Are Micro Mist Steamers “Mist-er Right” for Your Hair?

Chi9ja asks…I recently heard of this micro mist steamer hair treatment and how its supposedly better than regular steamers or heat hair treatments. can someone anyone please clarify this issue up for me, will sitting under a regular dryer get the same results.

The Beauty Brains respond: 

This mister does appear to be an effective Extraction Tool.  The problem is the only thing that it’s extracting is hard earned money from your wallet.

What is a micro mist steamer hair treatment?

An ultrasonic steamer like the Micro Mist from Takara Belmont generates cool steam which supposedly swells the hair shaft and allows treatments to penetrate better. In reality, you don’t need any expensive device to achieve this same swelling effect – just wetting hair with water causes it to swell. (In fact, too much swelling is not good. Perms, relaxers and coloring processes can swell the hair shaft to the point of damage. )

According to the company you need to spend big bucks on their machine because it uses “ultrasonic vibrations to emit an enormous quantity of microscopic water particles that permeate deep into hair follicles.” These water droplets are supposedly smaller than “conventional” misting or steaming products so the water penetrates the hair better. Unfortunately, regular water (misted or not) has no trouble penetrating to the cortex of hair so you don’t need to pay for a special treatment to receive this benefit.

Takara Belmont says that using their Mister “creates a sensation for the customer that is often referred to as smooth and relaxing…the Mist emitted is an impressive visual that will get noticed and talked about in your salon environment.” There maybe some aesthetic benefits to this treatment but will not make hair care products work any better.

The Beauty Brains bottom line

While it may feel very indulgent and pampering to have this treatment done in a spa, from a technical perspective, this product is not “mist-er right” for your hair.

Image credit: http://i.images.cdn.fotopedia.com/