What skin is to Korea and fragrance is to France, hair is to Brazil. This is after all the country whose supermodel citizens (Gisele, Alessandra,Adriana at al.) helped make the phrase ‘Victoria’s Secret hair’ a permanent part of the beauty vernacular.
Local women characteristically have naturally full, thick hair, so salons in Brazil thrive on offering straightening, smoothing and strand-saving procedures. According to Fashionista, a Brazilian women generally allocate a whopping 10 per cent of their salaries on their hair.
The latest Brazilian beauty trend making making waves in the States isvelaterapia; a treatment that involves singeing off split ends with the flame of a candle.
Allegedly the technique treats over-styled and over-processed hair, leaving it smooth and like it has been freshly cut without having to loose length. It sounds like a dream treatment for anyone trying to grow their hair out but does it actually work?
Hairstylist Anthony Nader, who splits his time between Sydney and New York isn’t 100% sold on the whole singeing thing. “I totally respect it, but really at the end of the day it's only a "band aid" solution to repairing your split ends until you want to sacrifice getting your ends trimmed,” he says. “A trim will always be 100% productive to ensuring your split ends will cease and promoting healthiness and also helps with going your manes longer to desired length,” says Nader, who suggests maintaining length with regular baby trims. “If you go in for a baby trim every 6-8 weeks you can have what you only wanted off and both you and your hairstylist are happy now.”
Fads are fun but Nader says long hair comes from a back-to-basics approach. Team mini-trims with moisturising masks and a follicle-feeding diet, lay-off the heat tools, and you’ll be on your way to Rapunzel-lengths in no time.
From the editors of ELLE Australia
