Heard the word “Keratin” being tossed around lately? You aren’t alone. Before you discount the treatment or run off to your stylist, take a look at these common myths about Keratin treatments from American Culture Hair founder and Keratin expert Doreen Guarneri to find out if they might be right for you.
Everything You Want to Know about Keratin Treatments
There’s only one type of Keratin treatment.
Truth: Keratin treatments aren’t a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. As Doreen says:
“Keratin is as simple as comparing fruit to a fruit basket. People will say, ‘I want a piece of fruit,’ but we all know there’s a difference between an apple, a pear and a banana. So when we’re talking about Keratin…it’s really about texture management. Keratin is a loosely used word, but it comes down to what you want as the end result.”
You should go to your stylist and tell them what type of Keratin treatment you want.
Truth: If your stylist is a good “texture manager,” you shouldn’t go in and self-diagnose yourself. That is, don’t sit down and tell your stylist what type of Keratin treatment you want. Instead, let your stylist “prescribe” the type of treatment he or she thinks your hair would benefit from based on its texture, type and health as well as what you, the client, desires.
Think of it as you would getting your hair colored. You wouldn’t just sit down in the chair and declare to your stylist, “I want my hair colored,” and leave it at that, would you? No, you’d start a dialogue, and between you and your stylist, discussing dark vs. light, ashy vs. golden, highlights vs. lowlights, etc., determining together what the end result will be. How they’ll get there, though, is up to the stylist. That’s very similar in how you and your stylist should determine which type or types of Keratin treatment(s) are right for your hair.
There’s only one type of Keratin treatment that will work for my hair.
Truth: Using American Culture Hair’s Keratin products, texture managers are able to mix and match their products to give each client an outcome tailored to their specific needs. For example, if your hair has a slight curl or cowlick in the back but is somewhat frizzy near the front, they could treat the back with a product like Simply Smooth & Straight while using the regular Simply Smooth Keratin Treatment on the front, allowing for a uniform outcome at the end. Again, you can think of this as you would coloring your hair. Your colorist doesn’t just take one thing of hair color – she/he mixes together the right tones for your specific desired outcome.
All stylists know all about Keratin treatments.
Truth: Keratin treatments are still relatively new, and stylists are only generally familiar with whatever brand they were trained on. And as Doreen puts it, “A brand could be limited to only giving you what I call the ‘little black dress,’ the one-size-fits-all. You just get the one type of product, and what you get is what you get. Unfortunately, hair is not that way.” Talk to your stylist about their knowledge and training in Keratin treatments to determine what your options are.
Keratin treatments aren’t safe for hair.
Truth: They so are. As we evolve, our hair loses Keratin, just like hair loses melanin (which gives it color). So just as easily as your hair can lose its color and turn gray or white, losing Keratin results in strands that are lackluster, brittle or damaged. Keratin treatments revive the Keratin from your hair (just like color treatments revive the color).
Keratin treatments are only used for smoothing.
Truth: Keratin treatments can definitely give you smooth, sexy strands, but as mentioned, they also serve to revive hair that has lost Keratin with age, resulting in much younger-looking locks.
Keratin treatments have to be expensive to work.
Truth: Some treatments can be expensive, but there are smaller options that are much less expensive that can do a world of good. American Culture Hair’s entire Simply Smooth line offers daily use products from shampoos and conditioners to serums, pomades and hairsprays that help protect against humidity, frizz and heat damage while adding smoothness and shine.
