Doing your own keratin treatment can bring a lot of anxiety to you – especially if you’ve never had a salon treatment and don’t know what to expect. The price tag of a salon treatment, however, is tough for many of us to swallow. 300$ for a treatment that isn’t even permanent? That’s a big chunk of change.
For those of us who want to try out keratin but don’t have that kind of cash to shell out to get it done in a salon, an at home keratin treatment kit is a very attractive option. Some questions and concerns might come to mind, however, and that’s extremely common. Not only are keratin treatments fairly fresh to being so popular, they’ve changed dramatically since we’ve learned more about the effects of Formaldehyde gas when used as an ingredient in straightening treatments.
When regarding DIY kits, this article addresses a few commonly asked questions to hopefully help you understand keratin treatments and get the best results out of an at home kit.
Why Are Salon Treatments SO MUCH More Expensive Than At Home Treatments?
You don’t have to be a mathmetician to realize that DIY keratin kits are significantly less expensie than when you get a keratin treatment in a salon. While at home treatments usually range from 40-80 U.S. dollars for a one use treatment kit, the same one time treatment will cost you 150-400 U.S. dollars in a salon (and that’s not even considering tip).
What you are paying for is the service. Applying keratin is a process that requires more time and attention than a cut or color, and also depends on your hair type. The more dry, overprocessed, or damaged your hair, the more expensive it’s going to cost you because you are paying for your stylist’s time, not necessarily the product itself.
What Makes a “Good” Keratin Product So I Make Sure I Am Using Quality Keratin in My Hair?
This question is asked a lot – especially with all the concerns about toxic, harsh chemicals being thrown around. The best way to know you have a quality keratin product is to just read the ingredients – first, does it even CONTAIN keratin protein? If a kit’s price seems too good to be true (such as, less that 20$), it might be. Some kits circulating in drug stores claim to be keratin treatments, but don’t even contain keratin.
Second, when comparing two kits for example, how high is keratin on the ingredients list? The higher, the more keratin content it has, and the better it will be for your hair. Third, does the product contain Formaldehyde gas producing ingredients? Just because liquid Formaldehyde isn’t an ingredient does not make it Formaldehyde-free. Ingredients such as Aldehyde, Urea, Methyl or Methylene Glycol can also produce Formaldehyde gas when heated during the application process.
How Do I Apply Keratin Properly to My Hair?
For this question, there is no generic answer – it depends on the kit. The typical process includes washing with a cleanser, saturating your hair with product in sections, combing out excess product, drying your hair with a hair dryer, then sealing in the product with a flat iron.
However, it cannot be stressed enough, read the directions that comes with your at home keratin system. Read them more than once. If it comes with a video, watch it. Applying your own keratin treatment isn’t very difficult, it’s just different. Even if you have done your own hair color, a keratin treatment is a very different process. Also, every different product might have a slightly different method or recommendations so you get the best results.
