L'Oreal Professionel Steampod: Get Ready for #HairRevolution

Traditional hair straightening, say goodbye and make way for L'Oreal Steampod, the new frontier in expert hair straightening treatments. Last Tuesday, January 29, 2013, marked the official launch of L'oreal Steampod at Bench FIX Salon, Glorietta 4, Makati City.

The event was hosted by the glamorous Lia Ramos, the beauty and brains behind Glamourbox!

The Pride of Bench FIX: Bench has also introduced to us their Steampod specialists. You can find a Steampod specialist near you in the following Bench FIX Salon branches: Serendra, Glorietta, Eastwood, Greenbelt.

Click READ MORE and know more about this fab hair tool! Finally, we can say goodbye to crunchy, dry- looking straightened hair!

5 years and 8 patents later, L'oreal together with Rowenta, the hair iron specialist have come up with Steampod, a revolutionary hair straightening tool that gives you beautiful straight hair, but without compromising its health. It is also the first of its kind in the salon industry.

Fun Fact: Rowenta invented the first hair iron.

Basically, it's just a straightening iron, but unlike traditional ones, this one projects steam as it navigates through your locks. The science behind this is, as the hot iron runs through your hair and opens up your cuticles, the droplets of water coming from the steam immediately penetrates the hair shafts to hydrate it, thereby preventing dry, frizzy hair after the treatment, and damage in the long run.

There are actually a couple of hair straightening services that use steam but what separates Steampod from the rest is, its steam projection is continuous, ensuring that each and every part of your hair strand is nourished.

The Steampod device can perform two treatments:

Keratin Steam Bond is a permanent hair straightening service-its effect can last up to 6 months. There are two types of Steam Bond looks: Ultimate Straight Smoothing and Natural Straight Smoothing.

Steam Bond for Short Hair- P6,000.00

Steam Bond for Long Hair- P7,000.00

Keratin Steam Care is a temporary hair straightening service-its effect lasts up to 3 days only, but may last up to 1 1/2 weeks if used with complementing L'Oreal x- tenso hair products. It's usually performed as a post- treatment after Steam Bond, but you can have it as a monthly hair treatment as well.

Steam Care for Short Hair- P1,500.00

Steam Care for Long Hair- P2,500.00

You might be wondering where the heck Keratin is coming from, if the liquid in the device is only plain water. Throughout the Steam Bond and Steam Care services, you will use L'Oreal Professionel x-tenso products that are infused with Pro- Keratin Technology. Both products are suggested as take- home treatments after undergoing any Steampod service. The Mask is at P1,350.00 for a 500ml tub, and the shampoo is at P400.00 for a 230ml bottle. The x- tenso products are made sans Formaldehyde, and with natural plant extracts.

Initially, I wanted to try Steam Bond, but one of the Steampod specialists, Cesar (who's an ultimate darling, by the way) has examined my hair and told me that it's too frail and a little damaged, (because it hasn't recovered fully from my previous hair coloring treatment yet) and it might not survive the Steam Bond service so he suggested Steam Care instead. (Ouchies!) But I persisted and pleaded that I undergo Steam Bond. Little did Cesar know that I was testing him so I could see for myself if he's just any other stylist who'd insist their priciest hair treatment. I'm more than glad to know that he's not like that, and he's not the type who will compromise his customer's sake for profit. Good job, Bench FIX Salon!

To cut the story short, I had Steam Care, as recommended by Cesar. Check out the step by step process!

My hair was shampooed prior to the Steam Care service.

X-tenso Pro- Keratin mist was used to prep my hair for the Steampod.

After dampening my hair with the mist, my stylist for the day had blow- dried it. She said that this will help the Keratin mist to dry up and coat my hair strands quickly.

Before the actual ironing part, a dollop of L'Oreal's Mythic Oil was used on my hair, most especially on the mid-section and ends. The ingredients in Mythic Oil will provide extra nourishment to the hair during the ironing process. 

Now here's the ironing part: Unlike regular straightening irons, Steampod does not leave my hair piping hot, and I don't hear any snapping or crackling sounds as it passes through my hair.

After ironing, my stylist had sprayed water all over my hair as preparation for the mask.

Since my hair cuticles were left open by the heat, it was the best time to use a hair mask! They have used L'Oreal Professionel x-tenso Pro- Keratin Hair Mask on me.

The mask was left to penetrate my hair for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, my hair was just rinsed with water, and blow- dried once more.

The Steampod was used once again on my hair, the final step of the Steam Care service. This device also doubles as a styling tool! That's pretty cool because it saves time, energy, and electricity!

Voila! Gorgeous, free- flowing, healthy, vibrant straight hair after 1 hour!

Here's an idea on how awesome the Steampod is in the smoothing department: My camera is high- tech enough to detect a tiny fly away in my hair but after the Steam Care treatment, I was having a hard time taking a good photo of my mop because its surface was super smooth, hence I had to use the flash to get a decent pic. I was even telling Cesar that I don't remember my hair feeling this smooth and looking this gorgeous! After the service, it had this otherworldly softness, smoothness, and appearance! That goes to show that the Steampod is effective in giving you perfect straight hair!

L-R: Nyko, Mikki, Me, Janlee

Here's me, posing with my crazy, happy friends from Castro PR!

Goofing around with Janlee! Haha!

We ask you: Do you dare to join the #HairRevolution?

My hair, 2 days after the Steam Care service

This photo was taken after waking up. No combing was done on my hair here. It still looks pretty soft and smooth to me, and most of the flyaways are still tamed! :)

Is it safe for color- treated hair?

- Yes, especially Steam Care. However, if you have colored hair and you want to do Steam Bond, the Steampod Specialist, Cesar, suggested that you give your hair a break prior to Steam Bond (around 4 months or more, depending on the condition of your hair) to prevent grave damage.

If you're a fan of hair straightening, relaxing, or rebonding, might I suggest that you give this a try because the process is gentler, and the products they use are made without harsh synthetic chemicals.

GIVEAWAY ALERT: Visit L'oreal Professionel Philippines on Facebook and get a chance to win an iPad Mini! #Steampodipadminigiveaway

L'Oreal Professionel Steampod and its services are exclusively available in all Bench FIX Salons around the metro. Please visit L'OREAL PROFESSIONEL Philippines and BENCH FIX SALON on Facebook for more information about this service.