One word: "formaldehyde." It’s what stands between manageable, not-frizzy hair and me. Formaldehyde is the buzzword, and the buzzkill, that just may have stopped me from getting future Brazilian keratin treatments (of which I’ve had six in the past several years). The Environmental Protection Agency considers formaldehyde a probable human carcinogen that, when inhaled, can cause respiratory symptoms and eye, nose, and throat irritation. (Many keratin treatments trumpet their freedom from formaldehyde, but, at this point, I am confused and unsure.) Oh, and then there’s salt—which in some worthy-of-a-chemistry-lesson way removes the smoothing (and pricey) keratin from your hair.

After being “keratin-ed,” you should avoid using shampoos containing sodium lauryl sulfate—and some keratin brands include an approved shampoo and conditioner in the price of a treatment. However, salt water is also a no-no. This past summer, I timed my keratin treatments around potential trips to the beach—because who wants to be that gal who won’t get her hair wet?

What with all that, I was convinced to try a new, non-keratin straightening treatment from the folks at the Bumble and Bumble salon. (It’s not hard—if you ask me to jump on a new straightener I’m like, When and how high?) The Bumble and Bumble Concen-Straight Pro Treatment, with an average cost of $385 (varying with thickness), is a patent-pending in-salon “smoothing service” that lasts for up to 30 shampoos.

Having launched October 1, the process incorporates gemstones (pearl, tourmaline, Brazilian green malachite, and sapphire) and plant protein to calm curl and de-frizz by breaking and re-forming the bonds in hair. I got it done at the airy Bumble salon in the Meatpacking District, a bustling, groovy hive of hair-related activity. The treatment solution is brushed onto squeaky-clean hair and is then fried in with a blow-dryer. You leave the salon with dried, overly straight hair and a warning to not pin up or ponytail it for 24 hours—the point at which you're allowed your first shampoo.

The Bumble experts also warned me that the full effects of the treatment wouldn't kick in until about the fifth shampoo, but I noticed a downturn in curl and frizz after the very first wash. They also warned me that there would be an odor the first few days, especially in the time leading up to my first shampoo, and it was noticeable whenever my hair got wet. (If you’re old enough to have ever had a perm, you’ll recognize the scent. If not, well, you’ll tolerate it, with this ultimate goal in mind.)

As with my keratin treatments, I disobeyed orders and, for a brief time, pushed my hair back with a stretchy, wide, cotton headband. It didn’t seem to affect the result. At about seven shampoos in, my hair—without the absence of a blow-dryer—had some waves and body. With a dryer, it did what I wanted it to, without being stick-straight.

I’m not a curl-hater. It’s not that I don’t know how to manage my curls; sometimes I even enjoy those spirals. But most of the time I don’t know what they’ll do in stormy weather, and I wake up in the morning with all my hair mashed into a single dreadlock. The curls have to be washed (or at least conditioned) and pumped up every morning. They take a long time to dry, and that usually leaves me with my hair clamped up in a messy French twist, because—frankly—who has the time?

Now I'm using the separately-for-purchase Bb.Straight Shampoo, at $29; the Bb.Straight Conditioner, at $32; and the heat-activated styler Bb.Straight Blow Dry, at $28, and I can almost forget about my hair—in a good way.