What the heck are hair treatments?

Have you ever wondered the magic behind all those treatments we offer at the salon? Well it would take a novel to provide an exhaustive list of every treatment possible. But I do want to give you the hit list in a stylists arsenal.

At home DIY treatments

I thought I would start the types of treatments that most try out first, at home DIY treatments. Many have done the Google or Pinterest searches for the best at home treatments. And you may wonder which I would recommend? And your answer is none! The difference between what you can find in your kitchen and pantry and what you will purchase in the salon is how small the molecules are. Salon products are created to not just coat the outside of the hair follicle but are super small to be absorbed into the cuticle and into the deepest part of the hair. The molecule size needed to go into the hair shaft is TINY…so those bottles in the kitchen of olive oil or coconut oil are horrible for your hair. They actually build up on the outside of the hair and prevent the hair from absorbing anything else. In effect suffocating the hair.

Salon masks

Salon masks are varied and can be purchased for at home use or in salon only. The masks that are usually $10-20 dollars when added onto a service are usually the same as the retail version that is available to use at home. These masks are left on for a few minutes and can add moisture or protein. The next tier is in-salon only for professional use only. These masks are applied at the shampoo bowl and then heat is applied for 10-20 minutes. These masks are the heavy hitters and usually cost $30-55. They are able to drive the moisture and or protein deep into the hair shaft and provide longer lasting effects (often 3-4 weeks).

Smoothing treatments

If you have heard of a Keratin or Brazilian Blowout this is the treatments I am speaking of. These treatments fill all the little openings of the hair cuticle (the outside layer) and lock it down. These treatments remove 98% of the effects of humidity and last from 4-6 week for the express versions to 4-6 months for the full versions. They can also help speed up the blowdry time as well as they fill those little holes and prevent water from being held in the hair.

Bond builders

These little wonder products have been added to our industry since 2014. And they help by preventing damage. How is the hair damaged? The integrity of each hair shaft is compromised when bonds are broken, whether by chemicals, thermal and mechanical styling, and environmental factors. Until bond builders were created, a haircut was the only way to solve damage in the hair. Now these bond builders are able to relink those broken disulfide bonds and create a permanent change to the internal structure of the hair. This means rebuilding hair permanently until broken again. These bond builders go by the names of Olaplex, B-3 by Brazilian Blowout. These treatments are added to our chemical services and can be a stand alone treatment as well when needed for damaged hair.

K-18

This wonder and patented peptide is a unique sequence of amino acids that travels deep into hair’s core structure to fit in and reconnect broken polypeptide chains (keratin chains) responsible for hair strength and elasticity. It takes the technology from bond builders and takes it even further.

An Analogy:  When building proteins, the order of the amino acids determines the kind of protein and its properties, much like the way letters are arranged to make meaningful words and sentences. In the same way the order and where each word sits in a sentence leads to its overall meaning, K18 is the magic word that fits right in, integrating itself with the keratin chains as the hair recognizes it as a natural building block. K18 has a 2 step treatment that can be performed during a chemical service and an at home mask as well.

My goal of this blog post is to educate you to what treatments we have and where to start the conversation. If you are unsure when treatment is right for you be sure to ask your stylist (and of course if your in my chair ask me!)