Early in October I took the plunge and decided to get a Keratin treatment done on my hair. I’ve always had frizzy and dry hair that curls in the unruliest fashion with the slightest hint of humidity and moisture. While I don’t mind the curly hair every once in a while, it does tend to become a huge bother, especially when I travel. I hate having to lug around the hair straightener (thank goodness most hotels have hairdryers these days), the bottles of serum and sprays, umpteen other styling products, and various clips and hairbands to hold everything in place.

Many people with ‘normal’ hair don’t understand that brushing the hair makes it even worse. Unruly curls are only cute on other people – not me. There are days when I won’t care and let it be curly and frizzy. and other days I will want to wear a shower cap or a brown bag over my head to go out.

Enter Keratin treatment.

Basically, this is a treatment for hair that seals in keratin (or more protein, if I may) into the hair to ease the frizz. This isn’t relaxing the hair. I’ve had that done in a distant past, a desperate lifetime ago and couldn’t have done anything worse to abuse my hair. My hair turning orange after a botched home dye job comes a close second.

Relaxing my hair consisted of piling my hair with chemicals to fry it into oblivion so that it would straighten out. This process turned my hair poker-straight, by the way. I can’t say I didn’t like it. I actually loved it. For a week. You see, I couldn’t get my hair to curl with a brush as my hairstylist would attempt to style my hair.

On the other hand, I loved that I could dry my hair naturally and not end up looking like I had stuck a wet finger into a live socket and got electrocuted.

Then came the regrowth.

Yes. Hair grows; mine faster than the average woman. I’ve got really thick hair that grows fast, and how.

So, I’d look pretty comical (according to me) as the new hair started growing and you’d see a strange kink in the hairline from the roots because the curls could only be relaxed up to a certain point. I have a long history of hair-raising tales but I’ll save them for another day.

Right. back to the Keratin treatment.

So, what this treatment does is not exactly what the relaxant products did. This treatment won’t completely straighten your hair, it will just become less frizzy. Also, this treatment reportedly lasts up to five months, and unlike other hair straightening treatments, you do not have to wait two weeks before washing. You can colour and treat your hair on the very same day.

Now, after finding all that out, going through months of procrastination and finally deciding that I will need this treatment only twice a year. I decided to take the plunge.

The procedure was not even as lengthy or as tedious as I had thought it would be. I was given a three-hour time frame But I was out of the salon is two and a half hours.

My hair was first washed with an ordinary salon shampoo. Then, the next wash was with the pre-treatment keratin shampoo, and after it was all lathered up, it was left in my hair for about ten minutes. It was properly rinsed out and no conditioner was applied. My hair was semi-dried and then the application process began.

The cream mixture was applied to my hair in small sections, from root to tip. I had no burning or tingling sensation on my scalp like I did when I relaxed my hair way back then. Once it was applied all over, a plastic shower cap was put on my head and I sat under a heat lamp for exactly fifty minutes. This wasn’t one of those dome-like heater/ steamer appliances that I sat under. This was a lamp with three sections that radiated heat to activate the keratin absorption into my hair.

Not a minute here or there, as soon as the fifty minutes were up the heater was switched off, the cap removed and the hair was gently combed out and sectioned. Now came the long part. Again, the hair was sectioned into small strips and with a special hair straightening tong, the cream that had been applied to the hair earlier on was sealed in. This was no ordinary hair straightener, by the way! Once all the hair was straightened out, I was done.

My hair was poker straight but I was assured that’s only because I need to have it that way before the first wash, which I was advised could be two days later. No hairbands, clips, or tying of hair in the meantime, and I was allowed to use my straighteners on the hair to get any small kinks out after a shower (please wear a shower cap!) or after waking up.

Two and a half months on, I can’t tell you how happy I am with my frizz-free hair. My hair stylist has been complaining that I don’t go in as often as I used to and that’s actually true. I find that I am managing to look after my hair without any problems at all! I am so glad that I got the keratin treatment done. I will definitely be going back in three month’s time to get it done again. I am really enjoying this hassle-free life of frizz-free hair!