Get Smooth Hair the Safe Way

Admit it: You're never completely satisfied with your hair, but you aren't sure how you feel about drenching it in chemical styling agents. Brazilian blowouts sound appealing to those with less-than-perfect strands, but since last year, their effects on your health have been downright questionable.  Reports from the USDA expressed concern over the amounts of formaldehyde in these products, leading many salons to stop offering the service.

Despite all the bad news, women still long for salon results without the nasty chemicals or the high price. Hair-care companies heard the demands and delivered a range of options that can be used at home to smooth and soften hair.

Companies like Garnier, Organix, and Living Proof all have products on the market that claim to behave just like a salon keratin treatment. They claim to keep your hair perfectly smooth and frizz free for several days at a time, after just one wash. Is it possible that drugstore or even high-end products can give you the same results that you would get in a salon? Not quite.

These easy, at-home treatments won't change your hair forever, but they will make it softer, significantly less frizzy, and much more manageable while you use them, and that seems to be good enough for most women. For an affordable smoothing solution for your hair without the risk, try Garnier Sleek and Shine blow-dry perfector or Organix Brazilian keratin treatment.



Text Esther Reisberg
Source and Image New York Times

Pantene Partners With Olympic Athletes

Celebrity endorsements of beauty products have become as commonplace as seeing a Starbucks pop up along every three blocks, so it comes as no surprise that Pantene is now partnering with Olympic athletes to advertise its products. Though the world's most popular haircare brand has never featured athletes before, its new marketing approach focuses on the importance of healthy beauty.

Pantene has selected eleven female athletes as part of its first international campaign to back the London 2012 Olympic Games. Joining the ranks of famous faces like Eva Mendes and Shay Mitchell will be Olympic competitors Natalie Coughlin, a swimmer for the U.S. team, and Evegeniya Kanaeva, a Russian rhythmic gymnast.

The idea is that these women represent the brand's view that health is beauty in its own right. Pantene representatives believe that the athletes are ideal not just because of their active and healthy lifestyles, but because their hair is left extremely vulnerable during competitions. The haircare products are advertised as strong enough to treat even the most damaged hair. With athletic women as beauty ambassadors, Pantene is advocating health and proving that it can perform just as well as any Olympic champion.

Text Esther Reisberg

Source and Image Business Wire