What Does A Keratin Treatment Do? 33 Benefits That Will Surprise You!

Written by Camelia Smith

Updated on November 04, 2023

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We hear about it, we lust after it on Instagram every day (we are looking at you, Kardashians), and we know for a fact:

Top celebs and supermodels love keratin treatments.

But what does a keratin treatment do, and why do A-listers splurge for the privilege?

I spoke to several hairstylists to get the low-down, and here are the benefits that will surprise you:

1. It’s all about the glam factor!

No one says no to effortlessly chic hair that radiates with envious shine and touch-worthy smoothness.

A keratin treatment gives you luscious lust-worthy hair that flows like silken waves to make you look femme fatale.

In short:

It makes your hair glam-fabulous from every F*ing possible angle.

And if that’s not enough …

You are guaranteed to WOW everyone wherever you go because every mere mortal will envy your gorgeous, dazzling hair.

Take it from us, you’d be on cloud nine all the time!

Here’s the best keratin hair treatment we recommend:

GK Hair Keratin Treatment

Buy from Amazon

2. It gives you various hairstyling options

Imagine what it would be like if you could carve your hair into any shape and style you want?

Well, this is precisely what a Brazilian keratin smoothing treatment does for you.

When your hair:

• Is smooth as silk
• Feels soft to the touch
• Has plenty of body and bounce
• Is dimensionally daring

You can do anything with it.

Just let your imagination go wild, and get ultra creative with your hairstyles.

Believe me, no matter what shape you whip your hair into …

… it’s gonna hold that style all day long oozing grooming and control to perfection a la Jennifer Aniston.

So here it is …

The secret to taking your hairstyles from boring every day to:

• #OMG-Worthy
• #HairGoals
• #HairEnvy
• #GoodHairDays

3. It makes your hair easy to style

Let’s be honest:

There’s nothing more satisfying than hitting snooze one more time in the morning.

I am guilty as charged.

But what if:

You could make your hair look perfectly put together in less than 15 minutes!

Roll-out-of-bed-and-go hairstyles have never been easier for me.

Ever since I started doing keratin treatments, even my post-slumber hair looks effortlessly swank.

All it takes is a quick blow dry, a one-pass smoothing over with my hair straightener, and I am ready to dash out the door.

Snooze on an already styled look, and speed through your morning routines in less than half the time.

Because smooth and silky frizz-free hair makes it effortlessly easy to manage without having to douse your strands with tons of hair styling products.

4. It gives you low-maintenance hair

Listen:

Your hair styling routine doesn’t have to be complicated.

If it is, then you have a big problem. Unhealthy hair.

By unhealthy hair, I mean:

• High porosity
• Split ends
• Lots of tangles

A keratin restorative therapy fixes high porosity and smoothes your strands on the outside to fix all your hair woes in one go.

And it lasts for at least 3 months!

You won’t need deep conditioners, moisturizers, and split end serums to style your hair.

You’ll love how low-maintenance hair saves you time and money!

How often should you do keratin treatments?

I recommend to top up the treatment every 3 months.

5. It gives you au naturel straight hair

Unlike chemical relaxers that make your hair poker straight and stiff, a keratin straightening treatment makes your hair straight with natural movement and elasticity.

“Texture identity crisis” not included.

But I’ll have to warn you …

Keep your hands off!

6. It makes your hair smooth to the touch

Imagine the feeling when your hair straightener plates can just glide through your hair, and you don’t have to fight with a wet brush to tame unruly tangles!

That’s the beauty of keratin-treated hair.

Let me explain how it works …

The outer layer of your hair (cuticles) are like roof tiles. And their primary purpose is to protect the inner hair cortex from external damage.

Now imagine what happens when your roof tiles have cracks, holes, big gaps, or worse – some of them were blown away by a storm?

• Water will leak into your house
• Your roof will start to lose its structural integrity
• Leaks will damage your electrical wiring

Similarly, when you overwork your hair with chemical treatments and heat styling, they ruffle up and crack.

Run a hairbrush through, and you’re more likely to end up tugging and breaking your hair.

A keratin treatment seals the hair cuticles to make them flat again.

And with an extra film-forming silk-protein layer, it restores smoothness and heals the snags and tears.

To find out more on what a keratin smoothing treatment does, check the articles below:

7. It makes your hair shiny and glossy

When your cuticles are flat and smooth, your hair reflects light.

It gleams, illuminates, and glistens with pure radiance.

And as the saying goes …

The shinier the hair, the brighter the star shines.

So prepare to turn heads with your super glossy strands.

8. It improves the texture of your hair

Hair texture is determined by 2 things:

• The thickness of the hair fiber
• The condition of its cuticles

The texture is what gives your hair its visual quality and unique feel.

Mechanical damage, aging, and overprocessing your hair can all contribute to wear and tear, thus:

• Shrinking the thickness and density of each fiber
• Making the cuticle layer crinkly and rough

Over time, abundant hair with high density and smooth surface can end up looking thin and fragile due to loss of texture.

A keratin treatment does 2 things really well to tackle both problems:

• It replenishes keratin (the building blocks of the hair fiber)
• It shuts the cuticles to make the outside flat

Whether your hair is:

• Fine
• Medium
• Thick or Coarse
• Wavy
• Curly
• Straight
• Or anything in between

A keratin treatment adds progressive enhancements to each hair strand to preserve its visual quality and smooth feel.

9. It fortifies your hair’s structure

Working from the very core of each hair fiber, a keratin treatment shuttles:

• Anti-aging peptides
• Microproteins
• Argan oil
• Collagen
• And a potent elixir of hydrating fatty acids

into the hair cortex to fortify its structure.

Together, these ingredients strengthen your hair to protect it from daily aggressors like UV, hard water minerals, and heat styling.

When your hair structure is strong and resilient, it does not break, and it can hold any style all day long.

10. It repairs damaged hair

When your hair is severely stressed out and robbed of its essential nutrients, there’s nothing you can do to make it look good.

The only treatment that can reboot your dull looking hair is keratin.

Packed with anti-oxidants, the healing goodness of Micronized proteins, and Argan oil, a keratin treatment brings the mojo back into your hair.

Keep reading to find out how the repair process works …

11. It evens out your hair’s porosity

Do you feel like your hair is as brittle as a dry stick, and even the tiniest of twitch will make it snap?

Does your hair feel rough on the outside and swells up quickly when the air is humid?

Then these are telltale signs of high porosity hair which can absorb more than its own weight in water, and stretch outside of its comfort zone.

The problems:

• Hair absorbs water excessively
• It takes on brassy colors fast
• It tangles badly
• It’s always frizzy

Here’s how a keratin treatment works for high porosity hair:

It seeks out damaged parts of your hair, and plugs holes and gaps with active healing ingredients to make the surface even.

It also helps your hair play well with water by retaining moisture.

12. It makes your hair more elastic

Porosity and hair elasticity go hand in hand.

If your hair becomes highly porous, it loses elasticity.

To put it simply:

Elasticity is what makes hair stretch without breaking.

It gives your hair body, bounce, and curl formation.

Without elasticity, your hair will feel lifeless and limp.

The main portion of the hair structure that contributes to its elastic properties is the cortex – a cluster of protein (keratin) bonds that chain together to support tension and stretch.

Over time, the protein structure degrades.

• Aging
• Over-manipulation
• Coloring treatments
• Bleaching
• Excess heat styling

All of the above contribute to protein structure damage in the hair.

To give your hair its elasticity back, you need to reinforce the keratin chains.

And the best way to do this is to do a keratin treatment.

While keratin bridges the gaps, holes, and cracks in the support chain, another vital ingredient – Collagen makes your hair pliable with improved flexibility so that it can move and bend without breaking.

13. It seals your split ends

Does your hair look like split-ends central at times?

You know:

• Those stray baby hairs sticking up like unicorn horns
• Those scraggly ends that refuse to blend in
• Those ends doing the rice crispies

We all hate them, and no matter how many times a week you snip them off, they always come back with a vengeance!

The bad news is:

You cannot repair split ends.

But you can conceal split-ends to make them look bang tidy, and blend into your hairstyles with ease.

A keratin treatment creates an occlusive breathable barrier to conceal the fraying ends and smooth them over.

You won’t need frequent hair salon visits to nix them which can make your hair look noticeably shorter.

14. It stops your hair from breaking

When you ignore split ends, they can splice deeper towards the base of your hair to cause further damage.

By sealing your frazzled ends early, a keratin treatment prevents splits from working their way further down your hair strand.

15. It helps you cut your hair less

Less visible split ends means fewer trims.

And fewer trims promotes more length retention.

Fair enough, Split-Ender Pros are great tools to trim 1/4 inches at a time at home, but if you are on a mission to grow your hair long, you’ve got to seal those ends.

A home keratin treatment kit still works out cheaper than the Split-Ender Pro by the way!

16. It makes your hair easy to detangle

When your hair is smooth, and even on the outside, you can brush through it without snagging.

It’s like running a hot knife through butter!

It’s important to note that with improved elasticity, your hair will resist breakage even when it’s wet.

But I still suggest you use a proper brush to detangle your hair.

I use a Boar Bristle Brush, and it works perfectly regardless if I am detangling on wet or dry hair.

17. It shields your hair from heat damage

Keratin treatments add an extra protective layer to make your hair resilient against heat damage.

Think of it as a heat defense barrier.

Check the illustration below to see it in action:

However, excess heat is always damaging to hair regardless if you’ve had a keratin treatment or not.

I recommend you use no more than 365° F for heat styling.

But having said that, after a keratin treatment, you’ll hardly need to use your hair straightener, as part of the benefit is easy to style hair that requires minimal heat.

18. It fixes hair bleaching disasters

Bleaching pushes your hair to maximum fragility.

By using Hydrogen Peroxide (a strong oxidizing agent), bleach:

• Depletes moisture from your hair
• Makes your hair vulnerable to further damage
• Causes chemical burns to your scalp
• Makes your hair swell
• Damages the cellular membranes of the hair

And more worryingly, opens up the hair cuticles to leave your hair cortex exposed.

The only way to nurse your hair back to health is a complete rehab, starting from your scalp.

The good thing about a keratin treatment is it’s holistic approach to hair health.

The treatment starts with a Clarifying shampoo to purge all chemical deposits and residues from the hair and scalp.

This leaves your hair in optimal condition to absorb the treatment and heal damage through the different layers.

Similar to Olaplex, a keratin treatment rebuilds the hair bonds to improve hair texture damage from bleaching and coloring services.

So if you’ve gone too far with that bottle of bleach, don’t panic.

There’s still hope to bring your hair back from the edge.

19. It seals and protects your hair color

The best time to do a color treatment is right before a keratin treatment.

As you probably know:

Which means, the more you wash, the more it fades away.

But not after a keratin treatment.

Here’s why …

A keratin treatment works in 2 ways for hair color:

• It prevents frequent washing from fading color
• It prevents color pigments inside the hair from escaping

Don’t let your vibrant hair color fade into dull tones.

Use a keratin treatment to lock in your bubblegum pink, unicorn, or blazing blondes for longer.

20. It makes your hair color pop and sparkle

We’ve done it many times, and we’ve got selfies to prove it.

A keratin treatment makes your hair color look intense.

It adds sparkle and shine to bring any color to life.

All the benefits of maximum hydration, smooth texture, and polished cuticles work together to give your hair color the perfect finishing touch it deserves.

21. It protects blonde hair from brassy tones

Blonde hair allows anything brassy to creep in.

Hard water, UV, dust, whatever may be turning your hair brassy, it’s all do with how easily your hair absorbs them.

Keratin treatments like GK Hair contain anti-aging protein blends to neutralize unwanted brassy and greenish tones to keep your sensitive blonde hair in pristine condition.

With the added benefits of a color protective layer, your tones will never cross that fine line between brassy and golden honey.

22. It amplifies your hair volume

Give your lifeless hair a sexy volume injection.

Keratin fillers from a Brazilian blowout lift hair up and fill it out to make it look fuller, thicker and more abundant.

That’s right!

Keratin treatments are protein fillers.

They feed your hair to add root lift and make it look plump.

The benefits:

• Bulky hair for those with fine strands
• You’ll feel increased hair density
• You’ll have volume and fluffiness at the roots
• You’ll get a proper distribution of bouncy hair

And this goes without saying …

You can flaunt your perfectly tousled waves and voluminous bouffant shamelessly.

23. It makes your hair humidity-resistant

Humidity is the main cause for frizzy hair.

When your hair is highly porous, all it takes is a single molecule of moisture to explode your hair into a frizzy mess.

A keratin treatment makes your hair humidity-proof by sealing all the thirsty gaps that draw in humidity.

So the best way to stop frizzy hair is to prevent your tresses buckling under the heat and humid weather.

Think of a keratin treatment as a raincoat for your hair.

It adds layers of humidity defense.

24. It prevents every type of frizz

Sometimes, it feels like your hair has a rebellious mind of its own!

A keratin treatment makes sure your hair keeps enough moisture inside so that it doesn’t soak it up from the outside humid air.

And even better …

Flat and sealed cuticles won’t allow excess humidity in either.

Your battle against frizz is over!

25. It makes your hair retain moisture

Keratin treatments have moisture-loving ingredients.

Aside from keeping moisture in, they also prevent moisture from escaping your hair.

So save your money from stacking up dozens of hair moisturizing products. You won’t need them.

26. It gives your curls definition

Curls love moisture.

Because moisture adds deep graduated layers of definition to those spirals.

When you do a keratin smoothing treatment, it enhances your curl pattern by supporting its cysteine s-bonds.

Here’s what a keratin treatment does to curly hair:

• It realigns the cysteine bonds
• It makes your curls cascade with uniform layers
• It gives movement and consistency throughout
• It makes each curl look its best

From corkscrews to waves to ringlets, a keratin treatment gives your curls the perfect shape and silhouette without making your head look like a Christmas tree.

27. It makes natural hair easy to manage

If you’re embarking on a natural hair journey, a keratin treatment is a perfect start to give you a low maintenance hair care routine.

A deep cleanse with a clarifying shampoo, followed by a keratin smoothing treatment for curls will keep your hair pure for at least 3 months.

This will help you transition like a boss.

No need for messy DIY deep conditioning treatments.

Wash-and-go’s will be enough to keep your curls balanced and hydrated until you reach your No Poo Nirvana.

28. It allows you to transition from curly to straight hair easily

On the other hand, if you’re bored of your curls and fancy a straight hairstyle, a keratin straightening treatment can transform your curls into straight layers without breaking the bonds.

Being semi-permanent means, it’s a no hassle commitment that won’t compromise your curl pattern.

29. It helps you customize your hair texture

You can customize a Brazilian blowout to loosen tight and kinky hair into soft curls until the treatment wears off.

Unlike relaxers that destroy hair texture, a keratin treatment preserves your curl pattern.

No need to go for the big chop and wait for your hair to grow out.

30. It’s a better alternative to relaxers

Avoid hair relaxers at all cost.

They damage the inner structure of your hair with harsh chemicals and can also contribute to scalp problems.

Keratin treatments have evolved a long way from relaxers in the sense that they don’t use harmful chemicals like:

• Formaldehyde
• Sodium Hydroxide
• Calcium hydroxide
• Thioglycolic acid

Just looking at these ingredients gives me the shivers.

Modern keratin treatments use a combination of Glyoxylic acids (Formaldehyde alternative), Hydrolyzed proteins, Argan oil, and Amino acids to give you better semi-permanent results.

31. It reduces time you spend at hair salons

Save time and money by cutting down on your salon visits.

For a good 3 months you won’t have to worry about:

• Trimming split ends
• Touching up your hair color
• Protein treatments
• Blow dry upgrades

How convenient!

32. It gives you easy to wash hair

With low maintenance hair, you get the easy options to:

• Wash-and-go
• Or co-wash

Forget the full hair washing cycles that can take up to 45 minutes:

• Washing
• Conditioning
• Detangling
• Blow drying
• And hot pressing

After my keratin treatments, I was able to stretch shampoos for almost 10 days.

And the best part?

It allows me to blow dry my hair in less than 3 minutes!

33. It forces you to go sulfate-free

Are you using a sulfate-free shampoo?

If you’re not, then it’s time you check the ingredients in your shampoos and make some changes.

Sulfates (SLS) are detergents similar to what’s used in dish washing liquids to remove grease and dirt.

When used on your skin and hair, they can pull a lot of natural oils leaving you exposed to irritations and conditions like Acne or Eczema.

Adopt a sulfate-free shampoo routine, and you’ll notice how your hair won’t dry up, and your scalp will feel much better and healthier.

And they don’t lather and foam either. Which makes it a lot easier to rinse out without knots, tangles, and dryness.

Once I started using sulfate-free shampoos, I was able to cut down on hair washing and stretch my hair for even more than a week.

After a keratin treatment, you’ll be using less crappy products because that’s the first rule of keratin treatment aftercare.

Now that you know about all the benefits of a keratin treatment let me show you how to pick the right one.

The best keratin treatments to get:

Here is my checklist for picking up a good keratin treatment:

• Formaldehyde-free
• Wash same day
• Hydrolyzed keratin
• Collagen
• Hyaluronic acid
• Argan oil
• Glyoxylic acid
• Pre and post aftercare included
• Easy to do at home with instructions

I recommend these keratin treatments.

Here’s why:

• No need to wait 3 days to wash your hair (same day wash)
• They come with easy to use instruction at home
• The packs contain pre and post-treatment care
• And they are available to buy on Amazon

To recap:

Here’s what a keratin treatment does to your hair:

• 1. Glamorous hair
• 2. Unlimited styling options
• 3. Easy to style
• 4. Low maintenance
• 5. Natural looking straight hair
• 6. Smooth as silk
• 7. Shiny and glossy
• 8. Improved hair texture
• 9. Strong hair from the inside
• 10. Damage repair
• 11. Heals high porosity
• 12. Elastic hair
• 13. Conceals split ends
• 14. Prevents breakage
• 15. Fewer haircuts
• 16. Easy detangling
• 17. Heat damage protection
• 18. Repairs bleaching damage
• 19. Seal hair color
• 20. Makes hair color vibrant
• 21. Prevents brassiness
• 22. More density and volume
• 23. Humidity protection
• 24. Zero frizz
• 25. Better moisture retention
• 26. Curl definition
• 27. Easy to manage natural hair
• 28. Easy transition for naturals
• 29. Easy to customize curls
• 30. Better than relaxers
• 31. Fewer salon visits
• 32. Easy to wash hair
• 33. Sulfate-free hair care routine

If your hair desperately needs a makeover or a restorative treatment …

Don’t think twice. Just give it a whirl.

GK Hair Keratin

Buy from Amazon

About the Author

Camelia Smith

Camelia 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.