Good morning friends!

I am blogging from school since I actually have a bit of a long break today (1.5 hours).  Yesterday the principle realized that my schedule on Tuesdays and Wednesdays is incorrect and instead of being here from 9:20-1:20, I should be here from 10:20-2:20.  Actually, on Wednesdays, instead of coming to their teacher meetings, I will be able to come from 11:40-2:20.  I was able to arrange this because I offered to hold a kind of informal English-speaking group with the students 2x/ week during the 1/2 hour break.  I was going to offer to do this anyway, but now I get to do it and have a nice, short day on Wednesdays.  Starting next week 😉  Today, I came to school for the “meeting” where I basically just made to-do lists and stared off into space and now I have a break for an hour (right now I am in the cafeteria drinking coffee and soaking up the smells of sausage mmm) and then 3 hours of class and then on my merry, merry way to my BED!  I am so, so tired for no reason other than my stupid iPhone.  I get in bed at like…10:00 and then waste time with it until almost midnight and my alarm blares in my ear at 6:30 am.  Ooph.

So…the Great Relaxer Hunt.  As I have mentioned previously, I get my hair “chemically straightened” or relaxed every year.  I have super curly, frizzy hair, so the relaxer makes it more manageable…but it also makes me poor.  (Side Note: I posted this last year, but I just learned that I have been getting RELAXERS and not KERATIN.  They are two different things, but since I went to a new salon last year, I believe what I had was a Keratin treatment-it didn’t last as long and was much less expensive than usual).

Anyway, I was going to get my hair done before coming to Spain, but the price has gotten more and more outrageous each year.  This year it would have cost me $235 + tip, which isn’t horrible for a once-a-year thing, but….I decided to wait and play my luck with finding a salon in Spain.

Yesterday I decided that I can’t stand the frizz anymore so, alas, I went on the Great Relaxer Hunt.  Turns out, Spanish people don’t often DO relaxers because you know…they have nice, soft hair.  But there are tourists like me that want them so they can be found!  I tried to Google search some places/ recommendations, but most of what came up was for Afro-Latino or Dominican relaxers and blowouts.  Not quite what I’m looking for (because I have never had that).

The thing about having your hair relaxed is that you are dealing with not only chemicals, but very strong and potentially harmful chemicals (why do I do these things, you are wondering.  I am a mind reader), so it’s important to find someone that knows what they are doing, is mindful of previous relaxers in the hair (as it can cause a lot of damage to mix them), and is certified.  Also if they speak English, this is a nice bonus because it’s like coming here and trying to describe to a plastic surgeon what you are looking to do and they just smile and nod and tell you no problem.  No!  We need to understand each other.

I spent almost 5 hours walking around and checking out places, and here is what I found.  I walked around Sol, Tribunal, and Malasana because these are more upscale-touristy neighborhoods.  I also found a place near Lavapies. but will not be going there.  See below.

1.  Store in Lavapies  Had a huge sign with services offered.  Japanese-straightening…only 90E!  Went in to ask about the process (in Spanish)

Me: Do you do straightening?

Him: Yes

Me: What is the product?

Him: A product from my country.

Me: But what’s it called?

Him: I don’t know.  It’s from my country.  Do you want to do it now?

Me: No….*walked out*

2. Corta Cabeza Hair- Huertas

This place looked nice so we went in.  They had me sit in the chair and they looked at my hair and described the products they offer (keratin or relaxers) and told me that since relaxers are not very common in Spain, they didn’t know how much it would be.  They discussed among themselves and decided it would be 120E for the relaxer and 260 for Keratin (even though a relaxer is stronger).  I thanked them and left. (Also- they spoke English and seemed to know what they are doing.  They discussed previous relaxers in my hair and said they would use much more mild relaxers on the parts that are already treated.)

So this place has 3 locations in Madrid and since they just made up a price, I decided to check out their other locations and see what they say.

3. Corta Cabeza Hair-Tribunal 28004 Madrid

Keratin- 160 more or less (depending on amount of product used)

Relaxer- 220

4. Corta Cabeza Hair- Malasana 28004 Madrid

Keratin- 160 more or less (depending on amount used)

Relaxer- 220

5. I don’t remember the name, but was in Malasana and looked very nice.

Relaxer-260.  No.

6. Marco Aldany (Hair School)

Since this is a school, I was hoping the price would be lower, but….

Keratin: 110-120

I made an appointment at Marco Aldany for later today, but I am going to cancel it.  The Huertas Corta Cabeza location may be confused about what I want (they seem to have the relaxer/ keratin confused) but they spoke English and were sure that the relaxer is 120 and the keratin is the expensive one.  Either way, for 120E I am willing to SEE if maybe it is a relaxer, and at worse, it’s just keratin which is what I would be paying for at Marco Aldany.  Same price, but there is a chance it’s a relaxer.  This salon seems upscale, knowledgeable and they are certified, so I feel comfortable taking that chance.  Also, my hair has been growing for almost a year now, so it should be safe to put a new relaxer on it.  I was not able to get an appointment for this week, but next week- I’ll be all up in there.  I’ll check back with the results here, and I’m asking for your prayers that those results are not baldness 😉

If you’re looking for relaxers and keratin treatments in Madrid, rest assured- they are here!

**P.s. I like my curls!  A lot actually!  I don’t want to get rid of them.  I just want to loosen them and eliminate the frizz, so that’s what these treatments will do.