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When your hair’s keratin proteins say bye-bye, your hair gets frizzy, dull and hard to control -- not a pretty sight. Instead of just loading up on proteins in your diet or hoping your hair grows out healthier, you can head to the salon for a keratin smoothing treatment. But don’t let the keratin treatment be the end of caring for your hair. Extend the life of your treatment with a few key haircare tips.
How It Works
A keratin smoothing treatment is sort of like a facial for your hair. Your stylist applies a keratin-and-silicone treatment to your hair, which is then heated with a flat iron to lock in the ingredients. This is beneficial because the keratin plugs up the small holes heat styling and damage can create, while the silicone infuses shine. The process takes about three hours and makes your hair feel smoother and more manageable. If you’ve got an extreme case of the frizzies or it takes longer and longer to style your hair every day, the keratin treatment can help. Since there are several keratin treatment types out there, ask your stylist about any extra steps you should follow.
Take a Break
To allow the keratin treatment to work its magic, it’s important to wait at least 72 hours after your keratin smoothing treatment before washing or using any other styling treatments -- a good reason to get the treatment on a Friday and veg out all weekend. If you can’t resist and wash your hair anyway, you may find your treatment doesn’t last as long or work as effectively. Since the treatment can set your hair in a smoother texture, you’ll also want to resist pulling it back with clip, ponytail holders or even sunglasses that can create an indent in your hair during this time.
Washing It
When you’ve passed the 72-hour mark, you can finally wash your hair again. However, ensure you’re using a shampoo that does not have sodium chloride, which can strip your hair of keratin and undo all the good things a keratin treatment can do for your hair. Other ingredients to avoid are sulfates, which are added to shampoos and hair treatments to create a sudsing, foaming action. Unfortunately, these also can strip the hair of keratin.
Splish, Splash
If you are heading to the beach after your keratin treatment, the sodium chloride in the ocean water can strip your hair as well. To keep this from happening, apply a leave-in conditioner and/or wet your hair with clean tap water before heading in to the ocean. Pre-wetting your hair saturates the strands so they absorb less salt water.
