10 Best Hair Masks for Keratin Treated Hair
Written by Camelia Smith
Updated on
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we may earn from qualifying purchases.
Hair masks are the best antidotes for supercharging your hair’s recovery after chemical treatments.
Besides delivering fast-absorbing intense moisture and nourishment to your tresses, a hair mask also helps to renew and prolong the life of your treatment by infusing micro keratin into your strands.
So it’s a no-brainer that you should be using one after a keratin treatment.
To help you, here are the best hair masks for keratin-treated hair we would slather our lengths with.
1. Arvazallia Fortifying Hair Mask
Product Summary
- Excellent reviews and ratings
- Highly recommended for keratin and color-treated hair
- Salon-quality protein hair treatment
- Includes aloe vera, argan oil, and macadamia oil
- Prevents breakage and split ends
- Cheap and affordable
This is hands down the best hair mask for keratin treated hair.
We love it because all of Arvazallia’s products, including shampoos, conditioners, hair oils, and serums are top notch for keratin aftercare.
Enriched with argan oil, macadamia oil, hydrolyzed keratin proteins, and aloe vera, this hair mask is a powerhouse of natural ingredients formulated to heal and re-energize stressed-out hair that has gone through chemical processing or excess heat styling damage.
The Arvazallia repair mask is also sulfate-free and sodium chloride-free, which guarantees peace of mind that it won’t strip or revert your keratin treatment however many times you want to use it.
Glop it on! It has plenty of natural oils and hair boosters to make your strands feel extra lush.
How to use it:
- Apply to wet hair after washing
- Use a comb to distribute it evenly
- Let it sit for 5 – 7 minutes
- Rinse it off
2. Vitamins Keratin Hair Mask
Product Summary
- Revitalizes dull hair
- Top seller and reasonable price
- Anti-frizz technology
- Works well for color-treated hair
- Heals hair damage and breakage
This keratin hair mask blends in collagen, biotin, castor oil, wheat germ oil, micro keratin, tea tree oil, and coconut oil to deliver intense healing and recovery for dry and damaged hair. It’s literally like a fancy spa for your hair.
No wonder people are raving over this hair mask which has racked up over 9800 reviews with solid ratings and praise for its quality and consistent results.
It also provides excellent frizz control by boosting your hair’s internal moisture and sealing them to block out humidity.
How to use it:
- Wash your hair first and towel dry
- Apply a small quantity of the hair mask to your hair
- Massage from mid-length to the ends thoroughly
- Wrap your hair in a towel and let it sit for 5-10 mins
- Rinse thoroughly
3. Sunatoria Premium Keratin Hair Mask
Sunatoria Premium Keratin Hair Mask
Product Summary
- Gets rid of frizz from first use
- Quality Tested to Ensure Purity
- Repairs and nourishes the hair
- Prevents damage and dryness
- Improves hair elasticity with omega 3 and omega 9
- Clean ingredients
- Makes hair silky, smooth, and shiny
A strong keratin treatment may make your hair feel stiff, dry, and sticky in the first week, depending on its texture and porosity.
The common problem with stiff-feeling hair is that it’s hard to style as it lacks elasticity and stretch. Moreover, it can also lead to dandruff-like flakes as the keratin coating dries out.
An excellent product to restore softness and elasticity to your straw-like hair is the Sunatoria restorative hair mask. It uses Omega 3 and vitamin E to add suppleness to the hair without interfering with the keratin coating.
So go ahead, glop it on to unlock smooth and manageable hair.
How to use it:
- Apply to wet hair
- Leave it for 5 minutes
- Rinse thoroughly
4. GK Keratin Masque
GK Keratin Masque
Product Summary
- No sulfates or stripping ingredients
- Contains Keratin Juvexin to support healthy hair growth
- Adds more shine and intensity to color-treated hair
- Top of the range natural ingredients
- A little pricey
GK is one of the best-known brands for its salon professional keratin treatments and services. So when it comes to keratin aftercare, you can bet their products are top class and trustworthy.
Calling upon the science of its patented Juvexin technology, which is also the unique selling point of its premium keratin treatments, this mask is formulated with the same keratin-infusing blend to strengthen the hair from the inside out.
The GK deep conditioning mask is essentially a no-hassle progressive top up for your keratin treatment.
Plus, along with its restorative properties comes the extra benefits of its nourishing and healing ingredients that are full of love for your hair.
It’s slightly more expensive than your average drugstore hair mask, but luckily, you’ll only need a small scoop to make it work its magic.
How to use it:
- Wash your hair first
- Detangle with a wide-tooth comb
- Rub a small amount of the mask in your hands
- Apply to damp hair evenly
- Use your comb to distribute it evenly
- Leave it in the hair for 20 mins
- Wash out thoroughly
5. Moroccanoil Restorative Hair Mask
Product Summary
- Contains pure Moroccan argan oil
- Gives you smooth, soft, and silky hair
- Doesn’t leave behind residues
- Delicious floral scent that lasts
The Moroccanoil hair mask is a timeless classic you can always count on if your hair feels wiry to the touch, splitting at the ends, and looking dull all the time due to lack of moisture.
It’s literally like a sumptuous buttery treat for dry hair. Powered by one of nature’s greatest gifts to hair and skin care, argan oil improves texture and manageability.
The other notable ingredients include Glycerin and Linseed, which combine perfectly to juice things up on the hydration front.
Moroccanoil is a deliciously creamy mask that will leave your hair super soft with a radiant glow. The scent of amber and musk adds a touch of tension-melting fragrance that lingers softly for hours.
How to use it:
- Wash and towel dry your hair
- Apply a generous amount
- Rinse well
- You may follow with a leave in conditioner (optional)
6. Shea Moisture Deep Conditioner Masque
Product Summary
- Formulated with certified organic ingredients
- Can be used as a deep conditioning hair mask
- Supports natural hair growth by invigorating the scalp
- Prevents hair fall by nourishing the follicles
- Ideal for people with oily scalp and greasy hair
- Affordable price and good value for money
Shea Moisture is one of the best go-to brands for people with textured hair. From low porosity to high porosity, type 2 to type 4 variations, they have a wide range of hair products that cater explicitly to waves, curls, kinks, and coils.
If you’ve had a keratin treatment on your curls, this is the product you need to keep the spring, bounce, and definition.
The SheaMoisture hair mask is enriched with shea butter, Jamaican castor oil, and apple cider vinegar to give more root lift and stimulate your hair follicles.
You can also use it as a deep conditioning mask with a shower cap to baggy up your hair for 30 minutes if it feels very dry.
How to use it:
- Wash your hair first
- Divide into sections
- Scoop out a generous amount and apply to your hair
- Use a wide-tooth comb to spread it evenly
- Massage into your hair
- Leave it on for 5 mins
- Rinse thoroughly
- For intense deep conditioning, leave it for 30 mins with a shower cap on
7. GK Hair Ultra Blonde Bombshell Masque
Product Summary
- Removes brassy tones from blonde hair
- Perfect for maintaining blonde shades
- UV protection
- Lasts for 8 washes
Keratin treated hair is not immune to brassiness, which is caused by environmental pollution and oxidizers.
Usually, you would use a purple shampoo to neutralize the brassiness and tone your hair, but these shampoos are not formulated to protect keratin, which can do more damage than good.
That’s where the GK blonde bombshell hair mask comes in handy. It allows you to tone, neutralize brassiness, add moisture, and keratin to your hair in one treatment.
How to use it:
- Apply to clean damp hair
- Spread evenly throughout with a comb
- Massage into hair and leave for 3-10 mins
- Rinse thoroughly
8. Keune Keratin Smooth Mask
Keune Keratin Smooth Mask
Product Summary
- Adds volume to fine hair
- Instantly makes the hair smooth and soft
- Reinforces keratin treatment
- Helps prevent hair shedding and breakage
- Smells delicious!
The Keune keratin smoothing mask is specially formulated for fine and thin hair, delivering weightless moisture that’s almost water-like without weighing your hair down. It also contains innovative, fast-acting keratin proteins that coat your hair’s surface to give it a glossy effect.
Use this mask to give your hair a plumped and bouncy feel.
How to use it:
- Apply to clean towel-dried hair
- Leave on for 5 mins
- Rinse
9. Briogeo Don’t Despair Repair
Product Summary
- Clean ingredients
- Vegan and cruelty-free
- Promotes hair growth and length retention
- Prevents minor hair loss caused by breakage and shedding
- Can be used overnight
Many people experience minor hair breakage after a keratin treatment because of high heat, or the treatment was not suitable for their hair.
If you face a similar problem, fret not!
To stop your hair from breaking off any further, you can either use a keratin oil or a keratin mask with damage-amending powers.
The Briogeo Don’t Despair hair mask is perfectly safe for keratin treated hair as it doesn’t contain any sulfates. It has all the good ingredients required to strengthen chemically-treated and dry hair from snapping off.
You can also use it as an overnight hair mask if your tresses needs more time to recover.
And yes, it’s a bestseller on Amazon with good reason. Customers love the results, and it has clean and pure ingredients.
The Briogeo Don’t Despair Repair mask is also vegan and cruelty-free.
How to use it:
- Wash your hair first
- Massage a small amount of the mask into your hair
- Leave it on for 10 minutes
- Rinse thoroughly
Use it once per week.
10. TRUSS Net mask
TRUSS Net mask
Product Summary
- Ideal for thick hair types like African American hair
- Delivers silky soft hair for people with normal hair types
- For coarse, curly, and coiled hair types, it helps with curl definition
- Makes thick hair easy to detangle
- Makes kinky, coily, and curly hair easy to manage
- Moisturizes and seals high porosity hair
- Slightly more expensive
The Truss hair mask uses powerful amino acids derived from silk, Creatine, Sericin, and keratin to replenish the natural building blocks in the hair cortex.
Boasting an intelligent hair repair formula that restores elasticity, strength, and moisture, this mask is also highly effective at sealing the hair cuticle layer to lock out humidity and frizz.
Highly recommended for people with curly and coily hair types who want to soften their curls and make them easy to manage.
Unleash more definition and bounce!
How to use it:
Apply this mask between your shampoo and conditioner.
Why Do You Need a Hair Mask for Keratin Treated Hair?
A hair mask helps to fortify your hair after chemical treatments like keratin, color, or bleaching, which can cause hygral fatigue during the process.
Hygral fatigue happens when the hair shafts have to swell (opening the cuticles) to absorb the treatment and then unswell to seal in the treatment (with heat).
The fatigue and stress can leave your hair stressed out, in a traumatic state that may eventually lead to breakage because of tiny fractures that may occur when it’s chemically manipulated.
So here are the ways a hair mask can help your hair after a keratin treatment:
- Fortify the hair strands:To restore order, a hair mask brings in reinforcements in the form of keratin, amino acids, and healing antioxidants like argan oil to help your hair recover quickly. Moreover, once your hair starts to rebuild its strength back, continuous use of a hair mask with keratin renews your treatment progressively to make it feel fresh so it can last longer.
- Stop breakage:By fortifying the hair fibers from within, a hair mask also makes your hair more resilient against minor breakage, which is not always noticeable by the naked eye but can inevitably lead to hair thinning from the top.
- Renew keratin:Imagine a keratin hair mask as a booster for your treatment. Every time you use it, it tops up the keratin coating gradually lost when washing the hair. I always use a keratin mask to prolong the length of my treatments. It always helps me go beyond the 3 months until my next salon top up.
- Intensify Hair Color:A hair mask can help intensify and revive color-treated hair that looks dull. When your hair is well hydrated from within, it makes your hair color glow. When it looks dry and frazzled, it makes your color look dull. So add more glaze and let your hair color shine in all its glory.
How to Use a Hair Mask after Keratin Treatment
- Wash your hair first:
Clean hair absorbs better and faster. - Apply the amount recommended in the instructions:
You don’t want to burden your hair by using too much for too long. This can lead to protein overload, which makes the hair brittle and dry. - Rinse off thoroughly:
Rinse off the mask thoroughly until the water runs clear.
How Often to Apply a Hair Mask on Keratin Treated Hair
If your hair feels in good condition, use a hair mask once a week or once every 2 weeks.
If your hair tends to feel too dry, then use it twice weekly.
says Lisa Caddy, Trichologist and brand ambassador for Philip Kingsley.
Ideally, you would use a hair mask to heal your hair back into a healthy state and then gradually reduce the usage to around once or twice a month.
However, it’s important to note that using too much of it won’t work any magic shortcuts. It can make your hair feel worse.
What to Look for When Buying a Hair Mask for Keratin Treated Hair
Sulfate-free and Sodium Chloride Free
Sulfates and salts are the enemies of keratin and colored hair. They are abrasive chemicals that strip anything that coats the outer layers of the hair – even your hair’s natural oils.
You’d use sulfates and salts to remove a keratin treatment.
So avoid hair masks that contain sulfates and salts.
Residue-free
Although hair masks are known to be heavy and creamy, most of them should rinse out easily without creating any residues in your hair. So keep an eye out for reviews like “sticky and hard to wash out”.
These are the red flags that the hair mask has hard silicone and quads that stick to the hair and require several washes to rinse out.
You should always refrain from over washing your hair after a keratin treatment.
You want a hair mask that’s easy to apply and easy to wash out.
Enriched with Micro Keratin
Using hair products that contain hydrolyzed keratin helps your keratin treatment last longer. It also helps to improve the texture and strength.
So look for a mask rich in keratin, protein, and amino acids.
Your Hair Type and Condition
Hair masks are created for specific hair types to target specific conditions.
So if you have curly hair, stick to a mask designed for curls. If you have fine hair, stick to one that caters to fine and thinning hair.
The right hair mask for the right hair type and condition ensures that you won’t overuse or underuse the product because each mask has its specific application instruction and frequency of use.
A hair mask is an essential product you need in your hair care routine after a keratin or Brazilian hair treatment.
Besides boosting moisture and hydration, a keratin hair mask also provides essential nutrients deep into the hair cortex to heal damage and make your hair fibers more resilient.
And finally, it helps to renew your treatment to give it more mileage.
About the Author
Camelia SmithCamelia Smith can color hair, perform keratin treatments, bleach hair, and even cut curly hair. She is our go-to person whenever we have hair treatments and styling questions.
She's also currently training as a freelance makeup artist and is passionate about helping others feel beautiful in their skin. When she's not writing or doing hair, she's usually spending time watching British period dramas.