How Long Does Keratin Treatment Last

Any term for a semi-permanent chemical straightening procedure that smooths the hair for a sleek, flat-iron finish, including Brazilian keratin treatment blowout, straightening treatment, and keratin treatment, means the same thing. And in this article, we will cover how long does keratin treatment ¹last.

After one of these treatments, you may anticipate stronger, healthier-feeling hair with a glossy luster. And, have the ability to air-dry your hair shaft to a completely straight, glossy finish without frizz?

This tutorial will cover all you need to know about these semi-permanent straightening procedures², including what they include, how they function, their benefits and drawbacks, and when you should avoid them. Let’s get going!

1. How Long Does Keratin Treatment Last

Keratin treatments give the hair a glossy luster and erase frizz for a smooth, flat-iron finish while eradicating any existing waves and curls. These treatments are often used to naturally frizzy³, wavy, or curly hair.

After the first keratin treatment, they let you get flat-ironed results without further heat, chemicals, or hair styling products⁴. Because the hair will air-dry to a completely straight, lustrous finish after a keratin straightening treatment, ladies may cut down on style time.

The duration of this keratin treatment may range from three to six months, so once you get them done, your locks remain in excellent shape for a while. However, the therapies don’t provide unambiguous outcomes that last. Once the treatment wears off, your natural texture, including waves or curls, will return.

2. Procedures For Keratin Treatments

• Knowing how the surgery works from the inside out can help you prepare for it if you decide to have it done. Here is a typical keratin protein therapy procedure; be forewarned, it takes a while to complete. A book with you!
• A shampoo based on keratin (protein) is used to wash the hair 1-2 times and then rinsed.
• After that, the hair is completely blow-dried to prepare it for treatment.
• The hair is divided into four to five substantial parts. The stylist will then remove smaller. Brush the treatment in 5″ to 1″ increments, then comb it through to ensure uniform distribution.
• A plastic cover is used to retain heat and aid in the solution’s penetration into the strands. It often rests on the hair for 20 to 30 minutes (for resistant hair). NOTHING is washed out.
• The treatment is still in the hair while it receives another full blow-drying.
• A flat iron heated to anywhere between 380 degrees (for damaged, bleached, or fine hair) and 450 degrees (for coarse or resistant hair) is employed to establish the keratin treatment and produce a long-lasting straight texture.

• After being subjected to high heat (up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit), the treated hair’s smoothness and straight texture are “locked in.” After all, is said and done, you are still not quite done.
• You won’t be able to wash or style your hair for the first three days (72 hours) after your treatment. Therefore, no curling, ponytails, headbands, or clips are permitted. Even tucking it behind your ears is impossible. Any one of them will cause semi-permanent bends or dents in the hair.
• Your straight hair will appear stunningly smooth and straight after the treatment, so there’s really no need to style it, so it’s not as horrible as it sounds. It cannot be washed straight away or submerged in water. During this period, if your hair gets even a little bit wet, it might undo the treatment and cause areas of your hair to be curly or wavy.
• During the first 72 hours, if your hair unintentionally becomes wet, rapidly dry it and flat iron the damaged area to make it hair straight again.

3. Pros

A woman with a keratin treatment is seen in a side-by-side photo with straight, shining hair on the right and curly, tangled hair on the left.

Women’s obsession with Brazilian blowouts and semi-permanent straightening procedures is for a reason (well, numerous reasons).

3.1. Smooth, Tangle-Free Outcomes

These keratin hair treatments smooth the outermost layer of hair cells, which are also formed of keratin, making them more uniformly smooth and less prone to frizz. The treatment’s keratin plugs up gaps in the outer layer of hair strands and gives them a smooth, more equal texture, acting similarly to mending a pothole on the road.

3.2. Split Ends, Fuses

Split ends can’t be “fixed” or “healed” by keratin, but it may fuse the ends together so that they are less noticeable. Any broken ends you have will be stitched together with keratin during a keratin-based salon treatment, making them seem whole and healthy for the duration of the procedure.

3.3. Stronger, Shinier Hair

Another wonderful benefit that keratin has on your hair follicle is that it makes each hair strand very smooth and lustrous. It reflects light better because each strand is seamless, down to the microscopic level, with no gaps or rough spots. Without the use of expensive serums or oil-based sprays, there will be greater shine.

The strength of keratinized hair is also increased. Keratin is the primary constituent of hair; thus, reinforcing each strand with it makes it even more resilient to breaking and stronger.

3.4. No Styling Necessary

If you choose to undergo one of these procedures, you probably do so because you want hair that can be styled each morning easily and is pin-straight. One of the key advantages of these keratin treatments is that.

Even if you toss and turn all night, your hair will still be straight and smooth when you wake up. Without the need for extra chemicals or equipment, it will air dry to a flawlessly smooth finish. While you’re getting the keratin treatment, styling it requires nothing more than a few passes with a flat iron.

3.5. Reduces Drying Time by 50%

With keratin-based treatments, your typical drying time will be halved. We can’t think of a better option if you detest blow-drying your hair before styling it with heat than one of these protein-infused treatments.

It will take closer to 15 minutes following the treatment if drying normally takes you 30 minutes. Additionally, keratin-treated hair dries quickly when left to air dry if you’d prefer to forgo blow-drying completely.

3.6. Daily Damage is lower

Women who have a keratin-infused treatment also benefit from less everyday heat hair style damage. Reduced shampooing lessens the amount of harm you expose your hair texture to while also extending the therapy.

Because of the keratin treatment, you don’t need to heat a flat iron or curling iron to style your hair in the mornings if you have fantastic hair when you wake up. Additionally, while the keratin treatment is still in effect, your hair length will be subjected to far less damage each day since you won’t need to style it with as much brushing, combing, pinning, braiding, or sectioning.

4. Cons of Keratin Treatment

A large clump of hair stretches out into a dollar sign in the center of hair shears to represent how costly keratin treatments are.

These protein-infused therapies aren’t ideal, and not everyone will benefit from them. By reading about the drawbacks of receiving one of these treatments, you can make sure you are aware of what you are getting into.

4.1. Possibly Contains Carcinogens and Toxic Chemicals

Keratin straightening procedures are effective because they combine damaging chemicals with high heat. Given how harsh formaldehyde is, many women naturally feel uneasy taking a therapy that includes a substance that is known to cause cancer.

You’ll notice that most keratin-type procedures include the phrase “formaldehyde-free” on the label. That is just a marketing gimmick as ALL keratin-based procedures are, in fact, formaldehyde-free. This hazardous substance is not really present in any of the recipes.

If you’d want to avoid the formaldehyde danger completely, disregard claims that keratin-based treatments are “formaldehyde-free” and choose a glyoxylic acid-based keratin hair treatment instead. Even though they don’t emit formaldehyde when heated, these safer treatments nonetheless have a soothing impact on hair.

4.2. Not Effective on All Hair Types

Not everyone should get these therapies. They work well to smooth and straighten frizz-prone wavy or curly hair, but they don’t work as well on very curly ringlets or oily textures.

These treatments may not provide results that are exactly straight for textures with curves or coils. There’s a chance you’ll have many waves, curls, or frizz.

4.3. Process That Takes Time

Keratin Treatments for straightening hair with keratin take a long time to complete. Depending on the length of your hair and the chosen procedure of your hairdresser, allow 2 to 4 hours to spend in the chair.

To guarantee that your hair is absolutely straight, your stylist will need to repeatedly run a flat iron over very tiny areas, often making 10–12 passes over each piece.

You’ll have invested between 90 minutes to four hours in the therapy by the time it’s done. You must wait three days to wash, style, or even tuck your hair behind your ears.

4.4. Results Are Temporary

Japanese relaxers and straightening procedures provide permanent results but not keratin-based procedures.

If you take the right care precautions, you may enjoy straight, frizz-free results for up to 6 months, but it won’t last much longer.

4.5. The Procedures Are Exorbitant

You should be aware that keratin treatments are significantly more expensive if you thought your balayage visit was pricey. Depending on your salon, the kind of treatment utilized, the length of your hair, and other factors, you may anticipate spending between $250 and $500 on your procedure.

Additionally, remember that these semi-permanent procedures only last 3-6 months, so you’ll need to continue paying for them to maintain your sleek results.

5. Maintenance of Keratin Straightening Treatment

After weighing the advantages and disadvantages, let’s discuss how to manage your therapy to get the longest-lasting outcomes properly. Your straight, frizz-free results may last anywhere from 3-6 months, but if you adhere to these upkeep suggestions, you’ll reach the six-month mark.

After that, for three days, don’t touch it. You may now touch it. But wait at least 72 hours after your treatment before engaging in the following. No clipping/pinning, heat styling, ponytails, or tucking it behind your ears. A placing your sunglasses on your head too! Within the first 72 hours, even the smallest bend or dent in your hair will be irreversible.

Use a shampoo without sulfates. The sulfates in shampoo strip your hair’s natural oils that keep it nourished, silky, and healthy. A shampoo without sulfates is gentler on treated hair and prolongs the life of your results.

Using less shampoo. You shouldn’t overdo it by washing your hair too often, even with a decent sulfate-free shampoo. Try washing just two or three times a week, if your hair can tolerate it, to extend the life of your results. To remove extra oil in between washes, use a dry shampoo.

6. Hair Types That Need Keratin Treatment

6.1. Healthy to Lightly Damaged Hair

Unsurprisingly, somewhat damaged hair is also a wonderful candidate for a protein treatment. Healthy hair is certainly the greatest candidate for any chemical treatment like this.

A therapy like this is likely to provide the most dramatic outcomes in women who have some hair damage.

6.2. Curly Hair

Type 2 hair is described as having waves. Type 2A has very tiny bends in the hair, whereas type 2B has just enough curls (type 2C). The keratin treatments used to straighten this hair type work exceptionally effectively.

6.3. Coarse Hair

Perfect candidates for these treatments have curly hair. Curl types often have frizz hair tangles. Therefore, a smoothing and straightening treatment like this is really beneficial.

A keratin-based treatment will work best on larger curls (type 3A) or medium (type 3B). Having tighter curls may prevent you from getting the smooth appearance you want.

6.4. Unruly Hair

The majority of frizz is eliminated, which is one of these treatments’ key advantages. You’re definitely a wonderful candidate for a keratin-infused treatment if you’ve been dreaming of having smoother hair without frizz.

Even when you let your hair dry, you’ll notice that the strands are smoother, less tangled, and have hardly any frizz.

6.5. Hair with Lots of Holes

The outside cell layer of your hair contains numerous gaps if it has a high porosity, making it difficult to retain moisture and nutrients. By applying protein to high-porosity hair, the gaps are filled, and the outer cell layer is strengthened. The end effect is hair that is more hydrated, more nourished and feels softer to the touch.

7. Conclusion

You should give it some thought if you have frizzy hair, high porosity, healthy, moderately damaged, wavy, or curly hair. One of these keratin treatments will give any hair type a smooth, straight texture. Additionally, you’ll notice a significant decrease in frizzy hair while also getting more shine and vigor.

However, it’s acceptable if you’re still on the fence about it. These procedures are pricey, only last 3-6 months, require hours and restrict what you may do with your hair for three days afterward.

Not to add that certain treatments include substances that, when combined, produce formaldehyde, a gas that is known to be harmful and carcinogenic.

FAQ

Read more

1. Cavallaro, Giuseppe, et al. “Halloysite/keratin nanocomposite for human hair photoprotection coating.” ACS applied materials & interfaces 12.21 (2020): 24348-24362. ↩︎
2. Aglan, Mohamed A., and Ghada N. Mansour. “Hair straightening products and the risk of occupational formaldehyde exposure in hairstylists.” Drug and chemical toxicology 43.5 (2020): 488-495. ↩︎
3. Du, Dejie, et al. “FRIZZY PANICLE defines a regulatory hub for simultaneously controlling spikelet formation and awn elongation in bread wheat.” New Phytologist 231.2 (2021): 814-833. ↩︎
4. Chaturvedi, Preeti, et al. “Prevalence and hazardous impact of pharmaceutical and personal care products and antibiotics in environment: A review on emerging contaminants.” Environmental Research 194 (2021): 110664. ↩︎

Last Updated on February 13, 2024 by Suchi