16 Week Blow-dry at Monet Hair Belfast - UPDATED!

UPDATE - Monet Hair has ceased trading but in Belfast, I can recommend Rogue By Jody for the original Brazilian Blow Out Treatment.

Today I had a treatment on my hair that I've been wanting to do for ages. And I know it's only day 1 but I'm excited to share with you as my hair feels AMAZING. It's a QOD 16 Week Blow-Dry, available exclusively in Northern Ireland at Monet Hair on the Lisburn Road.

So to set the scene, my hair is thick, coarse and with a bit of a kink hair and needs to be worked with after I wash it myself. So much so, I mostly can't be bothered and I regularly pay for a blow dry so I don't have to deal with it myself. And here's where the thick coarse hair becomes a winner because a professional blow dry lasts me a full week. 

But with my swimming lessons and the summer holidays, it's been difficult to book blow dries and to get the full week out of them so when I add up what I spend on my hair over a period of 3-4 months, I figured this was worth a try.

So here's the before picture - outside the salon...

Skirt - M&S

T-Shirt - M&S

Trainers - Adidas Stan Smiths

Jacket - H&M

Handbag - Accessorize

And waiting in the chair...

The treatment starts with a cleanse of the hair, after which Lee blow dried it with no product. The treatment is basically like getting your colour done. Lee worked in sections, brushing the product onto the hair and combing it straight. The product is blue'ish in colour..

Here I am completely covered and then the waiting began..

In total, it was like a colour too in that I waited about 30 minutes for it to take and then my hair was rinsed. There's a bit of the product left in the hair to keep working its magic after you leave the salon.

After rinsing, the hair is dried straight, left to cool and then straightened with irons.

It doesn't just look fab after all this, it feels amazing too...soft and silky. Here's the best picture of it afterwards but mainly because it contains a puppy!!! This is Lee's French bulldog, Elizabeth Taylor (but she's a he) and he's just the cutest. In love.

Ok - some specifics, starting with the official description of what the product actually is. The QOD Organic 16 Week blow dry uses keratin-based conditioning and volume-reduction technology to produce greater shine, smoothness and manageability than any other keratin formula. It is free of formaldehyde. There are few things to note -

• After the treatment, you can't tie your hair up or get it wet or sweaty for 48 hours while the product continues to work but once 48 hours have passed, you can wash, colour, style etc your hair as normal.
• If you're having a salon blow dry during the 16 weeks, it will be easier for the stylist as your hair is so much smoother and silkier.
• You need to use sodium chloride free shampoos after the treatment. QOD sell their own via each salon who does the treatment or you can chose to buy your own also.
• It does lighten your hair a little - be aware of that....I am loving the ever so slightly lighter tint.
• The cost? It's £140 and if you want to buy the shampoo/conditioner, it's £30 extra. 

16 Week Update:
It's been a while since I wrote the blog above but I have had so many people ask me about the treatment so I thought I better tell you how I got on with it after the 16 weeks had passed.
I would say that I got about 10 weeks of fabulous hair that needed little or no extra manipulation (i.e. straightening). After that, I did return to my weekly blow dry though my hairdresser said that my hair was much easier to work with and took less time to style for a number of weeks after that.
The best bit about this treatment is that I was able to grow down my hair so easily. The relaxing effect of it gave me some length immediately and the silky smoothing finish meant that my hair just hung so beautifully for 12 weeks or so, which was just enough time to get me past that awkward mid-length stage which for me is a difficult one as my hair tends to grow out, rather than down!

Would I have it done again?
It's the sort of treatment I would have done in the summer time, when life is busy and I have less time to myself. I would also have it if I wanted to grow my hair down a bit more as it definitely helps with that. The smell is off-putting though (see below)

Things to note
There is a perm lotion pong with this treatment which is quite strong. It lasts for about 4 weeks and is most noticeable when you're using heat on your hair. I tolerated it but my kids hated it! Just to bear in mind if you're thinking of having the treatment. Perhaps ask your hairdresser about it. I've heard since that the other treatments are less smelly than others. Again, it's hard to know about this without having tried others. Please do comment if you have any experience of this as it's so helpful for everyone reading - and for me!

Regarding the salt free shampoo - I managed to find a good one in TK Maxx so that's a good place to look if you don't want to buy the salon one. Watch out for versions of salt in the ingredients list - basically anything with sodium mentioned is a salt derivative from what I can tell. It doesn't have to be called sodium chloride. Equally, watch out for sea salt ingredients that some natural shampoos use!

As always, if you've any questions, please just ask!

Ax

Disclaimer - I was offered the treatment at half price in return for an honest review. I paid the full RRP of £30 for the shampoo and conditioner. I'm not being paid to write this and as you know, the words are always my own!