Setting in Straight
How to have smooth, silky hair and tame your curls for good
by Chelsea Bain

Picture this: It’s summer.  It’s hot.  But tonight is the night. You know – the night. 

You’ve picked out your best pair of skinny jeans, purchased a slew of new makeup from the MAC counter at the mall, and you’ve dropped an embarrassingly substantial amount of cash on a slinky top that is so sexy you want to wear it to bed.  

One problem I forgot to mention: It’s humid.  Oh, and your perfect flat-ironed hair that you spent hours on? It’s full of frizz now.

If the aforementioned sounds like an average good-hair-day-gone-bad, I’m here to tell you you’re not alone.  Since the age of twelve I’ve been fighting the ongoing war between me and my curly cues, winning some battles, losing a few, and all the while remaining positive that some sort of heavenly invention will relieve me from the stress of it all.

It was a few months ago that I began to hear substantial buzz about the latest hair-straightening trend to hit the streets.  Dubbed the Brazilian Keratin Treatment (or BKT), this service had my kinky-haired kindred singing from the rooftops. A treatment that coats the hair with a conditioner rather than altering its composition, the BKT promises to eliminate one’s intense curl and get rid of that halo of frizz circulating our head for at least three to six months. Do I even need to convey the sense of hope I had after hearing this news? Long story short (I’ll leave out the descriptive detail about me doing the dance of joy), I was sold.

Ok, here’s the nuts and bolts of how it works: our hair is naturally coated with keratin – the component that makes our mane look silky, smooth and straight.  Some people just have more of it than others (Jennifer Aniston, I hate you).  The BKT injects the keratin back into our locks and – poof! – we’re looking like a film star whose ready to strut their stuff down the red carpet.

It was a hot and humid day this summer when I decided to head over to Beaucage Salon and Spa on Newbury Street to do some investigating.  Beaucage – one of the most well-known and prestigious places in Boston to treat your hair right – stocks the crème de la crème of this sought-after potion, produced by Coppola Keratin. The treatment from this company is 100% formaldehyde-free (the original product on the market had that stinky chemical in them, and were, of course, yanked from salons across the country). I was introduced to Crystal – a lead colorist and stylist at the salon with a friendly attitude and a charming smile – and took a seat in her comfortable chair.

The process was an easy one – it took about three hours total - but here are the details. The adventure starts off with someone washing your hair with a clarifying shampoo – a necessary step in order to get out all the dirt and open up the hair cuticles.  Next, your locks are blow-dried until they’re almost completely void of any water or dampness, and the treatment is then applied carefully and with attention to detail.  After sitting pretty for thirty minutes (pick up your favorite magazine – this is the easy part), your stylist will then blow-dry your hair again - with the solution still on – and use a flat iron that is heated up to 450 degrees to lock it in. 

And there you have the magic of the whole experience; this is a treatment, not a chemical, and therefore stays on your head without causing any damage.  In fact, for best results you are told to not wash your hair (or pull it back, get it wet or pretty much do anything to it) for three days after this blessed event.  After that, it’s yours again.

So what’s the verdict? It’s been two months since that sultry day I sat hoping for a big, drastic change at Beaucage, and I think it’s a pretty fair assessment to say I got exactly what I wanted.  My hair is shinier, healthier and completely devoid of frizz.  It’s definitely not pin-straight – do not expect for that to happen from this treatment – but it doesn’t matter.  It’s now manageable, not to mention looking fantastic.  And that, my friends, is nothing short of a miracle.

The Coppola Keratin Treatment at Beaucage, 71 Newbury Street in Boston, starts at $375 for the initial service and $125per hour for a retouch.  For more information, visit www.beaucage.com, or call 617-437-7171.