Keratin treatment

allywed

Recently I've heard a lot about keratin treatments for curly hair. It sounds too good to be true...making curly hair straight while strengthening it. Has anyone tried it and if so, would you recommend it? And if you don't mind sharing, about how much did it cost? My hair is naturally curly...like Julia Roberts curly, but not nearly as nice. My wedding is in April, so I am thinking if I am going to try anything new or different with my hair, I need to try it now so I have time to fix it if I don't like it.

Karma01

I haven't tried it but my hairdresser has mentioned it to me. I may do it after the wedding. I have thick wavy hair. I dont remember the exact cost but I know it is a couple hundred and takes a long time.It is supposed to just fade out of your hair not like the other treatments.

30may09bride

My SIL is a hairdresser and she does alot of these treatments and swears by them. I am thinking about having it done sometime this winter.  She did it on her DIL a little while ago and it looked great on her!

Sinthya

I have really thing long curly hair, though, nearly a foot shorter than it used to be. Keratin doesn't permanent straighten your hair, but it does make it silky soft, gets rid of frizz and losens your curls. This is me right after I first got it done. It used to take me 2+ hours to get my own hair this straight, now I can do it in about 30 minutes, and thats IF I want it poker straight and flat iron after blow drying.

DiorAndKisses

Sin, that looks awesome...but can you still wear it curly if you want?  My hairdresser offers that too, but I'm hesitant because I'd still like to be able to wear it curly.  So what happens if you let it air dry?

Linqdz

I am thinking about getting it done after the wedding. I have the same question as pp. Can you still wear it curly?

vanessapodunk

I am replying to this just to save it. I my need this

cherylanddan0706

I can give you guys the background on Keratin, my company makes a lot of the chemicals that go into the treatment so I have all the data on it.  I know that sounds stupidly dorky but hey

Danes983

I am very interested. I had mine Jap Straightened for 2 years.  Waiting for the curks to grow back was a nightmare.. I had to cut all my hair off. Thank God I did this 2 years ago and its growing back now.

30may09bride

Cheryl, out of curiosity, what chemicals does your company make?  Technically, Keratin treatment is supposed to be "natural".  Keratin is the substance that your hair and nails are mostly made of. So you are basically just drowning your hair in what it is made of which is supposed to super, super condition it.  But, original Keratin treatment had formaldehyde in it, which is a nasty carcinogen and many said it was really the formaldehyde, not the Keratain that straightened the hair.  The newer Brazilian treatments are supposed to be formaldehyde free, but there are still some that say that there are trace amounts in it (like ppm levels).  I guess that is the background on the stuff.

JeannineG122

I found this to be a little scary about keratin treatmenthttp://www.oprah.com/community/thread/113583

30may09bride

Danes, part of the good thing about the keratin treatment is that your hair doesn't have to grow out, it just eventually wears away.  And you can retreat parts of your hair that were treated before, I know that with the Japanese method, hair that is treated twice breaks off.  It is certainly a lot less intense than the Japanese method.  I think it lasts like 4-6 months.  I was thinking of doing it for the winter months, since I almost never wear my hair curly in the winter.

Lola Minnie

Ally, I would just ask your hair dresser if she recommends it as she would know your hair best. Coincidentally enough I asked mine about it last week when I got a trim and she said it's not for me because my hair may not be pin straight but it doesnt frizz. She said it's more to take care of the frizz and curls so maybe it is right for you though. She told me it costs like $300 (100 per hour or something at my salon) and you have to keep it up every few months.

Sinthya

yes, I can still wear my hair curly, but the curls are loser. The treatment I got was formadehyde (I'm NOT spell checking that!) free.

30may09bride

I just reread what I wrote and wanted to clarify, when I said that "some say that they have ppm levels of formaldehyde", I meant critics say that products that claim to be formaldehyde free actually aren't.  So, Sinthyia, it is possilbe that the one that you used may have ppm levels of formaldehyde, but the manufacturer claims that there is none.  But, ppm levels every few months isn't the worst thing in the world. I just think that it is important that anyone who decides to go ahead with this treatment do all of the reasearch.  I have done research for myself and still decided that I may want to do it. 

NJgurl19

My hairdresser tells me this everytime she is blow drying my hair, my only fear is that i used to do relaxers when i was younger. And it took me a VERY long time to get my hair to what it is now. But my curls are tight and never come out the same any input on this would be great. ThanksRosa

kewltif

I like to get it done inbetween Japanese hair straightening.  Alone, I didn't find it to work as well.

leah2b

I had it done in early october wiht the same goal as you - see if it works well before the wedding date.  My treatment did have "less than" 1% formaldahyde.  I beleive it was the Reguvenon line (there are different products out there).My hair is naturally very curly (ringlets) but also very fine. It gets really frizzy and takes a lot of effort to make it look nice. I am a natural skeptic, so I was expecting the results to not be up to the hype.  However, I absolutely LOVE IT.  My hair came out super straight, and looked much healthier than before.  It is also now very soft.  If I let it dry on its own, it comes out straight.  I've gotten a ton of compliments.  The process itself is not entirely pleasant.  First, they wash your hair thoroughly.  THen it is blown dry.  Then, the solution is put on your hair.  Blown dry again.  Then, they take very tiny pieces of hair and use a flat iron to iron it straight, which takes several hours.  THe stuff really stinks bad - its pretty awful.  You must then leave it on your hair for four days - no washing.  I was pretty put off by the smell and not washing for four days but the results are worth it.  cost me $450. I will do it again before the wedding.

JeannineG122

Can this be done to colored hair though?

misskris927

My mom had it done for my wedding, and trust me, it REALLY works! She had frizzy, curly hair that she hated! The girl doing my hair trial she suggested she try it and she LOVED it!!

leah2b

Yes,  you can do it on colored hair and can even color over it.  As for wearing it curly - not sure - probably depends on the texture of your hair.  I tried mine curly recently and it just came out kind of wavy.

allywed

Thanks for all of the info everyone! I definitely want to try it, but I feel a bit selfish spending so much money on my hair when there are bridesmaids gifts and other wedding essentials still to buy. At times like this I find myself rationalizing...hmm, maybe a I can tutor a little more (I'm a teacher) and then I am not taking money from somewhere else. If I do it, I'll post before and after pics. If anyone else tries it, please post your pics as well. Thanks again!

kewltif

Allywed- I go to a great salon in Tenafly, Haute, that is very inexpensive for this type of thing.  It's basically their specialty.   Every time I am in the salon there are between 1-3 other girls also getting their hair straightened.  I have recommended it to so many people I know and all of us have had good experiences.  I pay about 50% less there than other places I have priced out.