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The Broot is a small, unassuming storefront on Santa Monica's Montana Avenue, an area cluttered with salons and spas. Though LA has no shortage of places to get bleached, tanned and waxed, The Broot (whose name means "back to the root") brings something new to the beauty landscape—all-natural hair masks made of things you can probably find in your kitchen. They offer several treatments based on hair types and needs (volume, breakage, frizz, etc) and also let customers mix up their own blends from Broot ingredients, which include mayonnaise, avocados and bananas.
The treatments are pretty quick—an associate mixes the ingredients, then puts 'em in a plastic squeeze bottle, the contents of which are deposited on your wet hair. After it's in, you sit under an old-school metal dryer and then get a shampoo to make sure everything's washed out. Pay extra and they'll braid or blow out your locks, but there are also tools and products on hand if you'd prefer to save the cash and DIY. While the procedure itself is user-friendly, we had one small nitpick: The salon layout causes patrons to walk from one end of the space across and back a couple of times, which is sort of weird with a plastic wrap-covered head.
A day later, we can report that our hair feels just as soft as The Broot promised, and even the faint banana smell finally went away. As for the salon's longterm plans? In addition to repairing the hair of Angelenos, they are plotting the launch of a line of take-home masks and other hair products.
· The Broot [Official Site]
· TheBroot Is A Salon Dedicated to All-Natural Hair Masks [Racked LA]