You don’t need to have long, luscious hair to enjoy the benefits of a Brazilian keratin hair straightening treatment. Even if you have short hair, you can still have perfectly straight, stronger hair that will leave you looking and feeling better than you have in a long time.

Keratin is a naturally occurring protein that is already present in your hair. Keratin hair straightening treatments at your salon or spa add additional keratin proteins to your hair, then use heat to adhere these proteins to your hair follicles.

The heat also straightens and smoothes your hair so that it feels stronger and looks fuller than before.

Perfect for Kinky, Frizzy and Curly Hair

In addition to short hair, keratin is also perfect for hair that is kinky, frizzy and curly. The treatment makes hair smooth and soft, leaving your hair silky and manageable regardless of your current hair type.

Keratin naturally refreshes hair dryness and damage so your hair is left strong and lush.

It Works by Science

Chemical hair-strengthening treatments like keratin break down the disulfide bonds found in curly hair and resets them so that hair is left straight. This process is done in three stages: Relaxing, neutralizing and conditioning.

Relaxing uses chemicals that contain alkalis to denature proteins, or change the way the proteins fold over themselves. Neutralizing restores the pH balance of the hair. The chemical is washed out when the desired effect is achieved.

The final step is to apply a conditioner that repairs hair damage and protects hair follicles from additional damage.

Keratin Hair Straightening

In some instances, these three stages can be combined into one, followed by a blow dry and then straightening with an iron.

Chemicals are used to break down the sulfide bonds, binding the keratin to your hair’s natural proteins to create a stronger, straighter follicle. Then heat does the rest.