I was absorbing it into my scalp, neck, face, skin. Everytime I took a shower the heat reactivated it and again the process started. The sun would continue to allow my hair to off-gas by the heat. The vomitting, the bathroom trips, the ER trips, urgent care visits…and no one could figure out what was wrong because the medical field refused to believe that any company could ever make a product with that much formaldehyde…even after I showed them OSHA tests. Two months later I had my hair tested. It was STILL over the legal limits of formaldehyde. After the certified industrial hygenist left, I shaved offed the remaining hair I still had and sobbed. I then looked in the mirror and laughed and said to myself that only my deceased father, Anthony Casamento, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, would be able to look at me in this horrorible state and still think I was beautiful.
To bring you up to date without boring you with all the details…I do plasma phoresis for 4 hours three times a week (blood exchange), I have had blood transfusions, two four inch tubes stick out of my chest and are attached to my heart and neck to push my blood through. I have liver and kidney damage, eye,ear, nose problems. My BRAIN and thyroid have attrofied, my DNA changed, I have had blod clots, I have 6 autoimmune diseases, and my life is cut short.
Things you need to know:
If you have any symptoms of headaches, unexplained tiredness, very mild to severe flu like symptoms which don’t seem to completely go away since you had the Brazilian Blowout please get yourself checked out. I have been to the top hospitals in California, and it took me almost 8 months to find a treatment. I wish someone would have told me two years and three months what I now know. It could have saved my life.
You can do blood tests for CO2, methylene glycol, ehtylene glycol, kidney function, and acid levels–these levels will be high. These are simple blood tests which are covered under most insurance and can be performed at a doctors office. The tests can also be done at an urgent care, hospital, clinic, etc for those who have different type of insurance or state subsidized insurance.
You need to get rid of any pillows, bedding, towels, etc. that have come in contact with you hair.
You need to have your babies checked by a doctor for the same blood tests that you are doing. They are inhaling and absorbing it and they can’t tell us…and your normal doctor is NOT going to realize the necessity to do this, but you need to know that you are continually off-gassing everytime they are near you or lay on your pillows.
I was know for my amazing mane of hair–it was my identity and my favorite part of me. After I lost my hair, I realized in time, that it wasn’t my hair that made me beautiful, it was me.