Keratin Straightening?

[chen bao jun]

I never air dry my hair loose. I let it dry in braids.
just clatifying, nothing to do with the Keratin discussion

[Parisian Dozen]

That said, a head of coarse, virgin hair will revert at 100% to its original texture after (even multiple) applications with 230 C iron set.

Not saying I have the coarsest hair in all the land, but my hair never fully went back to it's original texture. And I've done pretty much exactly what you said. A year after my first application my hair was kinda straighter, and a year after my second application my length is actually straight(ish) now. It could just be how I take care of it now or that I've simply gone insane, but still...

[MINAKO]

Its the strength of the treatment i guess. Mine is supposed to last "up to 5 months" which means PERMANENT in my case. Something that is supposed to last 6-8 weeks probably leaves a chance for hair too fully revert.
I dont really have a timeline for touchups anymore, just whenever it gets harder to comb and baby hair is out of control again.
Im planning for another application within the next two weeks because i need to refresh my color and keratin should always be first, since fresh dye can kinda block it from penetrating. Otherwise, yes it does go along with henna/indigo and other herbs. I emailed a company about this question and they said no, but didnt specify a reason, so i figured i have to find out myself.

[tigress86]

Those of you who do it at home, which exact products do you use? I have been wanting to try this for a while, but I have been putting it off since my ends are currently very damaged, I'm not sure if I should take the risk and do anything to my hair right now. I can imagine that my hair would be so much easier to manage.
There are two options that I have been looking at that I can buy in my country without a haistylist license: Cocochoco Professional and Alfaparf Yellow Protex. Has anyone heard about these treatments? I haven't looked into other options yet, probably I could order something else online.
Are you concerned about health issues while doing it at home? They say it's safe and formaldehyde free, but I'm still a bit worried. But I would rather do it at home, at this point I trust myself more than any stylist.

[Upside Down]

MINAKO, what part of the process lasts so long (you mentioned 7 hrs)? Is it the flat ironing or application, or is it sitting in the hair so long?

I started considering keratin, just to get to wavy and less frizzy with less maintenance.
I love my curls and don't want to do something completely permanent (like, I would be OK with 6 months, a year, of waves, but as long as it eventually washes out).

Still, my problem is I just can not go to the salon for 4+ hours session, and don't have that time at home either. I could do it over a course of days, like half a head now and half later, lol if this is possible..

[BroomHilda]

Parisian Dozen, fromm what you say I guess your hair is fine (width of individual strand) or either a mix of normal and fine OR damaged somehow. And most probably you used way too high heat for sealing the keratin.
I can assure you that my curls after so many times reverted back, maybe not my very ends cause they were damaged from coloring anyway, but my length shoulder-and-up reverted.

Tigress, I ve been using INOAR marroquino and QOD max. Both were professional solution and with formaldehyde. There is a trusted seller on ebay who sells INOAR 1L bottle for 130-140 dollars and ships worldwide. It's pretty damn worth it!
As for the formaldehyde issue, I am not really worried. All the fuss about it was primarily for the stylists. Using f/hyde solution like 2-8 times a day for each client wouldn't be the healthiest thing to inhale.
But as a home-treatment you wouldn't be using it more than once every couple months, in a ventilated area. Not so bad.

As for your ends, you can still go for it but use heat more moderately compared to your roots. That said, either use lower heat setting or (best) don't pass the iron more than 2 times.

[MINAKO]

Tygress, I have used Coppola (original formula containing formaldehyde) in the very beginning but wouldn't really recommend it. The results were nice, but i did have breathing problems during the process as well as irritated eyes for like two days. I couldnt wear my contacts. Maybe i'm sensitive, maybe the concentration was particularly strong, but i wouldn't buy it again.
Then i used Eugene Perma (no formaldehyde, non irritating), which was the weakest out of all the treatments and kinda hard to work with since the product is very sticky. Again, results ok at least and no damage, but i wouldn't buy it again.
Then on to Dikson Keratin, which i loved. also no formaldehyde and the product is so pure i even mix it with destilled water to use as a leave in treatment. Full bottle is expensive tho (220eur i think) , but totally worth it. There must be a difference in the hydrolized keratin molecular structure. Regular hydrolized keratin you can buy as a single ingredient at the pharmacy does not work, so the prices for straightening products are sort of justified that way.
Recently i purchased Goldwell Kerasilk (no formaldehyde), which is a two component mix and also includes an aftercare serum. By far the most whopping price (350eur, i payed more because i wanted to try mask and leave ins) but a dream to work with. It also contains silk protein and glycoxilic acid. Best results out of all i tried so far. I went for the intense version. Strong in terms of straightening, super strong in terms of conditioning.
As for the ends, i would either turn the heat down or cut afterwards. In case they are that damaged you would have to trim sooner or later anyways, regardless of the treatment.

Upside down, i have classic length iii hair now, it used to take less time before that. However, im very precise when it comes to every single step in the process. i clarify my hair the night before and then dry it in braids. In the morning it goes:
30mins application, 30-45mins setting time, 30-45mins blowdrying, 2hrs+ toflatiron each half of my head, coffee and snack break in between (yes your arms will get tired), 15min swishing hair around like in a shampoo commercial lol, 20 mins to wash and apply finishing serum, afer that i just blowdry some of the excess moisture out and bun it till the next day. No need to completely style it all the way.
The good thing about Goldwell is that you have no waiting time where you have to be careful, onceinsed out theres no risk for it to leave kinks in your hair. But even with the waiting time it was never a problem for me. Just wait 3days and throw hair over pillow while asleep. I usually just waited a week until the next wash day anyways.
Of course you could do individual sections seperately to cut down on the time, like a quater or a half per session. Its just gonna look funny until you're all done.
One more thing i do is strand testing a week in advance every time before i use the product along with the high heat. I like to be very careful, bit didnt expirience any bad results yet.

ETA: i also have to stress the importance of the flatiron. You want to use a tourmaline (or any other ionic acting mineral) infused ceramic plates. Some companies recommend titanium which is less gentle on the hair IMO.
Best choice for me is the Cloud9 wide plate. Glampalm is said to be even better, but hey i cant buy every flatiron out there, which doesnt mean i havent actually tried to do so. :P

[Panth]

As for the formaldehyde issue, I am not really worried. All the fuss about it was primarily for the stylists. Using f/hyde solution like 2-8 times a day for each client wouldn't be the healthiest thing to inhale.
But as a home-treatment you wouldn't be using it more than once every couple months, in a ventilated area. Not so bad.

Please don't be so blaze about formaldehyde.

I used it chronically, though in very small amounts and for much shorter exposure times than people are talking about here, in my job (lab work). I now have an allergy. It is a known sensitiser, irritant and permeator (it will help everything else in the solution cross your skin / mucous membranes), in addition to being corrosive, toxic and a suspected carcinogen. I agree that stylists should be most concerned about it, but that doesn't mean that home-users should think themselves risk-free.

[MINAKO]

I agree about not taking the formaldehyde issue too lightly, but i dont know about the concentration of every single product. After all its a chemical feequently used in other industrial processes that hardly anyone talks about, so its not exactly as it we even had the choice to completely remove it from our lifes.

For those who are interested in an in depth review, This girl has pretty good videos on the treatment i talked about before, she did follow up on how she liked it and the way her hair reacted. She started out curlier then me, but from the look of her hair mine is more resistant, or stubborn (doesn't bend easily) a term i learned from Emichiee, idk if that says something about the porosity of the cuticle or the strength of the cortex.
Back to the review, the girl did the treatment two times i think and ended up not liking it as it destroyed her curl pattern, while her hair still looks very healthy overall. For more i recommend visiting her channel.

https://youtu.be/gdl3k2T_WdA

[Panth]

I agree about not taking the formaldehyde issue too lightly, but i dont know about the concentration of every single product. After all its a chemical feequently used in other industrial processes that hardly anyone talks about, so its not exactly as it we even had the choice to completely remove it from our lifes.

I agree, very low levels are probably inescapable. For reference, the stuff I was using at work was 4% in saline. Your description of breathing problems and irritated eyes sounds, quite frankly, terrifying. The 4% I used never gave me any symptoms (except the allergy, which manifests both as a contact allergy to formaldehyde-containing plastics (bakerlite and similar) and essentially hayfever upon inhaled exposure - I am very, very lucky that it's nothing more severe than that). You could smell the 4%, though - a funny, semi-sweet smell that I personally think is reminiscent of pecan nut pastries.

I'm glad you aren't using formaldehyde-containing treatments now, Minako.