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We are sure you have definitely heard of this latest trending beauty treatment called keratin treatment. Well, everyone is getting it done and yes, they just can’t stop gushing about how it has changed their life. And while no matter how bad we too would love to have our hair the same beautifully silky soft, there are some thing you should know before getting a keratin treatment done.
Here are some important things to know about keratin treatment and its benefits for your hair type.
What is Keratin?
Keratin is a protein which belongs to the Scleroproteins family and is a naturally present, significant component of hair, nails, and skin. It is a protein that is insoluble in almost every solvent. It is present naturally in the hair and makes your hair, more elastic and full of life. Keratin acts as a shield for the cuticles and as an internal structural protein in the inner core of the hair providing your hair strength and toughness against damaging factors.
Should I Get A Keratin Treatment?
This definitely the very first question that comes to our mind whenever we look at a shiny frizz free hair of a friend or colleague. Then again you wonder, is keratin treatment safe? Well, Yes. Keratin treatments are safe. They are way too useful for hair. But there is one thing you should consider before deciding to get a keratin treatment done. And it is the texture of your hair.
If your hair is frizzy and rough, keratin treatment can do wonders tpo your hair. But if you have soft and smooth hair, the change may not be that visible. In such cases you can skip this treatment.
To further clear the air, let us look into the benefits of keratin treatment to clear all the doubts which keep popping up in our mind whenever we think of getting a keratin treatment done.
Benefits of Keratin Treatment:
- You can bid farewell to frizzy hair. You can even go out in rain, without any worry of getting your hair messed up or fluffy.
- A keratin hair treatment shortens the blow dry time by nearly 50 as compared to styling and straightening hair frizzy hair everyday.
- It helps in removing residue of shampoo, harsh chemicals, and hard water from your hair strands.
- It helps to prevent split ends and in turn, you can get rid of slow or no hair growth due to split ends. With keratin your hair growth improves.
- You get better looking hair if color is applied to a keratin smooth hair than a normal hair.
- It helps you get rid of hair breakage.
- The keratin treatment helps to retain the hair moisture and as a result, you get rid of the dullness.
- The hair becomes healthier and appears smoother.
- It takes lesser time to style it and can be styled in different manners be it wavy or straight.
- It can be done on any kind of hair irrespective of your gender. It is a universal treatment used by both men and women.
- Keratin treatment has low maintenance. Maintaining keratin treated hair is cost-effective and pocket-friendly.
- The volume of your hair is not affected.
- Keratin treatment gives the hair a shiny luxurious look and enhances the texture.
Does Keratin work?
Exposure to excessive heat styling, UV rays of the sun, salt water causes loss of your natural Keratin over time. Keratin is severely damaged by regular heat styling and blow drying the hair. Hence to get back the keratin protein we are advised by our stylists to go for a keratin hair treatment in order to make the hair shine and regain its elasticity back. So the answer to does keratin really work? is a yes. It does but it completely depends on the products you buy.Today there are various keratin-based products available in the market, but you must wisely choose from the range of products considering which are safe and can really work for your hair. It is advised to buy keratin products from known sellers rather than from online stores or unknown sellers.
It should not contain formaldehyde or any other banned chemicals. Keratin products like shampoo and conditioners etc must contain fewer sulphates, as sulphates will fade the hair color gradually and can even potentially damage your hair.
The best keratin products will contain ingredients like olive oil, soy protein, and hydrolyzed keratin. In short, keratin can do wonders to the hairs making it shiny, smooth and split free. It is the solution to big problems like fizz and damaged rough hair.
Keratin Hair Straightening
A lot of people think that keratin treatment means only straightening the hair. Thats not true. But yes, along with other target issues, it is used for straightening as well. Keratin straightening treatments are typically a salon thing. It is normally a semi-permanent hair smoothing treatment that smoothens the cuticle of your hair.It uses a formula that contains keratin in a liquid form, mixed with a chemical preservative. After applying it in proper steps, it is followed by blow drying the hair and flat ironing it. It is important to hot iron the hair after applying the keratin product as the heat will activate the straightening effect. Keratin hair straightening treatments are one of the best and healthiest hair straightening methods.
Keratin Treatment for Curly Hair
It is a bit difficult at times to get completely straight hair for curly hairs. In order to disturb the curl pattern and make the hair straight, a process of breaking down the disulfide bonds must be utilized. The keratin treatments, on our hair, include three steps: relaxing, neutralizing and conditioning.The relaxing stage changes the way proteins merge by using alkalis which causes the hair to break down so as to lose the curl. But it does not damage the actual strands. Next step is the neutralizing stage where the pH balance is restored so that the hair is not quite so delicate after going through controlled damage. Lastly, the hair is conditioned to add the exact amount of care and shine to our newly non-curly hair.
Curly hair benefits the most from keratin treatments. This is like having the sleek soft and silky hair you wanted for ages, in a matter of few hours.
Keratin Treatment Side Effects
- The keratin hair straightening products, might contain formaldehyde which when inhaled by some people can cause nausea, throat itching, eye irritation, and skin issues as well.
- Though some of the products are labelled formaldehyde-free they may contain formalin or methylene glycol which can cause the same problems and side effects as formaldehyde.
- Visit a reputed salon and ensure that the treatment is done by maintaining all the safety precautions and by applying a good quality and formaldehyde-free products.
- After going through with the keratin hair treatment we cannot wash or shampoo the hair for a couple of days
- After these couple of days, we can wash our hair only with a specific shampoo and conditioner in order to not damage the newly treated hair.
- The shampoo and conditioner we use must be sulphate free, and preferably ones that are advised by our stylist at the salon or the ones that come along with the hair straightening product.
- The treatment is a bit costly.
- While we go for swimming we must ensure not to wet the hair, the chlorine can make the keratin effect damaged and go away sooner than it should.
Treating our hair from the outside is not enough it is important to nourish it from inside as well by maintaining a balanced diet. A balanced diet is bound to make the hair shine with health and our diet must include plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits, a variety of lean protein such as eggs, and Greek yogurt and other poultry products.
We hope this detailed post of all the things to know about keratin treatment helped you gain an insight you didn’t quite know about it. If you want to go ahead and get yourself this treatment, make sure you follow all the precautions and use just the right products. And do share with us your keratin treatment story and experience.
