Straight Gait

There is one thing in particular that Brazil's women, or at least the women in Maringa are obsessed with...and that's their hair...and I mean OBSESSED!


Every shelf of every hairdresser, pharmacy and beauty store is filled to the brim with the latest lock lotions. Even the local supermarket, seen below, has both sides of a whole aisle devoted to masks, shampoos, leave-ins and serums - there are so many that I feel like I've been named and shamed and everyone knows I have been neglecting my hair all these years.

As I walk down the street I have to remind myself that these women aren't growing their hair to sustain Jordan's hair extension addiction or Cher's wig collection - long hair in Brazil is of course a sign of beauty and femininity and hardly ever do you see a girl with a funky crop strut down the street.


I find myself filled with hair envy for these girls with their long, lustrous, poker straight locks tumbling down practically to their ankles! Not surprisingly over the past few weeks I have been thinking that my own barnet just isn't up to par. So, after consulting various Brazilian Oracles I decided it was time to take action against this unidentified mass of mess sitting on top of my head.



I went to right the wrong that nature and genetics had dealt me yesterday, by spending six hours in the salon, yes that's right six hours! There were times when I wondered if I would ever see daylight again...


I booked in with Rodi at Stilo (one of Maringa's top hair salons) for my 'escovar japonesa' or japanese-style permanent straightening. The procedure is basically an application of a chemical hair relaxer and then various applications of masks, proteins and keratin. Also involved are various trips to and from the basin, gossiping sessions with the hairdresser and a short break for lunch. Phew!



After those long and torturous hours were over and I was released back ino the wild, I felt so chuffed when my husband came to pick me up and said that I looked 10 years younger. I wondered what Myleene would have to say about that...



Everyone has been admiring my 'cabelo liso', here is my self-portrait so you can see the end result, and on Saturday I am going back for my post-wash treatment, where they will wash my hair and put on a nourishing mask so that it stays forever straight and shiny, well almost.

When it comes to hair in Brazil, national pride is at stake and now at last I feel I can walk tall with the rest of the hair harem.

Walk like a Brazilian...