THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410130503
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Marc Tibbs
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
When my wife first started talking about ``Rio,'' I thought she meant ``de Janeiro,'' and that a Brazilian vacation was on the horizon.
But as any insomniac could have told me, she was talking about the latest rage in ``chemical-free'' black hair-care products.
That was the Rio she meant.
In a half-hour television ``infomercial'' aired in the wee hours of the morning, Rio is touted as the best thing to happen to black women's hair since Madame C.J. Walker fashioned the hot comb.
My wife saw the Rio spot late one night, as I snored alongside her. The next thing I knew, she was dialing the toll-free number, and ``ordering now!''
A few weeks later she was leaning over the kitchen sink scooping black goo from the blender into her hair.
Before long, she was giving testimonials.
For years, black women (and men) have tried one thing after another to make coarse, kinky hair manageable.
Black hair has been pressed. It's been permed. Steamed. Starched. All for the sake of flowing tresses.
Not that there's anything wrong with kinky hair. In fact, the Afro is making a comeback, and dreadlocks are as likely to be seen in a Wall Street boardroom as they are on a boardwalk.
But for those who long for a care-free coiffure, Rio is like manna from heaven. Even the otherwise pragmatic woman who is my wife is in a snit over a backlogged re-order.
The televised demonstrations show women having their hopelessly stubborn locks transformed instantly into silky strands.
Sounds almost too good to be true? Some beauticians say it is.
``They even had me thinking about ordering it,'' said Portia Hall, of the Portsmouth beauty salon of the same name. ``But they didn't bring it to the cosmetic world first, that's the thing that bothers me.''
Rio is sold by phone and mail order only. It's so hot that getting someone on the phone at the company's Los Angeles headquarters is about as easy as getting an appointment with Hillary Clinton's hairdresser.
But apparently, there are scores of satisfied Rio users.
Laverne Stallings, a telemarketing operator from Chesapeake, is a dyed-in-the-wool Rio girl.
``I was impressed,'' said Laverne, who has used the product twice and can hardly wait for her third application.
``My hair was a lot softer. . . . It was straighter than the first time.''
For about $30 an order, you get three applications of Rio, and a bottle of specialized shampoo and conditioner.
My wife's bought a lot of things off television over the past few years. Most of them are under the bed or stuffed in the back of the linen closet, long since forgotten.
But each day, she checks the mailbox looking for that package from Rio. ILLUSTRATION: Before and After Photos
[Color] BILL TIERNAN/Staff
Laverne Stallings of Chesapeake, a telemarketing operator, has used
Rio, which costs $30 for three applications, twice. Each time, she
says, her hair became softer and straighter.
by CNB