I believe most Brazilian women who moved to Europe will relate do this: “Ok, I just moved in, let me search for the best hair salon in town… wait, they don’t do keratin treatment? OMG, how am I supposed to live without this?”. If you are a Brazilian, you get it, right? Yep, I hear you. Most Brazilian women have some kind of chemical straightening in their hair, which is something really rare in Europe. Here, women’s hair tends to be a lot more natural, whether it’s straight, wavy or curly. But that’s not the only cultural difference in the hair style world… here are some more items that are very different between Brazilian and Dutch hair:
KERATIN TREATMENT
The Brazilian woman comes from a very strong “beauty culture”. She believes she needs to be on point 24/7: well dressed, make up on, and perfect hair. And by “perfect”, they usually mean straight, smooth and shinning hair. But very few Brazilians have straight hair, and to avoid having to spend a lot of time blow-drying and styling their hair every day early in the morning, they often turn to chemical straightening procedures (aka keratin treatment), which is meant to do exactly that: straighten any kind of hair, no matter the texture. A research from 2012, done with 400 women with ages between 25-45, showed that 93% rely on keratin treatments, and only 4,9% are satisfied with their natural hair. No wonder they find it weird when they move to a country where no one even talks about this type of procedure, and where most woman would rather wear their natural hair.
LIFESTYLE
Brazilians tend to wear their hair loose and blow-dried in the day-to-day life. They usually use the car or public transportation to move around town, and that doesn’t really affect the way they will style their hair. On the other hand, the Dutch lifestyle is very different, since it’s done basically riding a bike: the country’s main way of transportation is used all year around, whether it’s sunny, windy, snowing or raining. And specially because of the rain and wind – which they have pretty much always, in order to bike around they normally tie their hair up in a bun, in the most practical way there is. Practicality is actually the word for the Dutch woman, and the messy bun is their favorite hair style.
DIY
In Brazil, services like hairdresser have a relatively low cost. It’s pretty common for Brazilian women to go to the salon once a week, or every 2 weeks, even if it’s just to get a blowout for the weekend or do a simple hair mask treatment. In Europe, generally these kinds of services tend to cost a lot more, which leads women to avoid getting their hair done by a professional so often and doing whatever they can at home – the famous DIY. Plus, here we have a larger variety of good home-care products, and with a lower cost than in Brazil. That means women don’t need to rely on going to the salon whenever they want to do a simple hair mask, for example.
NATURAL BEAUTY
Brazil is known for being the country of plastic surgery, and that also reflects on the Brazilian hair. As mentioned earlier, Brazil has a very strong beauty culture, and women feel they need to be impeccable all the time: perfect make-up and perfect hair, with no frizz whatsoever. As for the Dutch women, they tend to go for a more natural look, for both make-up and hair. Frizzy hair might not bother the Dutch woman as much. it’s really normal – especially duo the cold, rainy weather they have to face. And because they are known for being very honest about themselves, they don’t put themselves under too much stress to have the perfect hair all the time. Again, Dutch women are all about practicality.
And if you’re Brazilian, Dutch, or from any other country, we all have one thing in common: we like our hair to be healthy and beautiful, right? Whether in the salon or at home, it’s always a good idea to have a hair care routine. So, how about getting a good oil to make a hair mask at home while you read a book, or watch your favorite TV show?
With love,
Eliana Martt
