Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Van Tibolli Beauty looks to convert salons and consumers to its GKHair brand’s new hair-smoothing treatment, The Best, designed to “change the texture of your hair without any harsh chemicals.”

GKHair's The Best

The Best is a protein-based treatment system for hair smoothing. Its active component represents a welcome contrast to the methylene glycol found in many other professional products, Colleen Martorano, VTB director of education, told “The Rose Sheet” in a recent interview.

“With the pulling with a brush, and the heat of the blow dryer, it’s mechanically changing the shape of your hair to last up to three to five months. Basically what we did was removed a harsh chemical and replaced it with a hair stylist.” – VTB’s Colleen Martorano

The treatment features Juvexin, a proprietary protein and peptide blend containing a protein derived from the wool of New Zealand sheep through an “environmentally friendly” process, the firm says.

Juvexin helps to “protect and restore hair back to its youthful state … put[ting] back the same properties found in young, healthy and vibrant hair which are usually lost over time,” according to Education Coordinator Ashley Fenice.

The Best straightens by reducing “stiffness” in the hair, which allows hair to lose its natural curl and feel softer. Juvexin “penetrates the hair shaft” to carry conditioning and moisturizing benefits, and can control frizz or straighten hair, she said.

A stylist applies the treatment to the hair and leaves it to sit for five to 60 minutes before rinsing it out, then blow-dries and manually straightens the hair, without the need for air ventilation systems or face masks.

“You blow that out and there’s no product in the hair at all, as opposed to a traditional keratin where you’re sealing something in,” according to Martorano.

“With the pulling with a brush, and the heat of the blow dryer, it’s mechanically changing the shape of your hair to last up to three to five months,” she said. “Basically what we did was removed a harsh chemical and replaced it with a hair stylist.”

The Best also gives stylists the flexibility to make hair very straight or take the frizz out and keep hair curly, according to the exec.

The process ranges in price from $250 to $450, depending on the market, according to the exec. Supplemental at-home styling products – also featuring Juvexin to reinforce the salon procedure – range from $18 to $25.

“So whether you’re having your hair done in the salon, or you’re doing your shampooing in the shower, you’re getting enough doses of Juvexin to make sure you maintain that beautiful healthy glow in your hair,” Martorano said.

Gaining Traction In Salons

Other products under the GKHair banner – including the Light Wave, Curly and Resistant lines – do feature methylene glycol as a straightening agent, but at levels “well below” OSHA standards, Martorano said.

But VTB decided to develop The Best “because we wanted to give another choice to our clients for a healthier version of what they were looking for,” she said.

It started rolling out in salons in August, before regulatory action against [GIB LLC]’s Brazilian Blowout heated up with an FDA warning letter and OSHA fines Also see "FDA Warning To “Formaldehyde-Free” Brazilian Blowout Cites High Methylene Glycol Levels" - HBW Insight, 12 September, 2011..

“It was unfortunate that some of our competitors weren’t complying and did things they weren’t supposed to do,” Martorano said.

But to VTB’s benefit, some salons have changed from products like Brazilian Blowout to The Best.

Salons “have begun replacing those products with ours, because it’s gentler, it’s easier to use and you’re getting a better end result that lasts over time,” she explained.

VTB products are now available in more than 4,000 salons worldwide.

In the past, VTB advertised The Best solely to salons, but it is now beginning a marketing push to generate interest and awareness among consumers with a social media campaign.

“How great would it be if a [consumer] called a salon and said ‘I’d like The Best.’ That’s kind of what we’re looking for,” Martorano said.

Other hair-smoothing brands have reached out to consumers, highlighting the “safer” and “formaldehyde-free” benefits of their products in the wake of the Brazilian Blowout controversy.

Kao Brands’ John Frieda introduced Frizz-Ease 3-Day Straight in January, a “weightless spray [that] provides heat protection and blocks out frizz,” and Ouidad Products introduced Ouidad Softening System in October 2010 to fight frizz.

Meanwhile Vogue International's Organix brand’s Ever Straight Brazilian Keratin Therapy 30-Day Smoothing Treatment features keratin proteins to smooth hair cuticles and L'Oreal SA brand Garnier Fructis promises sleek and smooth hair from Style Sleek & Shine Blow Dry Perfector Also see "John Frieda Offers Affordable, Salon-Level Hair Straightening With Frizz-Ease" - HBW Insight, 31 January, 2011..

“Edgier, Sexier” Tibolli

VTB also is looking to expand the reach of its upmarket Tibolli brand hair-straightening treatment.

The Tibolli Trioxxy treatment offers results similar to GKHair’s The Best, but products offer a luxurious texture and “high-end” fragrance, according to Martorano.

“It’s kind of an edgier line, sexier,” she explained. “It’s for women who are willing to go the extra mile.”

The treatment features Trioxxy, a blend of keratin proteins designed to “replenish hair from the inside out” with a Hydra Delivery System, which creates a shield over each hair strand to protect against damage, Fenice explained. It does not contain methylene glycol.

Tibolli initially launched in five countries in Europe, but is now being introduced to the U.S. market, targeting salons that do not already carry GKHair. VTB intends to introduce a hair color line under the Tibolli banner by the end of the year, Martorano said.

Van Tibolli’s The Best Targets Blowout Market With “Safe” Straightening

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