If you have ever battled with dry and frizzy hair you’ve probably considered getting a keratin hair treatment at your local salon. Last summer I decided that I was tired of flat ironing my hair every day and battling the unruliness of frizzy hair and opted to get a treatment and I absolutely loved the results. The only problem was it was quite an investment in terms of money and time and I wanted to see if I could get the same results doing it myself at home. The truth of the matter is if you buy the right products and are patient enough to do the process you can achieve beautiful frizz free hair for a fraction of the cost. This blog post is my experience doing a keratin treatment on myself at home. If you’re interested to learn how I did it myself and to see the results and please keep reading on.

*I paid for the products with my own money and this is not a sponsor blog post for the company that I list below, but an honest review to share with all of you that next time you consider getting a treatment you don’t spend hundreds of dollars like I did the first time. 

The brand I used was from amazon and it is called Moroccan Keratin and is around $45. It comes with four liquids and an instruction sheet.  This price is such a fraction of what I paid to have an express keratin treatment done in a salon. I think I paid $149 with a deal on living social or Groupon. When I got the express keratin treatment at the salon it only lasted me about two months! I knew there had to be a better, more affordable way to combat this frizz! This summer has been particularly humid and my hair has been unmanageable, so instead of going back and getting it done again at the salon I did my research. After doing tons of research and reading reviews this was the one that I decided to test out and I absolutely love it.

As you can see from the before photo above my hair tends to be very dry and brittle causing it to be very frizzy and requires daily flat ironing if I want to wear my hair straight. I can never let my hair air dry and walk out of the house without it looking like a complete disaster so doing a keratin treatment is really my only option to make it look shiny and frizz free. Even though my hair is not curly it’s very unmanageable and kinky especially in the front where I have bangs. I’m going to walk you through step-by-step how I achieve doing this at home and honestly if you have the patience it’s pretty fool  proof to do it yourself.

What you will need:

1. Moroccan Keratin Treatment Kit
2. Wide Toothed Comb
3. Smaller Tease Comb
4. A flat iron that gets to at least 425 degrees (I use the Croc)
5. A blow dryer (I use the Elchim)
6. Plastic protective gloves
7. A protective face mask

Step by Step Tutorial:

The very first step in the process is to wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo that comes with the kit or you can use one you have at home that is sulfate free to remove any build up residue dirt and oil from your hair. I washed my hair two times to make sure it was really really clean because you want to make sure to open up the cuticles and have your here in great condition to apply the product.

After washing your hair you’re going to blow dry it as straight as you can using a round brush and make sure their hair is completely dry. The blow dryer i use is called the Elchim and it is a salon grade blow dryer that gets your hair dry in about 20 minutes or less. Make sure to dry your hair parted the way you normally wear your hair and again make sure there is no moisture left in the hair at all.

Once your hair is completely dry you’re going to move onto the next step which is to apply the Keratin treatment all over your hair. You do not have to mix the product at all just simply open the bottle and pour into a cup or small bowl. Make sure that you apply some type of plastic gloves to protect your hands from getting any of the mixture on your skin. For this step I parted my hair in three sections and started at the bottom part first at the back of your head. At first I used the small brush I purchased but then I just wound up grabbing the liquid in my hands and working it all over like you would do when you color your hair at home.

You can grab the product in your hands and slather it around or you can use a brush to coat the hair but make sure that you completely cover the hair from route to tip and then use a wide tooth comb to evenly distribute the product throughout the hair. You want to use the wide tooth comb to make sure you remove any extra product from the hair and ensure that all of the hair shaft is coated with the product. Work it in really well and then put your cell phone on a timer for 20 minutes and allow the product to set into your hair.

After the 20 minutes is up it’s time to blow dry your hair. I know it sounds weird to blow dry your hair with product in it but it’s an absolute must do step. For this part I highly recommend wearing some type of mask to prevent any of the fumes from being inhaled because this is a chemical solution. I again parted my hair in three sections and started to blow dry it straight using a round brush and dry it completely thoroughly and as straight as possible. It took almost double the time to get my hair completely dry because it did have product in it and the fumes are pretty rough especially when I was blow drying near my face so feel free to take some breaks and get some fresh air. I also did the blow drying step out on my balcony because you really need great ventilation to not get all of the fumes and bad smell of the chemicals in your house.

Your hair is definitely not going to feel very clean and it feels like it has some build up or  residue on it but that’s expected. The last step is to flat iron your hair piece by piece using an iron that gets to at least 425 to 450° in heat. You need an iron that gets this hot in order to seal a Keratin into the hair shaft and seal the tiny holes which are causing your frizziness or breakage. Again I parted my hair into small sections and went over each piece of hair a minimum of 5 to 7 times to really get it hot. I recommend using a small comb to hold the hair in place as you work over it with the iron because you’re not going to want to touch your hair. It gets really hot and you don’t want to burn yourself. There still may be a small amount of fumes that come out as you flat iron the hair so make sure you’re in a bathroom that has some type of ventilation. The flat iron I use is called the Croc and again it is a salon grade flat iron but I absolutely love it have been using for years.

After your hair is completely flat ironed it automatically show just how silky and shiny your hair is. As you can see there is a huge difference between my hair before using the treatment and directly after. Some people will say you can’t wash your hair for three full days while others will tell you all you need to do is let it sit overnight or for at least 8 to 12 hours before washing it out. I washed my hair 12 hours later and it was completely fine. The first time I did the express keratin in the salon I had to wait a full 24 hours to wash my hair out and it felt so gross and stringy. After washing my hair I could tell automatically the difference just by feeling my hair how much frizz and damage seem to be removed. Even letting it air dry which normally would make my hair a little bit wavy and kinky was completely straight.

Now all I have to do is wash my hair with sulfate free shampoo and conditioner and then let it air dry slightly or blow dry it to get out most of the moisture and then if I want to I can go over it a few times with the flat iron but it’s not absolutely necessary. I can’t tell you how much time it saves me to not have to blow dry my hair flat use a ton of products and then always have to flat iron it. You can see in the image below just how much longer my hair looks too from having flat, smoother hair that doesn’t get gross in the heat.

Now having done this process at home I don’t think I will ever pay to do it in the salon again. The result I achieved doing it myself was the same exact results I got from the salon for a fraction of the cost. My hair is so much smoother and manageable and I don’t have to use a ton of product in it anymore. The results can last anywhere from 2 to 4 months if you use the right products in your hair and avoid anything with sulfates in it.

I highly recommend anybody who’s having issues with frizzy hair this summer look into trying to do this yourself at home. You do have to put aside about three hours to do the process from start to finish but honestly it’s so well worth it that I would do it over and over again. If you have just certain sections of your hair that are frizzy you can just do those instead of attempting to do your full head of hair. I’m really happy with the results and definitely recommend trying it yourself. 

Even one week after I applied the treatment my hair still feels just as nice as it did the day after. With it being so humid this summer it’s definitely nice to wake up and go without having to do an hours worth of stuff to my hair after I wash it. I’ve cut my getting ready time in half, and even on a humid day I don’t have to worry that my hair is going to transform into a gross mess. Keep in mind I do still have some dead ends that out easily be able to remove with a nice trim at the salon.

How many of you have gotten a treatment like this done before and attempted to do it at home? I would love to hear what your results and experience were like in the comments below!

Below are my 3 current favorite products to use to wash, condition and moisturize my hair post keratin treatment. I think these are the best products that are natural and all sulfate free which is so critical to make your keratin results last much longer, Do NOT use your everyday drug store brands that are filled with sulfates which will strip your hair and ruin your results.

Shampoo: I love the Maple Holistics Degrease Shampoo. I have bought this probably a half dozen times by now and it’s my absolute favorite shampoo. It is all natural and helps to remove dirt and oil, especially after a good workout. It leaves my hair feelings so clean and I only need to shampoo once with this product.

Conditioner: To be honest I try a lot of conditioners and still haven’t find my absolute ride or die one, but the Hask Keratin Conditioner is great to make my hair feel smooth and manageable but not weighed down. It is also sulfate free and has no strong smell either.

Once a week coconut oil Treatment: Once a week I like to put Nature’s Way liquid coconut oil on my ends and let it sit for about an hour. This helps to repair my hair especially where it breaks the most. I love coconut oil for a lot of other uses but for my hair it makes it feel fantastic and smells great as well.

One week later update:

Instant results are great but what will your hair look like a week or two after your keratin treatment? Well it’s safe to say that even after a week of washing my hair almost daily it still is the same as when it first was done. I have not had to blow dry everyday and flat ironing is only used when I need to style my bangs. I take special care to only wash with sulfate free shampoo to extend the length of my results. Some at home keratin products have reviews that day after two weeks the hair goes back to normal. That has not happened to me with this product. Below is my hair after one week and it is still shiny and straight.

I love these results and highly recommend testing it out if you have frizzy hair or unruly hair. It’s been a time saver and not having to use so much heat on my hair will help me grow it out and keep it healthier.

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