Keratin hair treatment… So much has been said and written about it, however, it’s rather hard to find an article that would give a comprehensive overview of this treatment, leaving you with no questions after you finish reading.

That’s why we decided to make up this guide, so you can find out all necessary information about this treatment and so much more. Are you ready to meet the procedure that can absolutely change your hair condition in a couple of hours? Let’s start then!

What is a Keratin Hair Treatment?

Keratin belongs to the family of fibrillar proteins, which have a special mechanical strength. Simply put, keratin is the main “building” material of our hair. Keratin performs a protective function: integrating into protein chains, it forms and strengthens disulfide bonds, giving hair additional strength. Keratin smoothing treatment is a special composition for keratin hair straightening. The composition includes many different components such as keratin, amino acids, vitamins, oils and extracts. Such a treatment is very useful for ladies whose hair is in poor condition because any damages lead to breakages in disulfide bonds. That’s why, if performed correctly, keratin hair straightening can become a magic wand for those whose locks literally need rescue ASAP

How Can Keratin Treatment Help With Hair Growth?

There is a belief that keratin hair treatment can help you to grow long hair, however, is it really so? Indeed, after keratin straightening, your locks look MUCH longer but it’s just because your hair became straight! Unfortunately, keratin treatment won’t help you much in becoming a modern Rapunzel. Everything is pretty explainable: in order to make your hair grow faster, you should make your hair follicles work. Keratin has nothing to do with hair follicles, as it only acts on your locks but not on what’s hidden right into your scalp

Keratin Treatment With Natural Curly Hair

What effect does keratin produce on natural curly hair? The keratin straightening procedure is aimed at deep reconstruction and smoothing of the hair. It can make even the tightest curls straight, smooth and obedient. This procedure will be a great choice for those who dream of a smooth hair structure and are tired of using flat iron. Even 4C curls can turn into mirror shiny sleek locks! However, as keratin straightening is a semi-permanent treatment, it means that your hair will slowly return to its natural shape after you give up using keratin

Keratin vs Japanese Treatment and Relaxer

Some people believe that there’s nothing special about keratin straightening as there are many other similar treatments just like Japanese treatment and hair relaxing. However, everything isn’t as simple as it may seem. Hair relaxation  always has lots of strong dangerous chemicals in its composition, thus, this treatment is prohibited for people who are prone to allergic reactions and pregnant/lactating women. Besides, unlike keratin, hair relaxation can only be performed if the condition of the hair is normal (because relaxer can literally kill severely damaged hair due the strong chemicals). Japanese treatment provides permanent result which means that once you’ve straightened your hair, it will never go back to its natural shape. This treatment  changes the internal bond of human hair forever while keratin does it only for a certain period of time.

What Is The Process of Keratin Hair Treatment?

Everything is super easy. First of all, wash your hair with anti-residue shampoo, leave it on your locks for 5 minutes and rinse. Then blow-dry your hair leaving it a little bit (10-20%) wet and divide your hair into several sections. Apply smoothing treatment starting from the back of your head, leave it for 30 minutes. Blow-dry the locks using cold air stream, separate your hair into several strands again and flat-iron each strand 4-6 times. At the final step, wash your hair once again, apply repair mask and leave it for 10 minutes, rinse and blow-dry your hair again. Here it is!

How Long Does Keratin Treatment Last?

The effect of keratin hair straightening can last from 4 to 6 months, if it’s not your first time. This is due to the cumulative effect of keratin in the hair. The effect of the first treatment will last for about 2 months. Consistency is the key! If you timely repeat the procedure, then the result will last longer after each new treatment. We should also mention that if your have African-American hair or just super tight coily curls, then you’ll probably have to repeat the procedure oftener that those who have just slightly wavy locks. Remember! 4C hair is super brittle, thus, the keratin composition should be chosen very carefully in order not to damage your locks

Keratin Treatment with Colored Hair

If you perform keratin smoothing treatment in order to improve the state of your hair, do this procedure at least 2 weeks before hair dyeing or bleaching. 

After the procedure don’t dye your hair for at least 14 days as the aggressive ammonia hair dyes weaken the keratin effect on natural hair. The best option is to dye your hair at least 10 days before the procedure. Besides, hair dye just won’t have any chance to penetrate into your hair because the cuticles will be sealed by keratin, thus, the obtained color will be dull and just won’t last. However, if you did everything right and dyed your hair beforehand, then keratin can seal the hair dye into your locks, prolonging vivid shade.

My Hair Stylist Does Not Recommend Me Keratin Treatment. What do I need to know?

Many hairstylists nowadays tend to believe that keratin hair treatment can do more bad than good, thus, they talk their clients out of this treatment. Sometimes such skepticism can be reasonable. Many keratin compositions contain poisonous organic compound which is called formaldehyde. After heating, it releases a gas that accumulates in the respiratory tract and is the cause of allergies. Compositions based on the use of derivatives of aldehyde-containing acids and aldehydes are no less harmful. Under the influence of heat they still produce  formaldehyde.

Besides, not many salon professionals now work with keratin. Some of them just came stand the smell, for some it’s just hard to work with coily hair as it requires pretty much time, but the most popular reason is that lots of stylists use more expensive (and less time-consuming) treatments with weaker effect just to earn more money. 

We highly recommend you to check out all FDA recommendations regarding keratin smoothing treatment before conducting it. First of all, carefully read the label and check out the list of ingredients. If you’re not sure about anything, ask a salon professional. In case if you experienced any bad reaction, report your symptoms to the FDA and your local health care provider. Remember that the FDA regulates cosmetics, including hair smoothing products, under the authority of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 

Sometimes, if you have severely damaged or just very weak hair, it’s better to try some other treatment. For example, one-step keratin and hair botox are much more sparing treatments. Consult your hairstylist if you doubt that keratin hair treatment will be suitable for your hair. 

Keratin Treatment is Pricey. Can I DIY?

Home keratin treatment is what many ladies choose as their #1 haircare routine, however, it has some differences from the salon procedure. First of all, you will use special products created for home use. The concentration of active ingredients in them is lower than in salon analogs, however, it’s for the sake of your safety. Don’t use professional products at home and follow all instructions!

Secondly, salon procedure can be performed faster because of the experienced stylist. Thirdly,  one salon treatment costs the same amount of money that you can spend on the set for home keratin treatment. It will allow you to perform 5-25 procedures, can you imagine this? Isn’t it much beneficial to buy a home set and become your own hairstylist?

Nutree has a wide range of keratin sets suitable for home use:

•  Amazonliss. Classic keratin hair treatment. The composition of Amazonliss Nutree is enriched with natural ingredients, among which there are natural extracts of Cacao, Acai, Rice, Soya, Corn, and Wheat. Thanks to them, Amazonliss is suitable for all hair types.
•  Vegan Care. 100% vegan cruelty-free formaldehyde-free treatment. Vegan Care respects nature, considering your hair physiology and caring for the scalp. Having a perfect blend of sealant resins and lactic acid, our vegan keratin treatment enhances the uniformity of the cuticular surface, providing conditioning treatment and hair sealing.
•  Unique Step. A one-step fast (1 hour) keratin treatment. The composition was developed using advanced nanotechnology that is enriched with microparticles of thermo-hydrolyzed protein, which penetrate the structure of the hair and contribute to the instant restoration and straightening of hair in just one application.
• Tanino. A one step treatment the key ingredient of which are tannins. You won’t need flat iron as well. The effect lasts 2-3 months. What’s more, this hair smoothing treatment is perfect for pregnant women. The key ingredient of this product is tannins, which originated from Tamarindus. Tamarindus is a leguminous tree, indigenous to tropical Africa.

Here it is! Hopefully we managed to answer all of your questions about keratin hair treatment. Stay healthy and beautiful with Nutree!