DIY Keratine Hair Treatment

Littleweedj

A friend who lives abroad but visiting here soon, asked me to find a hairdresser who offered Keratine hair treatments but was astonished when I reported back that the ones I found charged between £150 - £250.

However, when I looked at Amazon there are Salon quality Brazilian Keratine kits for under £30. However, I am concerned because although the product has hundreds of 5 stars comments when you actually read these reviews, many complain the smell is dreadful, affects breathing and goes for eyes and throats, causes itchiness, and some even suggest they contain formaldehyde, which has been proved to be carcinogenic.

So hair maybe look fantastic, shiny and no need to blow dry for months but at what price for your health.

Would be interested to hear the views of others. Do the Keratine treatments in a good hairdressers contain the same ingredients as these kits?

fawd1

I wouldn't recommend a DIY kit personally. I got a great deal on KGB, and I'm sure some of the others groupon etc do it. Either way, I still wouldn't recommend it. Yes it stinks and really hurt my eyes. Yes it makes your hair super straight to begin with (I looked like a drowned rat for four days, and I have a LOT of hair, never knew it could look so lank and flat) but, more importantly, when I washed it (you have to buy special shampoo) it stayed lovely and smooth, but just never looked shiny, or particularly clean. I stopped using the "special" shampoo after about 6 weeks because I'd rather have slightly frizzy but healthy looking hair, than smooth but dull hair.

Littleweedj

Thanks for your reply fawd1, much appreciated.

Was helpful to hear of the side effects you personally experienced. I will let my friend know and hopefully a good conditioner and straighteners will suffice. I think it was the thought of just being able to 'wash and go' for a few months without having to bother blow drying which was the big appeal.

fawd1

on the plus side, I've just tried something called amla oil (bought from my local asian shop) and you use it as a deep conditioner. My lord I love it. My hair is so very smooth and shiny, I don't even have to use conditioner, and it comes in at 3.99 for my bottle. But being that you have to only use a teaspoonful at a time (and it's about a litre bottle) it sould last for ages. Just run a small amount through your hair before washing (the longer the better, although some people swear by using a teeny amount instead of say serum on dry clean hair). Anyway, I've only used it the once but my hair looks like I've just come out of the hairdressers

Littleweedj

Again I have to say thanks for bringing this Amla oil product to my attention, as have never heard of it before.

So.....I 'googled' it and it says Amla is an Indian gooseberry, which is steeped for some time in oil then filtered. Also noticed that even Superdrug stock it, although priced at £2.99 for 200 mls. so your Asian store buy is definitely better. Definitely going to give this a try.

cannyscot_2

I would say the opposite to fawd. I originally had mine done with groupon vouchers. I loved the effect and it makes my hair which is super curly just so much easier to manage. It saves masses of time.
After having it done 2x in salon I didnt like the time it took and it actually seemed so easy to do. I googled and found a good seller( main seller really) on ebay with a non formaldeyde product and it costs me about a tenner a time and takes much less time to do at home so more time for other stuff.

I put it on about every 3.5 months. I dont use conditioner and it stays nice and frizz free for the 3.5 months. I buy sodium free shampoo in litre bottles online -about £9 and they last maybe 5 months or so. I was h it every 2 days and it all works pretty well.

It does smell a bit on application but you only leave it on a short time .

I get highlights inbetween and I find when I redo the Kerratin it actually brightens up my highlights.

All in all mys system works well for me -someone who is too busy/lazy to spend hours in the salon or too much time or money on her hair.

louby_lou

im just about to try the tresemme keratin deep condition so will let you know if thats up to much

Littleweedj

Since learning about the chemicals and formaldehyde in the Keratin treatments I've actually done hours/days of research on it.

It would appear that even those products advertised as 'formaldehyde free' are not always and tests in labs proved this to be the case. Also in order to advertise as formaldehyde free sometimes other comparable nasties are included instead, which may cause similar major health problems in the future. Aware lots of things may be carcinogenic but
I wouldn't take the chance for the sake of having smooth hair.

So before thinking of this treatment I would say to anyone to google the different scientific reports then choose whether to go ahead with it or not, knowing the full facts.

As per my first post I was going to buy some for my friend, but now (even if she decides she still wants it) I wont but will get some of the Amla oil to try instead.

GFN123

I know nothing about keratin but was hoping cannyscot could share a link for the sodium free shampoo, pretty please