Love the straight-hair look but can't get it from your naturally wavy or curly hair? Check out these salon treatments that will help you get the sleek style you crave.
X-Tenso smoothing treatment
I have naturally thick, coarse, almost wavy hair that tends to frizz. Blowdrying it straight involved generous amounts of straightening styling products, a 40-minute struggle with a hot blow dryer and a big round brush, and a 10-minute stint with a hot flatiron. Then a press event at Salon Daniel in Toronto introduced me to X-Tenso, a permanent “smoothing” treatment from L'Oréal Professionnel that tames frizzy, curly or unruly hair.
"X-Tenso restructures the hair molecules to reduce frizz and volume, making hair softer and easier to style,” says Colin Ford, Technical and Education Manager for L'Oréal Professionnel. “Your hair will also retain its elasticity, so that if you start with curly hair, you'll have softer, smoother curls afterward if you choose to wear it curly. If you want to wear it straight, styling it will take less product, less time and the style will last longer."
I went to Salon Daniel for the treatment process, which took just under an hour. Colin Ford first applied a cream (which smelled only faintly like perm solution) to my hair and worked it in section by section. After a thorough rinsing, on went a neutralizer (which had a nice, fresh fragrance) for a few minutes before a final trip to the sinks. Daniel Fiorio took over for the blowdry and I could feel the difference in my hair immediately: the brush just glided right through it, no tugging and no tangles.
Now I can blowdry my hair in just 15 minutes, forget the flat-iron if I feel like it, and still have a smooth, shiny, straight 'do. Easy!
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