The Brazilian Blowout at Home: What It Does and What to Expect

A Brazilian blowout is a smoothing treatment. A liquid formula, built around keratin (the same protein your hair is already made of), is worked through the hair and then sealed in with a blow-dry and a flat iron. The heat bonds it to the surface of each strand, smoothing the cuticle so the hair lies flatter, fights humidity, and dries with far less frizz.

What it is not is permanent straightening. A relaxer chemically breaks the bonds in your hair to force the curl out for good, and it grows out with a sharp line. A smoothing treatment like this is semi-permanent: it softens your texture and kills the frizz, but it fades out gradually and gently. If you have curls you will likely keep a looser version of them rather than lose them, so it is worth knowing this before you picture poker-straight hair.

Most people get somewhere between two and three months out of it, though it depends on your hair and how you wash it. Because it fades rather than grows out, there is no harsh regrowth line, so it ages tidily. Each wash takes a little of it away, which is why the shampoo you use makes a real difference.

Fine hair sometimes holds it for a shorter stretch, while coarse or very curly hair often keeps it longer. If you are here on holiday and want smooth, manageable hair for the trip and a while after, the timing works out well. If you live in Marrakech, plan on refreshing it a few times a year.

A few things are worth sorting out in advance.

• Time. Set aside roughly one and a half to two and a half hours, depending on how long and thick your hair is.
• The formula and the fumes. Some smoothing formulas release formaldehyde when heated, which is what causes the smell and the stinging eyes people mention. Ask the artist what she uses, and have it done in a well-ventilated room, by an open window or in the courtyard, rather than a sealed bathroom.
• A strand test. If your hair is bleached, highlighted or already chemically treated, a quick test on a small section shows how it will take before you commit the whole head.
• Condition. The treatment behaves best on hair in reasonable shape. Very damaged hair can still be treated, but tell the artist so she can adjust.
• If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, it is sensible to wait and to talk it through with your doctor first, given the formaldehyde question.

At your place, the artist sets up wherever the air moves best, often near a window or out by the riad courtyard. You book it online and pay once it is done, so there is no salon trip at either end. The order rarely changes much.

You stay put with hair that is smoother and far less prone to frizz the second you step into the heat.

• A clarifying wash, usually two rounds, to strip out product and open the hair to the treatment.
• A rough blow-dry to get the hair almost dry.
• The formula painted through in sections and left for a set time.
• A full blow-dry, then a flat iron in small sections, which is the heat that seals everything in.
• A final smooth-out, and your hair is done.

Aftercare is where people either keep the result for months or wash it down the drain in a fortnight. The single biggest thing is your shampoo: switch to a sulphate-free one, because sulphates strip the treatment quickly. Some formulas also ask you to wait a day or two before the first wash, and others let you wash the same day, so follow whatever the artist tells you for the product she used rather than a tip from the internet.

Marrakech adds its own challenges. Chlorine from hotel pools is hard on smoothing treatments, so rinse your hair or wear it up before a swim, and rinse again after. Strong sun fades it faster, and the local hard water does it no favours either, so a good conditioner and the odd hair mask go a long way. None of this is fussy once it becomes habit.