Keratin hair straightening at home

Straightening a naughty head of hair is usually very difficult and requires a daily investment of time. Due to frequent use of the iron, hair becomes thinner, dull and brittle. Therefore, many people turn to the procedure of keratin hair straightening at home, which allows not only to smooth the hairstyle and give it a neat appearance for a long time, but also to restore the structure of each hair.

Photo from the website capellistyle.it

Keratin is a protein compound in hair, which is responsible for its healthy appearance. However, with frequent use of the wrong shampoos, hair dryer, ironing, keratin is gradually washed out, which causes problems with the hair: it grows more slowly, becomes dry, faded and brittle. Until recently, the keratin hair straightening service was provided only in salons, but now such a session can be performed at home.

The effect of a home procedure

If there is a desire to do keratin hair straightening, then this service is offered in many beauty salons, but it is cheaper to carry out this procedure at home. Professional keratin straightening usually costs 5,000-6,000 rubles for a medium length hairstyle. In beauty salons, chemical compositions are used that are difficult to acquire on their own, and the process may differ from home.

With an independent procedure, you can achieve the following effect:

• hair condition improves significantly;
• the number of split ends is reduced;
• hair looks less dry and easier to style;
• the hairstyle becomes more voluminous, as the hair does not weigh down and “breathes”;
• straightening with an iron is not required for 1-3 months, depending on adherence to recommendations and lifestyle.

As a rule, there are almost no toxic substances in special home remedies. The salon service is usually also safe, and the promised retention time is up to 5-6 months.

Tools and tools

Straightening hair with keratin at home is not difficult enough, but dealing with this alone is difficult, so it is advisable to ask someone for help. Keratin or products based on it must be purchased in professional cosmetics stores or ordered on the Internet. You should pay attention to the quality of the product and reviews about it.

Keratin-containing products are often sold in large containers with a volume of 1 liter, and their cost is usually 6-7 thousand rubles (in fact, more than one salon procedure). However, such a large bottle can be enough for 5-10 home straightening sessions, depending on the structure and length of the hairstyle.

If you do not need to immediately purchase a large supply of funds, you can find mini-sets for 1500-2000 rubles, which usually include 100 ml of keratin and 100 ml of shampoo for deep cleansing.

Before starting home hair straightening, you should prepare all the necessary equipment:

• Deep cleansing shampoo (peeling shampoo) that removes impurities from paint, styling products, as well as chlorine and silicone contained in water.
• Keratin or a product based on it. Sometimes it includes vitamin or protein kits for a more noticeable recovery.
• A spray bottle that you need to apply the solution evenly. If somewhere there is too much of the product, and in some places there will be a shortage of it, this can lead to overdrying of certain areas, since after deep cleaning shampoo the hair is protected worse.
• Hair straightening iron. It is best to take a device with a tourmaline or ceramic coating. It should be possible to set the temperature to 200-230 ° C. If the iron is less heated, the keratin will not be able to penetrate into the hair.
• Hair dryer with a gentle drying mode and switching to cool air.
• Latex gloves.
• Hair clips or hairpins.
• Comb (comb with sparse teeth).
• Brush for applying the mixture.
• Cape (if necessary).
• Medical mask (optional).

The home straightening procedure usually takes about 3 hours.

Instructions for keratin hair straightening at home

1. Wash your hair thoroughly with a cleansing shampoo 1-2 times to completely remove all impurities.
2. Pat dry your hair with a towel and blow dry, leaving it slightly damp.
3. Comb the hair thoroughly and divide it into 3 cm wide strands of equal thickness. In order not to get tangled, the strands should be secured with clips or hairpins.
4. Pour keratin into a spray bottle (usually about 100 ml is required) and spray on the strands one by one, retreating from the root length by 1 cm.It is important to select the correct amount of the product in accordance with the length of the hair in order to prevent both its shortage for saturation and increased fat content due to residues.
5. After applying keratin, you need to comb the strands.
6. Keep the product on hair for 15-30 minutes.
7. Dry your hair with a hairdryer at the lowest possible temperature of the air stream.
8. Set the ironing temperature to 230 ° C (for blond hair – 200 ° C). Straighten each strand 5 times or more, starting with individual thin strands.
9. Gently comb your hair at the end of the procedure.

Photo from journaldesfemmes.fr

In order not to burn your ears during the straightening session, it is advisable to cover them with special pads.

During pregnancy and lactation, it is better not to carry out keratin straightening, since formalin is present in the appropriate means, and when heated it releases formaldehyde – a toxic compound.

Anyone who straightens their hair with keratin on their own needs to protect the respiratory system with a medical mask or cotton-gauze bandage at this time.

Hair care after keratin straightening

In order for the effect after the procedure to last longer, it is important to observe a number of rules within 3 days after its completion:

• do not wash your hair;
• do not use styling products: gels, mousses, varnishes, etc.;
• do not use hair accessories: hairpins, headbands, elastic bands.

You should also consider the following recommendations:

• make sure that the hair does not break;
• try not to wear glasses and hats for the first time;
• avoid contact with salt water;
• within 2 weeks, do not carry out aggressive chemical procedures with hair (coloring, glazing, highlighting, etc.);
• you can only wash your hair with a sulfate-free shampoo, otherwise the keratin absorbed by them will quickly be washed out;
• apply a protective serum that retains beneficial substances.

Hair masks with keratin

In professional cosmetics stores, masks are sold that act gently on the hair and give an effect similar to the result of keratin straightening. They are used both in salons and at home. It is important to pay attention to how high in the list of components of the mask is keratin, as this is an indicator of the level of its content in the product.

The most popular and effective keratin masks are represented by brands:

• Estel keratin.
• Paul Mitchell.
• Selective Ammino keratin.
• L’Oreal Professionnel Pro-Keratin Refill.
• Schwarzkopf BM Keratin Restore Blonde Mask (for bleached or blond hair).

Such masks are applied to washed hair along the entire length, especially on the ends. Then the strands are carefully combed and dried naturally.

There are recipes for natural masks, the action of which resembles the effect of keratin hair straightening:

• With butter. 3-4 tbsp. l. quality oil must be melted at room temperature and applied to the entire length of the hair. Then put on a hat and keep the mixture on your hair for half an hour, then rinse.
• With gelatin. 1 tbsp. l. gelatin, you need to pour 200 ml of warm water and let it swell, then heat the mixture until its lumps are completely dissolved. Pour in 1 tsp. vinegar and 2 drops each of rosemary, sage and jasmine oils. The finished composition is kept on the hair for 15 minutes, and then rinsed thoroughly and dried with a towel.

Keratin hair straightening heals the structure of the entire hairstyle and gives it an attractive appearance. The described procedure does not present any particular difficulties and is quite accessible to everyone.

Author: Daria Lelyuk,
specially for Mama66

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