Straight Hair on Shine

Is Formaldehyde Part of Your Hair Routine?

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So there we were last night, reading the Daily Beast, when we stumbled upon a column that had us scratching our heads: In "My Illegal, Flammable, Fabulous Hair Treatment," a woman writes about getting a formaldehyde-laced Brazilian hair straightening treatment. She writes that "the Centers for Disease Control describes [formaldehyde] as a 'colorless, highly toxic, and flammable gas'" but "like parents who lock the liquor cabinet, everyone knows the FDA's main purpose is to keep us from the good stuff."

You Need This: Brazilian Hair Straightening

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You need to know about this. At least, if you're somebody who's shackled to a blowdryer and round brush every summer, like me:

I blow-dried my hair in 10 minutes today with a paddle brush -- and got a look that would normally take me over an hour ... and one or more of these products.

Hooray! And so begins my public service campaign to all my frizzy-haired sisters, spreading the word on the newest thing in straightening treatments -- Brazillian Blowout. Basically, it's a layer of keratin (the protein that makes up hair/skin/nails) applied to your hair, sealed in with a flat iron, then rinsed away. The result: Healthy, straight, frizz-free hair -- that lasts four months.

Since it takes two hours, I had plenty of time to grill the stylist, Michelle Vance, and owner Tom of the Tom Brophy Salon in Beverly Hills:

Q: Who does this treatment work best on?
A: Anyone with curls, waves or frizz, plus anyone with color-damaged hair -- it actually works best on them; you see the most remarkable difference, it's so shiny. New clients usually come in and have a "strand test" done, just to see what the results will be like before they commit.

5 Fun New Beauty Tricks I Learned this Week

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Being a beauty journalist, I'm like, been there/done that with every trick in the book. But somehow this week, I learned not one but FIVE new things ...

1. Lipliner isn't evil. (Especially these best ones.) I always kept away, because hey, "Drag queens give it a bad rap," agrees makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury. But done right, it's the best way to make my lips more symmetrical... which we ALL need if we're wearing red.

Top 12 Flat Irons

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I heard a salon in Seattle is doing chemical straightening on 8-year-olds! Dicey and kinda sad, I think. My messy pony and poufy bangs rocked when I was 8 (nowhere near as cute as these huggable styles, but kind of adorable ... according to my mom). Dude, let kids be kids.

Now us grown-ups on the other hand, have fun stuff like these amazing frizz fighters and the world's most life-changing hair straighteners, and that's a good thing. Any of them would rival a salon treatment, saving you lots of money.

P.S. Make sure you don't buy this hellish flat iron -- over 50 readers said they threw it in the trash after trying it. Yikes!

No. 12: Revlon Tourmaline Heat Ionic Ceramic Straightener, $32.99

No. 11: Vidal Sassoon VS175 Studio Tools 1-1/2" Tourmaline/Solid Ceramic Professional Ceramic Straightener, $35.99

No. 10: TIGI Hardcore Straightening Irons, $79.99

4 Secrets to Straight Hair

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1. After blow-drying curly hair straight, wear it with a side part. The extra weight on one side will keep it from getting puffy by day's end.

2. For the sleekest results on any tress type, use a 1500- to 1800-watt hair dryer when styling; anything less powerful allows your cuticles to curl up while you're blow-drying.

3. Don't try to blow-dry sections of hair that are more than an inch thick -- the hot air will not be able to pass through. Opt for small sections and be sure to dry each thoroughly before...