It is quite apparent about your hairstylist giving you sufficient tips on how to take care of your keratin treated hair. Nevertheless, we ought to throw light at the gaffes that you probably might not take care enough of.
1. Using the Drugstore Shampoos:
Your freshly keratin treated hair calls you for utmost care. You cannot and you should not use any shampoo that comes your way. Keep yourself away from the drugstore shampoos for at least three months. Your keratin treated hair, now, needs gentle shampoos with micro keratin. These will contribute to the progressive enhancement of the treatment, thus, holding them on with their freshness for a longer period. The two blatant ingredients that you should check and avoid in your shampoos are –
- Sulfates:
Sulfates are the surfactants that would squander the natural oils from your scalp and hair. It is a sudsing agent that can strip hair. Not just this, it would also assassinate the acid mantle – a layer that helps maintain the health of your scalp and keeps it free from bacterial infections.
- Sodium Chloride (Salt):
Salt is gritty, alkaline, and abrasive. It has sodium packed in it that is used as a thickening agent in shampoos. The salt or the sodium chloride in shampoos will dissolve the keratin proteins coating/layer and call the bets off, prematurely.
Recommended Shampoos for Keratin treated hair:
2. Stow Away the Clarifying Shampoos:
Clarifying shampoos are the best bets for the pre-keratin treatments. This is because the clarifying shampoos helps get rid of residues and impurities. The clarifying shampoos aids in the quick absorption of keratin. Having said that, the clarifying shampoos are never to be used after keratin treatment, but only before. This is because the clarifying shampoos work at high pH. They would open the hair cuticles and support deep cleansing. When the hair cuticles are open, the alkaline water would dissolve the keratin and allow them a space to escape through the hair shafts. Hence, you do away with your keratin treatment before time.
After keratin and color treatments, it is always recommended to work your hair with gentle shampoos that has low pH levels. They would seal and tighten the hair cuticles, thereby, extending the life of the expensive treatments you’ve had taken.
3. Keep Your Head Baths to Minimum:
Keratin treatments are never permanent. They would wash out gradually, depending highly upon your head bath counts. Yes! This might sound gross but that’s the truth about it. The key to extend the life of your keratin treatments is to wash your hair less. To keep your hair clean as well as refreshed without using water, you can get your way by the dry shampoos. They have to be your best bet, indeed. On the days you skip your head baths, spray dry shampoos to the hair roots, twice in a day. Not only it extends the timeline of your keratin treatment, but also it saves your time while letting your hair smell divine.
Please note that despite it being fine to wash your hair three days after a keratin treatment, the freshly keratin treated hair are malleable and still requires the time to set into your hair properly.
Recommended Product:
4. No Hair Styling For Upto 2 Weeks:
Hair styling and of course the hair accessories, to hold them up, would go hand in hand. And because, the use of any hair accessory, from pins to rubber bands, can leave you hair with lines and demarcations, you’re never advised to do any kind of styling. Not even a simple updo or a ponytail, for at least two weeks. To extend the timeline of your keratin treated hair, you’re suggested to keep your hair straight and down as much as possible.
5. Do Not Touch Your Hair Frequently:
If you touch your hair strands a way too much, you are unintentionally manipulating them and running a risk to kink them up. Also, this makes your hair feel greasy. And when that would happen, you’ll get an urge to wash them now and then. And so girls, keep your tresses down and straight, unbothered and nonchalant.
6. Do Not Tuck Your Hair Behind the Ears:
If you tuck your fresh brazillian behind your ears, you’re inducing them to create unwanted crimps and creases. Do not bunch up your either the way for at least the first two weeks.
7. No Rubber Bands For At Least Two Weeks:
If you keep your freshly keratin-treated hair up using a rubber band, that would end up kinking your hair – making them look patchy, straight and sleek in some parts while crimped and curly on the other.
As it was mentioned above, during the first few weeks of keratin treatment, the hair are malleable and any styling that you whip them to would cause them to retain in that shape. And this, then, would be hard to undo. Keep your hair straight and down for at least two weeks until the keratin blends in fine, we repeat!
8. No Clips or the Bobby Pins:
You’re strictly prohibited to using any clips or pins for at least two weeks. Do not forget that your hair are still adjusting. The use of the pins during this period may lead you to experiencing hair breakage.
9. Do Not Hold Your Hair Back With Headbands, Sunglasses, or The Hair Clutchers:
If you hold those fresh keratin-treated hair back with headbands, sunglasses, or the hair clutchers; you ain’t really behaving nice and polite with your hair.
10. Do Away With Heavy Oils:
Heavy oils like coconut oil, olive oil, or jojoba oil, et cetera nestle deep into the hair follicles to provide moisture.
When on one hand it is a win-win thing. On the other hand, it is absolutely absurd to use them during your keratin treatments. Why? Because this would eventually require you to use a lot of shampoo to wash the oil out. The more shampoo and water you use to wash out the oil, the more you wash out your keratin as well.
The first two weeks of your keratin treatment is a transition period. Show some patience at least for the said period. If oiling is your life you cannot do without which, Hale and Belle would recommend you use a lightweight keratin infusion oil in the meantime.
Recommended Products:
11. Avoid Hair Color for First Three Weeks:
If you wish to get your hair colored, get it done before the Keratin treatment. That’s an ideal time, indeed. The keratin helps seal the color nicely and also, it creates a protective layer that keeps your color from fading.
However, if you color your hair after the keratin treatment, you might fail at achieving the desired result. The reason to it is that post-keratin, it gets real hard for the color to penetrate into your hair. If you minds kicks you for a hair color after the keratin treatment, we recommend to get it only after the first three weeks of the keratin treatment.
Recommended Read: The Ultimate Hair Colour Guide You Would Want to Read Before Your Next Appointment
12. Refrain Hair Bleaching:
Bleach is yet another hair slaughterer. It is accerbic and corrosive in nature that leaves your hair feeling fried and grouchy. The highlights, blondifications, balayage or any other treatment of the kind is always recommendeded to be taken before your keratin treatment. The highlights/blondes followed by the keratin treatment will indeed make them even more radiant.
13. No Overdos at The Gym, Please:
Vigorous workouts at the gym will lead you to sweating. And then, that would lead you to head baths. Even if you bring in dry shampoos to your rescue, the sweat on your scalp would, meanwhile, interfere with the keratin treatment setting in. To stay clear of all the hassle and inconvenience, you’re suggested to reschedule and restart your gym routine after two weeks of the keratin treatment.
14. Refrain Swimming for the First Two Weeks:
Hale and Belle tells you this aloud – do NOT swim for first two weeks. You just CANNOT. The chlorine in the pool water will dissolve the keratin in no time! This is why it is strongly suggested to stay away from the swimming pools and don’t let your hair get anywhere near chlorine for at least two weeks after the keratin treatment. Or otherwise, you’ll land up your hair in a big mess. A mere one dip is enough for the same.
15. Do Not Sleep On Cotton Pillows:
Cotton creates creases in the hair. Also, they would pull off all the moisture from your hair, thereby, leaving them up dry and frizzy. This is not it. The cotton fabric creates a friction that leads to the development of tangles and knots. If you dream of waking up like Cinderella, beautiful and with the smooth and tangle-free hair; do invest in the silk or satin pillowcase.
Satin and silk would neither strip your hair off with any moisture nor would it create any friction. Thus, alleviating hair breakage.
16. No Beach Sprays, Please!
The beach sprays have salt in them to help your hair get that beachy waves texture. Beach sprays are, nevertheless, to be avoided as much as one could. Keratin Mist Spray is indeed your best bet for light-hold hair styling.
Recommended Product:
17. Keep Your Hair Away from High Heat:
Hair experts strongly suggests shampooing the hair with lukewarm water, and follow the rinse with cool water instead. The cool rinse shuts the hair cuticles, thus, preventing the frizz and the tangles. However, make sure you shampoo your hair with ‘tepid’ water only and not hot. Hot water will thaw and dissolve your keratin .
18. Do Not Dry Your Hair With a Regular Towel:
Any regular, coarse textured towel would create creases to your hair, also leading them to damage. Use microfiber towel to soak your strands instead. A microfiber towel is soft and quick absorbent. It helps soak the excess water out of your hair easily, without needing you to rub the towel against the hair. These towels doesn’t create friction, thereby not leading your strands to any creases or frizziness.
19. Don’t Bombard Your Hair With the Hair Styling Products:
Post your keratin treatment, your hair strands have a protective layer been created. The styling products like hairsprays, gels, or the mousse cling to the strands, thus, leaving a residue behind. The more styling products you use, the more you build-up a residue on your strands. The more residue build-up is, the more head baths you would call for, thus, fading your keratin layer prematurely. Seeing to this, you’re not recommended to use hairstyling products to tame your hair into a shape and style.
Recommended Read: 18 Best Heat Protectant Hair Sprays For Every Girl Who Loves Styling Hair
20. Do Not fix Your Kinks Using a Brush:
To keep your hair tidy and settled, don’t rely on your regular hair brushes. You’re suggested to rather use a boar bristle brush in the morning and at the bedtime. The natural bristles of ot would help detangle your hair gently, stimulating your scalp in the meantime. Also, it won’t create friction or cause any damage to the hair.
Now that you’ve learned the post-keratin care tips, we’re sure you wouldn’t end up with keratin treatment disaster. If this article was to your help, do not forget to leave your feedback in the comment box below.
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