Brazilian Keratin Treatment: My last word

Since the Brazilian Keratin Straightening Treatment has been the most controversial and commented-on topic on my blog, I thought it deserved a little more attention. The Brazilian Keratin Treatment, or BKT, is one of the hottest hair treatments being performed today, leaving the Japanese Thermal Reconditioning Treatment of a few years ago behind. And it does have its advantages. It's milder than most straighteners, using Keratin, a protein that naturally straightens the hair and is one of the components of human hair, to straighten. And it works best on colored or chemically treated hair, something most straighteners cannot claim to be true. Like the Japanese straightening treatment, it's time consuming and expensive. My hair is very thick, very curly and quite long (it was halfway down my back when I had the treatment), and it took nearly 5 hours and $500. Was it worth it? Not for me. But I do seem to be the exception. I have to say I noticed almost NO DIFFERENCE in my hair. It may have been a little softer, but I could have received the same results from a home conditioning treatment. And the minor improvement in texture only lasted a couple of days. It did not straighten my hair or even relax my curl. To be honest, I was not told that it would straighten my hair by my stylist - simply that it would make the curls a little looser, eliminate frizz and minimize the need for hair products. Unfortunately none of this happened for my hair. I have often toyed with the idea of the thermal reconditioning, as many of my friends have done it and had great success with it, but I am not ready to go poker straight yet, so I thought this would be a good compromise. For me, it was a waste of time and money. That said - maybe I just wasn't the ideal candidate for it, although the pictures on the various websites show women with curlier hair than I have. Maybe the pictures show their hair after a blowout, and I do not blow my hair out on a regular basis. Living in Central Florida, the humidity makes this futile.

Anyway, the final word, in my opinion: Get a good consultation beforehand, and ask lots of questions about the kinds of results you should expect before investing in the procedure. And if it works for you, I'd love to know!