Keratin Straightening Treatment vs. Brazilian Blowouts – just my opinion….
* Update * This post gets quite a bit of traffic still so I thought I should update that I no longer get Brazilian Blowouts. While I was not telling readers what they should or shouldn’t do, I should let you know that I personally do not find them worth the risk to my health of the stylist doing it. While I do like the way the treatment made my hair feel after, I feel I can spend the same amount (or quite a bit less) on a really great deep conditioning treatment (either at home or even in a salon) as much as once a week for less than what I paid for a Brazilian Blowout. That again, is just my opinion, a Brazilian Blowout is a totally legal hair treatment and many people do not have the sensitivity to it that I had, and very few people have reported real health problems, it just made me worry and that wasn’t worth it for me. That being said – the following info I believe still rings true – if you are going to get a treatment, I did like the results of the Brazilian Blowout verses a Keratin Treatment so I will not delete the article, I just felt I should update that I don’t get them anymore and my personal reasons why.
My personal experience of a Keratin Treatment verses a Brazilian Blowout……..
Ok – so I should start off with a few things off the bat
– As you know – I am not a stylist or a chemist – so this is just my opinion and experience.
– I was not compensated in any way to share my opinions – I paid for both treatments.
– This write up has nothing to do with the debate about chemicals when dealing with hair – I do my best to eat whole foods, I use green cleaning products for the most part, use mostly chemical free makeup, wouldn’t smoke or lay on a tanning bed if you put a gun to my head, and I cloth diaper my baby….that being said – I sold out to chemicals on my hair a LOOOONG time ago and nobody is gonna change my mind.
So – Keratin and Brazilian treatments are all the rage these days! I have been bothered by SEVERAL daily deal sites that have advertised Brazilian Blowouts for a ‘steal’ only to find out it is actually a Keratin treatment for not a deal at all. Somehow they call them the same thing – and I can tell you from experience they are NOT the same thing.
I have had both treatments.
About a year or two ago I had a Keratin treatment (from a different salon than where I go now). I got it for a couple reasons – one, because I was told it was less toxic and two because it was less expensive. It was AWFUL. First off – with a Keratin Straightening treatment you do have TONS of chemicals put on your hair, that you can’t wash off for DAYS! I was told to not wash my hair, swim, or even work out. I was told to not put my hair behind my ears, up in a ponytail or anything other than down for 3 – 5 days. The stylist said ‘This stuff is great, it makes your hair smell like chocolate.’ – now first off, I don’t really see the selling point to my hair smelling like chocolate – but it didn’t, it smelled like chemicals. When I did finally wash my hair it felt like (and looked like) it was never clean. My hair had a thick coating of I’m not sure what and it was awful. It did not cut down significantly on drying and my hair felt oily and gross. When I blow dried it or flat ironed it a weird burn off happened….every time. In addition to that they tried to sell me fancy schmany hair products to help it last longer (thank God I didn’t buy it – the last thing I wanted was for that coating to stay any longer!). All this awesomeness set me back a fairly reasonable (if it had been a quality treatment) $75+ tip. It lasted about 6 weeks. I will never do it again. I would not do it if someone gave me the treatment for free. I would not do it if someone paid me – for reals.
Fast forward.
Everyone knows how much I love Lotus Den Hair Studio. We have a great relationship and I love that they offer our readers a discount, but I also love that they never try to upsell me fancy products or a service I didn’t want in the first place. While I love their salon I had actually been looking for a Brazilian Blowout deal on a ‘daily deal’ site to take advantage of (I could save referral credits and maybe get it for even less expensive – this is the only reason I would consider anywhere other than Lotus Den). Every time I found a deal it was between $100 and $250 (that was a minimum of 50% off the regular price) – AND it was rarely a true Brazilian Blowout – when you read the fine print (or the yelp reviews) it was a ‘Keratin Brazilian Treatment’ (um, I bought one of those last year for $75 without a daily deal!)
So I asked Cami the last time I was at Lotus Den getting my gray hair all touched up and I asked the difference between the two. I also asked how much they charge for a Brazilian Blowout for my hair length and thickness. $200! (keep in mind each hair type will be different so it may be slightly more or less, it is just for the story’s sake that I tell you my number). Their normal price for a REAL Brazilian Blowout was about the same as what the DAILY DEALS at many other salons were calling a Brazilian Blowout, but really was not! I then asked if I needed some fancy shampoo, conditioner, and products to keep in fresh – she told me any sulfate free shampoo (including drug store sulfate free shampoo) would be fine. So I saved a commission bonus check and saved my ‘clothing envelope’ money to apply towards this fancy schmancy treatment. Now even though $200 is ‘reasonable’ for a Brazilian Blowout treatment – it was A LOT for us – so I was a bit nervous…..
Check out these Before and After Brazilian Blowout pictures! Also – watch my Instagram! Every time I get my hair done, I share – seriously – every time!
I’m gonna have to find some way to make a little extra money (or save a little extra money) – because this has been the PERFECT thing for my hair and I am gonna ‘need’ this treatment a couple times a year for sure! My hair used to be one of two ways – frizzy and gross or I had spent well over an hour blow drying and flat ironing it (most of the time I did not have enough time to do this – so I went with frizzy and gross).
NOW – it air dries FAST and with significantly less frizz – when I use a blow dryer it takes maybe 10 minutes to be COMPLETELY dry and I really don’t need to use product or a flat iron, if I do it is just a couple quick runs through, but nothing like before!
I was able to wash and style it immediately. It is a chemical process – they kept the doors open and a fan on for circulation and it was really fine – no worse than the Keratin treatment. Certainly no worse than the at home perms my mom used to give me in middle school (oh yes, we did our early 90s spiral perms at home). I liked that I was able to wash the product off quickly and when I do blow dry it, it does not seem to have the chemically burn off that the other treatment did.
I am writing this for a couple reasons –
1) To encourage you NOT to get a Keratin treatment, I see NO benefit – it was AWFUL.
2) To help you not accidentally get a Keratin treatment. (Make sure to read the fine print on daily deals and always call the salon and read the yelp reviews before purchasing!)
3) I’m not necessarily trying to encourage anyone to get a Brazilian Blowout if they didn’t want one to begin with – but I LOVE what it has done to my hair texture and styling time. Make sure you go to a Brazilian Blowout Certified Salon (like Lotus Den)
4) To shamelessly plug the ladies at Lotus Den Hair Studio – they do an amazing job and their prices are very reasonable. So many San Diego Deals and Steals readers are already fans!
Again, just my opinions, but I thought some might find it helpful!
Enjoy ~ Kate
Image Credit Brazilian Blowout
