There are many tempting hair smoothing treatments to choose from in our pursuit of silky, swingy, frizz-free hair. If blowing out your strands feels like playing tug of war, then you could benefit from a Keratin hair smoothing treatment. This treatment fuses keratin to your hair, essentially filling in the damaged areas leaving you with increased shine, less frizz and overall easier to style hair. Sounds tempting right? Here are some things you should know before booking your appointment.

Straightening vs. Smoothing

Hair is made up of keratin, a naturally occurring protein. Think of straight hair as a ladder and curly hair as a spiral staircase. The steps in each are the bonds. When these bonds are broken, the spiral staircase can become a ladder. Thus curly hair becomes straight. Traditional relaxers break these bonds. The results last until your hair grows out, but it can be quite damaging. This treament locks your hair into a straighter position and keeps it straight beyond your next shampoo. Your natural texture will return gradually over 2-5 months. While smoothing your hair, this treatment also fills in the gaps that are lost due to age and chemical services. It won’t give you pin-straight hair, but it does significantly reduce curls, frizz, and styling time with results that stand up to humidity.

How It Works:

Though there are differences in formulations and protocols, you can generally expect your stylist to follow these four steps when doing a smoothing treatment.

1. Your stylist will talk with you to determine the best Keratin smoothing treatment for your hair type and lifestyle.
2. A pre-treatment shampoo removes excess surface buildup and prepares the cuticle by lifting its overlapping layers to allow the treatment to penetrate your hair.
3. The Keratin treatment is applied and processes up to 1 hour. This allows the protein to penetrate the hair’s cuticle, strengthening bonds from within and smoothing the hair shaft.
4. Depending on the type of Keratin treatment, your stylist may quickly rinse any excess Keratin from your hair and then blow dry and flat iron your hair to fuse the keratin to the hair shaft.  Other Keratin treatments require the hair to be blow dried and flat ironed while the Keratin treatment is still in the hair and then shampooed and re-blow dried and flat ironed.  This step seals in the treatment to create a humidity resistant finish.

After Your Appointment:

Depending on the type of Keratin treatment used, you may need to wait 3-4 days before shampooing your hair.  Most Keratin treatments now allow you to wash your hair immediately. However waiting 24-48 hours allows the Keratin to fully penetrate and fuse to the hair.  To maintain your treatment as long as possible, you will need to use a sodium chloride free shampoo.  Your hairs natural texture will begin to return to normal in 2-5 months. This depends on the type of treatment used, how often you wash your hair, and what type of products you use. You’ll notice that your blow-dry time will be reduced by 40%-60%. You’ll also reap the benefits of having frizz-free, smooth hair.

An important part of having smooth hair is to go to a salon. At LJ Hair Design, you’ll be treated fairly, with honesty and respect, and leave feeling confident and beautiful. Our Keratin Smoothing Treatments include the pre-treatment and a haircut. By the time your treatment is over, you’ll leave with a look you love and the knowledge that your hair was in the best hands.