L'Oreal Professionnel x Bench Fix Salon Steambond

Hi everyone!

I’m Tracy, Dawn’s sister, and I’m one lucky gal.

Why? A week ago, Dawn kindly offered me the privilege of trying out the new Steambond service by L’oreal Professionel on behalf of PeachyPinkSisters. The deal is, I get beautiful, freshly rebonded hair for free with the help of fabulous new technology --- all I have to do in return is to blog about it!

And since this one’s all the rage in beauty blogs out there, here’s my blow-by-blow account of the entire experience, made crisp and easy to follow:

1.     [Previous] State of Affairs

·      My hair’s very thick, very black, big and wavy.

                          ·      I’ve been having my hair rebonded and colored the past six or seven years, and usually every six months (with Weng from Affanscinante, and Rich from Azta Urban Salon in SM San Lazaro). Such is life for the vain.

·      --- But 2012 proved to be different when I transferred and lived in Sydney for a year. I only had my hair colored twice and cut once in my entire stay there (Why? Incredibly expensive). The top half of my hair is then rebond-free, and the bottom half too chemically processed for my hair’s own good.

·      In the first week of January, I went to Azta Urban Salon in SM San Lazaro for L’oreal Extenso Rebonding and Ombre Coloring Service. I sat on the salon chair for almost eight hours and paid a whopping PhP 10, 200 for both services.

·      The color’s excellently done and really looks good in pictures, but the rebonding part was a mess. The middle part of my long thick hair had waves, and the bleached ends were a complete disaster. Queue in a sad face.

·      Went back to Azta salon a week later. Got Permanent Blowdry done (for free, so that’s nice of Miss Rich) on the lower half. Although this helped mask the damage, my hair was still really rough and difficult to manage.

·      I was planning to go back to have it analyzed and treated again, but then Dawn received an email from Mikki Galang about the Steampod Service, and I was eager to experiment with this one for a change.

2.     The Steampod

·      This technology is a collaboration between L’oreal Professionel and Rowenta. You can either get a Keratin Steam Care Service (a treatment that makes your hair super nice temporarily for three days, and healthier in the long run) and a Keratin Steam Bond Service (a process that makes hair straight and shiny, and all that jazz we Filipinas are familiar with).

·      Keratin Steam Bond - a hair revolution? Maybe. But it doesn’t strike me as all that grand. It’s still the same rebonding process, anyway. The difference, simply put, is that there’s steam that comes out of the hair iron. This, I guess, buffers the hair from the heat and damage and all, and ensures that there’s moisture in the air (and in your hair) during the ironing process. Makes sense to me.

·      According to the wonderful Hermes Mondido (of Studio Fix Salon by Alex Carbonell, Greenbelt 5), who took care of me that day, the water in the hair iron is just tap water. The rebonding formula is still L’oreal Extenso. Hence, the rebonding technique – the meticulousness of and patience in ironing, the timing, the knowledge of the stylist – matters heavily.

3.     The Experience

·      I explained my hair condition ad nauseam to Hermes and his team. They decided that I could still get my hair steam-bonded, but they were very careful about how long the medicine stayed on my hair and ensured that I had my hair properly treated with keratin (at least, the parts that were at the brink of death).

·      Everything was over after 3 and a half hours --- guessing because this was more of a “repair” of a botched-up rebonding than a full-on rebonding service (the usual time frame is 6 hours).

·      Mythic Oil was used as a finishing touch. I am not sure how necessary it is, but it made my hair smellnice.

4.     The Result?

·      No more waves! Hair looks healthier than ever. The color’s more vibrant now too, since my hair is smoother and straighter.

·      Ends seem partially treated, but after shampooing and conditioning with the L’oreal Extenso range, they still went back to their horrible state. I guess there’s not much you can do when hair’s really damaged except to have them cut. But the middle part’s fab.

5.     Follow-up

·      Went back to Hermes at Studio Fix today and had the ends snipped and shaped. I have shorter hair now, but no more dry ends. Even if I prefer my hair long (and I intend to make it grow), my family says the cut makes me look better too.

·      Good end on my last week here in Manila! Pretty hair for Sydney in 2013.

Cheers!