I just came from Vida Salon where I had an appointment to have a Brazilian Blowout Keratin Hair Straightening Treatment. I had purchased a voucher from Sky Daily Deals/Loclly for this treatment, however before purchasing the voucher I contacted the salon and asked if it was the Brazilian Blowout brand - I was told yes. I asked if it was formaldehyde free - I was told yes. I asked if I could wash my hair immediately after the treatment and put it up in a ponytail - I was told yes. Confident after those questions that I was in fact purchasing a voucher for Brazilian Blowout, I went ahead with my purchase. When I made my appointment at Vida I again asked the same questions and got the same answers. However, today when I sat in the stylist's chair one of the first things she told me was I would not be able to wash my hair for 72 hours after the treatment. That set off a red flag in my mind and I asked her to show me the bottle of the product they would be using on my hair. It was the Global Keratin brand. Although there are different research studies on all types of Keratin straightening products and their levels of formaldehyde, I do feel as the consumer requesting a specific product, I was completely misled by the salon. If you don't care what brand is used on your hair, then I'm sure the Global Keratin treatment would be fine, but I chose to ask for a refund. The salon did comply with my refund request without any hassle and the stylist was very apologetic, although I did get the sense that I was not the first customer who experienced this bait & switch.
This was not my first time at Vida. On a previous visit I had paid for a 90 minute massage and actually on got only 60 minutes. I was willing to give them another try, but after today's experience I won't be back.
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