Just two days after Health Canada issued a warning about the Brazilian blowout, a local woman has come forward to say the product caused her to lose more than half of her hair.
"Back of my head, top of my head - it has thinned out to the point where there is scalp showing," said Brooke de Bruin.
"It got to the point where every shower, every time I brushed my hair, I was pulling a clump of hair out."
Health watchdogs raised red flags after they say tests found the solution contains 12 per cent formaldehyde – well over the permitted level of 0.2 per cent.
The finding is concerning to the esthetician, who had the treatment in May, because she says she has a sensitivity to the ingredient and was assured by the manufacturer that the product was formaldehyde-free. Several Edmonton salons say they've heard Brazilian Blowout and the distributor Modern Beauty have make the same claim.
"I just felt duped," said de Bruin.
"It was one of those moments where you just go, ‘oh, the product that you've been trying to avoid is actually in that.'"
Health Canada has advised salons to stop using Brazilian Blowout and officials are working with the distributor to stop the circulation of the product.
de Bruin hopes the treatment is outright banned.
"[I] don't want them to give me money for something," she said.
"It's a matter of, I want my hair back."
For a look at the advisory, click here.
With Files from Sonia Sunger
