AVEDA's new Smooth Infusion Retexturizing System has arrived!

Most have heard the controversy concerning Brazilian and Japanese treatments using or not using formaldehyde to straighten frizzy texture from hair. Read this article....Formaldehyde Officially On Carcinogen List, Brazilian Blowouts Officially Dangerous.

I want to give a big "Thank You" to AVEDA for developing their own mission aligned version of this treatment.  It is and always has been Aveda's goal to be as organic and natural as possible, ingredients are central to their mission.  I can now let go of my doubts about the toxicity of at least Aveda's treatment to smooth and retexturize our curly or frizzy haired guests.  It has been a concern of mine both for our guests and for the technicians who perform the services.  The AVEDA Smooth Infusion Retexturizing Treatment is a permanent retexturizing treatment that can be used to completely smooth out texture or reform texture into manageable consistent wave or curl. 

I asked Michelle Combs our "In Salon Educator" and Aveda's very own "Purefessional Trainer" to give us her thoughts on the new treatment...

 Lets be honest, I am a skeptic!   That skirt I bought at 75% off? I was convinced it was torn somewhere. My husband says he can fix the bathtub drain? I’ll believe it when I see it. Even when my six year old daughter tells me she can make guacamole with no help from me- I am surprised, astonished even- that she was right. (And that guacamole was pretty darn good.) So when Aveda asked some of us Purefessionals if we would be willing to teach their new Smooth Infusion Retexturizing System, I agreed. Just out of curiosity.

Aveda promised coarse hair to become smooth. Tight curls to become long, straight locks. “Transformation, Recreation. Defying Convention. This is the essence of the Aveda Retexturizing System,” they said. I was skeptical. I had used Kerasmooth Treatments. I have seen the effects of Japanese straight perms, and Brazillian blowouts. Did I approve? Eh, they worked. But something was eating at me. You see, as a Certified Color Trainer for Aveda, and, more recently, a Color Purefessional- I knew exactly what was in Aveda’s color line and how and why it worked. It gave me piece of mind. But these texture treatments? They didn’t explain to me what I wanted- needed- to know, and that was : Just what are you putting in this stuff that I am putting on my guests head, as well as touching and breathing- a lot?

But Aveda did.

Aveda mailed me a workbook that listed every ingredient in the system and what it does, before I was even sent off to learn it. That reeled me in. I was more curious.  They claimed The Aveda Difference, which I learned quickly, was Customized Texture. They said, “Instead of delivering cookie-cutter texture, each system can be customized by the stylist to create a wide range of different textures and give each guest the exact look that they desire.”

And that’s not all. Aveda had “ Other Key Points of Distinction”-

* “The Aveda Retexturizing System uses products made from the most naturally derived ingredients as possible.”

* “Guests experience a permanent change in texture- not temporary results.”

* “ Our products are formulated to protect the hair during processing.”

* “ The use of organic ylang ylang oil eliminates strong post- service odor.”


I had to see it to believe it. I was convinced there had to be something wrong with it. It just sounded too good to be true.  So, I left my family and comfort zone in NYC and spent two days in Pennsylvania immersed in the stuff. Literally. We played with it incessantly. My teacher had an answer for every question, and I had a lot. I really nerded out. I now know that Hydroxyethylcellulose is a thickening agent from various plant sources including cotton. I know that the system contains organic jojoba oil, meadow foam seed oil, and coconut-derived conditioners.

I rode the train home carrying a scary doll head with four quadrants of hair. One glossy stick straight, one straight with admirable volume and body, one with beautiful natural ringlets, and, of course, the last quadrant, that had the unspeakable, frizzy hair to start with, just for comparison. I thought, as I stared out that window of the train, clutching my trophy doll head: “I now have an amazing arsenal of permanent solutions for my texture- challenged guests, (which is just about all of them), just in time for summer.”

And my bags smelled like ylang ylang oil. Sold.