Pravana Perfection Smooth Out review

November 13th, 2011 at 9:00 am. Posted in hair,life.

I know that I’ve said it before, but I have difficult hair. My hair stylist, Olivia, has to add extra time to my hair cuts because I have so much hair. There’s a lot to cut, drying takes forever, and getting it straight takes a blow out and a flat iron. Bless Olivia, she powers through and always does a great job. I decided to do the Pravana Perfection Smooth Out treatment in the interest of saving time when getting ready. I’ve done chemical straighteners before, but they always do a number on my hair (super tangles, fried, broken ends), so the idea of a less harsh, low odor treatment was really appealing.

I didn’t take a picture of my natural texture before, but suffice it to say that I have lots of horizontal volume to my hair, and when I blow it out (before this, anyway), Josh calls it my “lion’s mane” (or is that “Lyon’s mane”? hurr hurr).

So, the process itself:
- Wash hair (though I went in with unwashed hair, so…)
- Apply treatment in teeny sections with color brush
- Let process for 15-30 minutes (I processed for the full 30)
- Comb through during the process, keeping hair straight-ish and removing excess treatment
- Blow out hair with treatment still in
- Flat iron hair with treatment still in
- Wash out (this isn’t strictly necessary, BUT there was still a ton in my hair–the first inch of my roots looked shellac-ed), blow dry/flat iron again for the sake of style
All of these steps combined (plus hair cut) took about four hours. Did I mention that I have a LOT of hair? Olivia was saying that the application part was the worst, until she started blowing my hair out with the gunk still in it, which promptly acted like glue and tangled my hair/flaked like nothing else. Her brush and hands were so coated that she had to wash them off halfway through.

(I also got a large-ish trim and bangs. I’m trying the straight across bangs again, even though I said I wouldn’t ever do it again. They’re going way better than previously + lots of compliments, including from one of the baristas I see all the time. I drink a lot of coffee.)

Pros:
- Virtually no smell, and what smell the treatment does have isn’t awful or strong.
- Worked pretty well for not being a “true” straightener
- Definitely cut down on the time it takes me to dry and style my hair
- Did not fry my hair
- You can wash your hair right away after the service, as Olivia did after she finished flat ironing the first time; this is good since the treatment is left on your hair and gets nasty
- The shampoo and conditioner that come with the kit to take home are huge (10 oz.!!!)

Cons:
- All of my volume is gone now, then again, removing my natural texture is probably the issue
- Not permanent (only lasts 8-12 weeks)
- The shampoo that comes with the kit sucks; it’s supposedly “sulfate and salt free,” yet the second ingredient on the label (after water) is “sodium lauryl sulfoacetate” (my regular shampoo, Pureology, has basically the same ingredients)
- Pricey–I paid $250 for just the treatment itself
- My hair kind of stinks…it’s not super noticeable, but it’s there
- My hair isn’t perfectly straight with only a blowout
- I might have had a slight allergic reaction (contact dermatitis) to it on my face and hands? I popped a Claritin before bed last night and woke up feeling finy

Yeah, you guys get this second awesome picture of me in my bathroom mirror, in my pjs (go Broncos), just after I finished washing and blowing out my hair this morning. It’s still kinked in places and not super soft/shiny like it usually is after I finish styling, BUT it looks way better than pre-service, post-blow out. I did still have to section it out and run the iron through the whole thing because I’m a freak who needs to have near-perfect hair.

All in all, I like it, but I’m not sure I would do this specific one again (I’d be more likely to go for the Keratin Fusion treatment, which is permanent) because of the price versus how long it lasts.

Share Button
  • happyhair

    your hair stinks because you are using the wrong shampoo .. smells like broccoli cooking in the microwave… right?  yuk.  using a keratin treatment is so bad for your hair… this is so much better and if you use sulfate free shampoo … or try WEN… that’s what I use.  You will love your hair… and pravana smooth out.  I bought it myself from beauty supply and it is easy to do.  I do it every 6 weeks.  

    • vorpalette

      I’ve never cooked broccoli in the microwave, but it smelled like wet dog and sulfur to me. This is not the keratin process, however (that’s the Keratin Fusion). Your hair *is* keratin, so keratin products are actually good for your hair. I used the sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner that came with the kit (which the salon gives you), but it never got my hair clean. I switched back to Pureology after a couple of weeks and it was much better. This stuff did cut way down on my frizz, but that’s it–because it’s *not* a straightener. I have very stubborn, wavy, frizzy, thick hair naturally, and this was just not strong enough to do much else. I did Redken Urban Smooth about five weeks ago, with much better results and less stress on my hair.

  • Jfk000

    Dont be fooled, Pravana is not as good as you think! It has a deplorable odor when wet, and does damage your hair and strip the color out!. If you call, you get 12 year olds who have not one interest in what you have to say but giggle and talk with others in the room with them as if your not even there! Extreamly unprofessional company!

    • vorpalette

      I didn’t think it was that good. I don’t color my hair, so no worries about the color stripping, but it damaged my ends pretty good, even with a trim afterwards. As I posted below, I had the Redken Urban Smooth treatment done back in February and it was awesome.

  • Shelby_ladehoff

    Pureology is a sulfate free shampoo so its ok to use other than the shampoo you got at the salon! The only reason the treatment came with the shampoo is because your hair will break off 10xs worse without the sulfate free and that means clients will think you’ve done something wrong….when it was actually them! As for the price….you got a deal! I charge $100 an hour for this service!

    • vorpalette

      Yep, that’s why I switched back to Pureology. My hair wasn’t in good shape after the treatment even with a trim anyway, and my hair is in really good condition and very resilient! We ended up doing a Redken Urban Smooth treatment, which is a) permanent and b) way better/didn’t damage my hair as much/costs less (even without the Groupon I used).

  • http://www.facebook.com/stoophanie Stephanie Minns

    i’m kind of late to the conversation, but did you write up a review of the redken treatment? i’d love to see/hear what you thought!

    • vorpalette

      Ah, you know, I never did! I think I have one started somewhere–I’ll get on it. :)

    • vorpalette
      • http://www.facebook.com/stoophanie Stephanie Minns

        awesome, thanks for this, i’m reading it now.

  • Pingback: Redken Urban Smooth review — miss lyon {soon to be mrs.}

  • Jennifer

    Ive done previous chemical treatments and I wanted to know if it would damage or make my hair fall of if I used this one with my hair already being previously treated?

    • http://misslyon.net/ Brandy

      It might. It depends on your hair, honestly. They’ll do a strand test before the entire treatment to make sure, but you never know. I don’t suggest doing the Pravana, anyway; Redken Urban Smooth is WAY better.