Brazilian Blowout Gets Warning Letter From FDA

Back in April, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a Hazard Alert for anyone using Brazilian Blowout hair straightening products, stating that salon workers and customers could potentially be exposed to formaldehyde. The organization said it would continue to work with the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to assess the risk associated with the straighteners.

And now, Time.com reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent a warning to Brazilian Blowout's manufacturers, confirming that the product contains glycol, the liquid form of formaldehyde, which can release formaldehyde gas (known to be carcinogenic) into the air.

The FDA takes issue with the products' misleading labels, which claim to be "Formaldehyde Free."

Brazilian Blowout, however, insists its products are safe, posting the following message on its website.

In our continued effort to clear up misinformation about the Brazilian Blowout, we are delighted to be working with the FDA in demonstrating that the Brazilian Blowout complies with both state and federal guidelines. Rest assured we will continue to provide you, our loyal customers, with the latest information as it becomes available. You can continue to confidently offer the Brazilian Blowout treatment to your customers with the knowledge that Brazilian Blowout falls well below the stringent standards set forth by OSHA.

It remains to be seen how much longer Brazilian Blowout products will be available in U.S. salons (As Time notes, they've already been banned in Canada).

But in the meantime, some good news for hair-straightening enthusiasts: WWD recently reported that Bumble and bumble and L’Oréal have plans to offer alternative smoothing treatments that are formaldehyde free.

Comments

[annasophie1228]

12:17 PM on 09/13/2011

that stuff stinks to high heaven.

[Allen Yesilevich]

12:58 PM on 09/12/2011

Canadian and U.S. consumers have sued Brazilian Blowout, the company behind the popular hair straightening treatment, for falsely claiming its product does not contain formaldehyde, a known carcinogen.

http://www.classactioncentral.com/2010/11/lawsuit-claims-popular-hair-relaxing-treatment-misleads-consumers-over-safety/

[DanaRuns]

07:38 AM on 09/12/2011

I had a Brazilian Blowout before the formaldehyde scare, and I absolutely loved it. My hair was suddenly manageable and always looked good. My hair is naturally a frizzy, weak curl that is a constant battle to make presentable. After my BB, what had been an hour-long process of doing my hair in the morning was suddenly 10 minutes. For the first time in my life I had wash and wear hair! I can't tell you how happy it made me, and how much time it saved. I was finally, finally in love with my hair instead of being at constant war with it. I decided to have it done every three or four months.

And then they announced about the formaldehyde.

So, now I'm back to battling with it every morning. I was very disappointed.

[rowdiman]

09:59 PM on 09/11/2011

Makes me appreciate our 'big government" agencies!

[Ann Starke]

06:52 PM on 09/11/2011

If you want to try straight hair, get a wig! There are wigs out there that do not cost too much, and it is a lot cheaper and safer than putting lots of dangerous chemicals in your hair. So! You get the best of both worlds!

[johnnygoodwud]

07:05 AM on 09/11/2011

well, at least if you get cancer, your hair will look good when you're in your coffin.

[Ann Starke]

06:53 PM on 09/11/2011

God forbid your corpse looks bad.

[MissMiniMonster]

10:47 PM on 09/10/2011

I've gotten a blowout in a salon before (albeit not a Brazilian blowout) and my hair was actually back to normal by the end of the day. I was never able to justify spending a three-digit sum on a Brazilian blowout just to get my hair straight. That and it looked and felt almost unnatural not having my usual Pacific Islander curly mane. I've had the curls since I was a baby and I have always felt that it was a distinctive trait I had.

I was curious to see what the straight hair would look/feel like and now that I know I won't do it again. I actually kind of hope my son will be born with curls like mine too.

[Beth Hefty]

01:30 PM on 09/11/2011

I have tried to straighten my hair and it has never felt like me. Part of who I am is my hair and I am so happy that my youngest daughter has my wild, curly mane. My eldest daughter has beautiful sleek hair, but its naturally that way.

[BeerLover]

09:23 PM on 09/10/2011

Curly hair rocks!!!

[ignacio sanabria]

05:35 PM on 09/10/2011

Another way to get cancer, only this time with straight hair

[Samirah1368]

10:01 PM on 09/10/2011

I was just going to type this. A friend of mine put this in her daughters hair last year and swears its the best thing since the hot comb....we have so many chemicals being offered up to us and we just seem to take them too willingly in the quest for beauty. I just can't get with this product at all

[cyoohoos]

03:55 AM on 09/11/2011

Every hair dresser who did my hair as a child is dead. All died from either cancer, auto-immune diseases like lupus or respiratory diseases. No job is worth your life.

I stopped the relaxers and I've been natural for over three years now. That stuff is not healthy. It's about time people started to recognize it

[Jeffin90019]

04:55 PM on 09/10/2011

Women will stick bags of goo in their chest, paint their faces with poison, and treat their hair with cancerous products. Gosh, they're so smart and pretty!

[stevi]

02:19 AM on 09/11/2011

These manufacturers all take advantage of the epidemic that is female self-loathing, which we learn from advertisments and television and the media in general. Women are just not good enough and companies will provide us with poison so that we can be "pretty" when we get sick. Very sad.

[cyoohoos]

03:56 AM on 09/11/2011

But at least you'll have a boyfriend

[annasophie1228]

12:16 PM on 09/13/2011

that's hilarious...

[ontariogirl]

03:19 PM on 09/10/2011

Liberate your hair. Let it be free.

[eric14]

06:42 AM on 09/11/2011

I did. It left.

[ontariogirl]

08:57 AM on 09/12/2011

What is that old saying......if you love something set it free! :)

[DogsRKool2]

12:48 PM on 09/10/2011

Can't we all just be a little more natural? All these chemicals we wash down the sink - can't be good.

[simzillyjp]

03:17 PM on 09/10/2011

But everyone is "trying" to imitate my straight long hair.

[donasanya]

12:44 PM on 09/10/2011

And yet the tea party wants to abolish the FDA, EPA, and other agencies that are supposed to look out for us.

[littlepuffycloud]

11:26 AM on 09/10/2011

Maybe someday women will learn to let the curls curl and the waves wave and even the frizz frizz and stop being such consuming sheep about their hair. I once had a supervisor who asked me to 'smooth' my hair as some people were threatened by the 'wildness and hidden sexuality' of my very wavy hair.

'Wildness and hidden sexuality'..the next day I made sure my hair was as un-smooth as I could possibly get it. I never heard another peep out of that supervisor, who BTW had the silkiest and most boring hair on Earth.

[Diasamax]

02:43 PM on 09/10/2011

"Wildness and hidden sexuality". Wow, I have never heard it described like that before. That heffer was jealous!

[ontariogirl]

03:17 PM on 09/10/2011

Haaa......I love it. Good for you.

[VanTroi]

04:24 AM on 09/10/2011

I know a few girls that had the Japanese straitening done, I hope that is safer.