Has anyone had BKT long enough to fully revert back?

[luckiestdestiny]

Forgot to add...I don't think anyone should do ANYTHING without research and I'm talking tons of it. I've spent hours not just on these threads but on the internet researching formaldehyde. I've asked my third year med school boyfriend and told him to ask his teachers about the amount of formaldehyde and what they think. I've researched mortician death rates, how much formaldehyde is in daily life, how BKT works and if it breaks bonds. Then I went into threads and read away about BKT and searched for horror stories. I then looked for people with my hair type using it and on and on. I also pm'd people to death using it for 18 months or more on this site.

I think anyone should do this if they are going to dive in so they can be certain.

I also think that people should do this when it comes to using anything on their hair as some things may work for some but not for others.

 

[sheba1]

I have no desire to do BKT because I just protective style. I have no strong feelings on it.
My problem is misinformation. You are saying that we do not know enough about BKT to know anything, which is probably true. Unfortunately if you look in other threads a different story is being told!!!!!!

I don't think every person considering it has been told what you are saying...

They don't have to be told, because the question is clearly unanswered. If they research, at all, they will see that this question has not been answered because there is no one that has stopped. No one is being mislead, in any way. I know this because I researched for weeks before I did my treatment and knew exactly what I was getting into. So if someone else is interested in doing a treatment for their heads, they are expected to research just as diligently. The same is true for any treatment. I've seen people with henna damage, relaxer damage, breakage from protein overload, color damage, heat damage. I haven't seen a person, yet, with bkt damage. And yet, it's still so new I still know that there's risk. And that's for anything you see on this board. If someone does not do their research then that's on them. No one is coaching them or educating them on bkt.

I share my experience and what I have read from others that have shared their experience with me. These are facts only in reference to my head. Me? I'm happy with bkt. I'll tell anyone who will listen. So far, I think it's awesome. And I'll be the first to shout from the rooftops if something about it doesn't sit right with me, now that I've done it. But, for me, it's living up to it's promise. And sorry... can't help you on the reversion thing, because I love it. I'm going to keep doing it, for now.

Maybe someone else will stop now that there are so many newbies trying it. :shrug:

 

[SoCalli]

Nope and I don't think my hair ever will. I stopped using bkt about a year ago. I'm thinking about getting just the roots done like a relaxer. We'll see.

 

[naturalmanenyc]

Who cares?

I have have BKT twice and if my hair does not revert, I would be fine with that since 3c is working or me. My curls hang better, I have less shrinkage and wash day is literally easy. I have not had to use heat since the BKT treatment was applied. I am sitting with rollers in my hair right now and I did a pretty good job...despite 3 margaritas

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

 

[Rei]

Nope and I don't think my hair ever will. I stopped using bkt about a year ago. I'm thinking about getting just the roots done like a relaxer. We'll see.

whoa whoa wait what? I was thinking about doing this this winter, and was waiting for someone to come in who could actually answer the question instead of , no offense ladies.

How often did you have it done, and for how long? Was it a radical change?

 

[msa]

I think we also have to take into account the fact that most people don't want their hair to revert back to its original texture...

 

[secretrose]

Thanks for posting. So this is what I have been waiting to hear.
So your hair has not reverted after a year of stopping. Now we have one testimony to work with. Others are welcome.

Nope and I don't think my hair ever will. I stopped using bkt about a year ago. I'm thinking about getting just the roots done like a relaxer. We'll see.

 

[Rei]

Who cares?

I have have BKT twice and if my hair does not revert, I would be fine with that since 3c is working or me. My curls hang better, I have less shrinkage and wash day is literally easy. I have not had to use heat since the BKT treatment was applied. I am sitting with rollers in my hair right now and I did a pretty good job...despite 3 margaritas

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

erplexed i care, I like my hair the way it is, I just wanted to be lazy and have straight hair for a season without flatironing/pressing every 2 weeks and then for it to go back to what I'm used to, which I'm sure most naturals who were considering it was looking to do... I think people are letting their emotions get away with them in this thread. It's kind of a simple question as to whether it reverts 100% or not. No judgments either way whether the person wants it to revert or not, just simple curiosity for those considering it.

 

[secretrose]

Thanks for understanding the intent and re-inforcing that fact that there are ppl like you who are expecting the reversion.

erplexed i care, I like my hair the way it is, I just wanted to be lazy and have straight hair for a season without flatironing/pressing every 2 weeks and then for it to go back to what I'm used to, which I'm sure most naturals who were considering it was looking to do... I think people are letting their emotions get away with them in this thread. It's kind of a simple question as to whether it reverts 100% or not. No judgments either way whether the person wants it to revert or not, just simple curiosity for those considering it.

 

[cutiebe2]

erplexed i care, I like my hair the way it is, I just wanted to be lazy and have straight hair for a season without flatironing/pressing every 2 weeks and then for it to go back to what I'm used to, which I'm sure most naturals who were considering it was looking to do... I think people are letting their emotions get away with them in this thread. It's kind of a simple question as to whether it reverts 100% or not. No judgments either way whether the person wants it to revert or not, just simple curiosity for those considering it.

There is little emotion just facts. The fact is that the info people tell you about there experience is dependent of what their goals were, etc. I think MSA is right, for the first time I see that some people were not concerned with reverting, I am. If you are looking to get the treatment make sure you really do your research on the people who got it done here. Some may not mention that their hair pattern was different because they were not worried about that so didn't really examine it.

 

[SoCalli]

Who cares?

I have have BKT twice and if my hair does not revert, I would be fine with that since 3c is working or me. My curls hang better, I have less shrinkage and wash day is literally easy. I have not had to use heat since the BKT treatment was applied. I am sitting with rollers in my hair right now and I did a pretty good job...despite 3 margaritas

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I agree with the bolded as long as the ends don't get any straighter. My sister's ends are pretty straight. Too straight for my liking. It could be b/c her hair is more damaged than mine (she gets it colored red).

whoa whoa wait what? I was thinking about doing this this winter, and was waiting for someone to come in who could actually answer the question instead of , no offense ladies.

How often did you have it done, and for how long? Was it a radical change?

Yeah, the reason why it hasn't worn off completely could be for a variety of reasons. When I first started using bkt, I was wearing my hair natural 24/7. I would using nothing, but organic/natural products so the bkt never really stripped off my hair. I just kept adding the bkt over previously bkt'd hair that never wore off (I only continued to get it done b/c the roots needed to be done. The ends were fine). Anyway, this could be the reason why it never really stripped from my hair.

I used to get it done every three to four months. I think I stopped about a year ago (not on purpose. I bought the wrong one and didn't want to pony up the extra cash to get more). The change is not radical for me. You can tell that my roots are natural. The ends of my hair are looser than my roots. However, you can see a big difference in my sister's hair. The ends are pretty straight compared to her roots. She colors her hair often though.

Thanks for posting. So this is what I have been waiting to hear.
So your hair has not reverted after a year of stopping. Now we have one testimony to work with. Others are welcome.

No, my hair towards the ends look like they have been bkt'd as opposed to my roots. It might revert if I used a harsher shampoo. I don't know. I've read testimonials from white women saying that their hair did revert back. I don't think they would lie about that. Again, my hair may be due to using really gentle products.

ETA: For those who want their hair to go back, you may want to do it less often and stay away from super gentle shampoos. You could also try doing the whole head once and then just doing the roots thereafter.

 

[BostonMaria]

Who cares?

I have have BKT twice and if my hair does not revert, I would be fine with that since 3c is working or me. My curls hang better, I have less shrinkage and wash day is literally easy. I have not had to use heat since the BKT treatment was applied. I am sitting with rollers in my hair right now and I did a pretty good job...despite 3 margaritas

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

OMG! LOL
Wait, are you even Mexican?!! LOL j/k
Happy 5 de Mayo to you too

 

[naturalmanenyc]

Yes, it reverts 100% if you allow it to wear off.

If you get BKT, it will wear off in 3 - 4 months with weekly washing, 2 months for daily cowashers & faster if you use sodium shampoos. Everyone whom I spoke to about BKT said that it is temporary. I even corresponded with stylist who apply BKT to their clients every 3 - 4 months since it does fully revert. Denise Kingsley is a good resource - you can google her and email her as well. She uses BKT so much that she worked with a designer to create a fume extractor for her salon.

However, there are some people who use BKT once a month in order to get straight hair right out of the shower. Presumably, if BKT is used so often as to have 4a hair become straight hair even when wet, then maybe it will take much longer to wear off, if it wears off at all?

I won't ever find out since I will not ever use BKT once a month in order to have straight hair out of the shower. I like the versatility of frizz free, looser curls with less shrinkage....which is what BKT is doing for me.

 

[laurend]

Nope and I don't think my hair ever will. I stopped using bkt about a year ago. I'm thinking about getting just the roots done like a relaxer. We'll see.

So what's the difference between this and a relaxer? I think a lot of members were lead to believe that their hair would revert back to its natural state. Now, this might give some pause before trying the BKT treatment.

 

[btrflyrose]

Nope and I don't think my hair ever will. I stopped using bkt about a year ago. I'm thinking about getting just the roots done like a relaxer. We'll see.

But here you are referring to looser texture, right?

After doing the BKT for so long, it has loosened your curls so that it looks more like a texturizer??

(Which isn't a problem for me, I still plan on doing it!)

 

[btrflyrose]

I won't ever find out since I will not ever use BKT once a month in order to have straight hair out of the shower. I like the versatility of frizz free, looser curls with less shrinkage....which is what BKT is doing for me.

Which is exactly what I'm looking for.

I plan on doing this every 3 or 4 months, tops.

I may do the first 2 applications within a month of each other, only because some stated they got better results the 2nd time around. I'll just have to see how it comes out.

But afterwards, I'll probably do it seasonally.

 

[michelle81]

They don't have to be told, because the question is clearly unanswered. If they research, at all, they will see that this question has not been answered because there is no one that has stopped. No one is being mislead, in any way. I know this because I researched for weeks before I did my treatment and knew exactly what I was getting into. So if someone else is interested in doing a treatment for their heads, they are expected to research just as diligently. The same is true for any treatment. I've seen people with henna damage, relaxer damage, breakage from protein overload, color damage, heat damage. I haven't seen a person, yet, with bkt damage. And yet, it's still so new I still know that there's risk. And that's for anything you see on this board. If someone does not do their research then that's on them. No one is coaching them or educating them on bkt.

I share my experience and what I have read from others that have shared their experience with me. These are facts only in reference to my head. Me? I'm happy with bkt. I'll tell anyone who will listen. So far, I think it's awesome. And I'll be the first to shout from the rooftops if something about it doesn't sit right with me, now that I've done it. But, for me, it's living up to it's promise. And sorry... can't help you on the reversion thing, because I love it. I'm going to keep doing it, for now.

Maybe someone else will stop now that there are so many newbies trying it. :shrug:

Please don't take offense to my question, I'm just trying to understand.

If you plan to keep doing it, then what's the difference between BKT and a relaxer.

Have you had damage from a relaxer and not BKT?

And please, this is only my opinion, but if one wants to have straight hair on a continual basis, isn't a relaxer the lesser of the two evils.

Relaxer is cheaper.
Relaxer lasts longer, supposedly.
Relaxer has been used for decades with tons of info on the external side effects and possible internal side effects.

No offense at all, just curious.

 

[MAMATO]

Please don't take offense to my question, I'm just trying to understand.

If you plan to keep doing it, then what's the difference between BKT and a relaxer.

Have you had damage from a relaxer and not BKT?

And please, this is only my opinion, but if one wants to have straight hair on a continual basis, isn't a relaxer the lesser of the two evils.

Relaxer is cheaper.
Relaxer lasts longer, supposedly.
Relaxer has been used for decades with tons of info on the external side effects and possible internal side effects.

No offense at all, just curious.

Because when you relax or texlax... you are relaxed.
When you BKT .... you are natural.

I guess it's all about the group you are identified to, Honey

 

[MummysGirl]

I can't answer the OP's question because I have not had BKT, I apologise in advance for my long comment which doesn't answer the question, LOL!

I'm not planning on ever doing BKT but I'm glad this thread was started...

In the 'Are you still natural if you do BKT?' thread, I was one of the people who responded with - Yes, because the hair reverts back. I guess you are natural in the sense that you don't have a relaxer or texturizer or perm in your hair BUT where does that put BKT? I don't know and it really doesn't bother me.

If, with constant application, the hair doesn't revert back to it's natural state and the curls are loosened, it might as well be a texturizer or texlaxer (just not with the same ingredients and application method). Some people will love these results because shrinkage can be really frustrating.

All I know is - people should do enough research before BKT'ing and whatever the long term results - good or bad, it really is their problem because they made the choice to do it.

I don't care what anyone says, I'd rather texlax than BKT, because relaxers have been around for years. I don't care if that makes me a non-natural haired person.

WRT henna, I don't believe it loosens curls as much as BKT... It doesn't even loosen some people's curls and if it did, I'd pick henna (which I use already) over BKT.

LOL, I'll pick anything over BKT because I don't plan to use it - for personal reasons.

OP: Good idea for a discussion!

 

[sheba1]

Have you had damage from a relaxer and not BKT?

And please, this is only my opinion, but if one wants to have straight hair on a continual basis, isn't a relaxer the lesser of the two evils.

Relaxer is cheaper.
Relaxer lasts longer, supposedly.
Relaxer has been used for decades with tons of info on the external side effects and possible internal side effects.

No offense at all, just curious.

Hey Michelle! Yes, when I was relaxed I had damage. I have super duper fine hair and had really bad relaxed care practices. That was 14 years ago, though; I was a teen taking care of my own hair.

If you were a natural desiring straight from the shower, relaxer straight hair, I would say get a texturizer, followed by bkt. This would allow some strength to be left in the hair from not relaxing bone straight, but the bkt would take it the rest of the way since the hair had been damaged/cuticle lifted enough for bkt to really make a difference.

I don't feel that either relaxer or bkt are "evils".

I do like that my hair is so much stronger after bkting. I could never say that about my relaxed hair. It's also retains moisture well and feels so balanced and healthy. I love that I can enjoy strong hair that curls without frizz and straightens with a roller set. My hair is still curly but takes 5 minutes to detangle now. These are my reasons for loving bkt. And the hope that those things would happen is the reason I tried it. So far, my research has paid off. My experience has been pretty predictable so far. This is my only problem with relaxing. It's less predictable for me. I don't really no how my hair would respond to a relaxer. And once it's done, it's done. No reversion. I can't wash with sodium chlorid and SLS shampoos to get my hair back to the way it was before like bkt.

Although, again, it's really not one or the other, since you can bkt right over relaxed/texlaxe, color treated hair, and the like. To me, the comparison is like apples and pizza. I tried to answer your question, all the same, though. I hope I was able to do so to your satisfaction.

 

[hothair]

I've had my treatment about a month now, my hair's naturally 4ab, initially it looked 3c/4a, now its back to looking 4a/b but still soft so I'm pretty confident it would revert (seeing that I've also been flatironing almost every week), having said that I it as 3c/4a too

ETA: I don't understand what the fuss is about, there's a not so new treatment people are trying (that I for one am loving), anyone that does not want to use it, scared etc shouldn't. What's the huge debate about? If you were natural thinking of trying a relaxer, you'd do your research and decide whether to do it, what brand/ strength/ frequency/ timer/ mix etc, but ultimately its your hair and your choice, so again what's the big deal here? If people want to treat it as a relaxer then they can, if they want to treat it as a conditioner/rinse, they can. But ultimately ONLY YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FOR YOUR HAIR so let's KEEP IT MOVING *smh*

 

[FlowerHair]

My only concern is the Formaldehyde... erplexed
I don't know why anyone would want that on their body or hair?!
It's very poisonous.
But to each their own.

It cannot be compared to Henna or lime or sour cream (I'm getting hungry here LOL), since those aren't poisonous or deadly, like formaldehyde.

 

[hothair]

I can understand health concerns, personally I used the 4% formaldehyde. But most of the treatments are formaldehyde free. I started researching BKT over a year and a half ago and am still to find a bad testimonial aside from those who complained the treatment didn't last long-but I can find a zillion on relaxers and even ORS Replenishing Pak

My take is that, yes there should be a balanced potrayal of this treatment so people can make an informed choice, but scare tactics on cancer, loss of curls/naturalness etc (with no backing proof) are unneccessary.

 

[FlowerHair]

I can understand health concerns, personally I used the 4% formaldehyde. But most of the treatments are formaldehyde free. I started researching BKT over a year and a half ago and am still to find a bad testimonial aside from those who complained the treatment didn't last long-but I can find a zillion on relaxers and even ORS Replenishing Pak

My take is that, yes there should be a balanced potrayal of this treatment so people can make an informed choice, but scare tactics on cancer, loss of curls/naturalness etc (with no backing proof) are unneccessary.

Thank you, I didn't know that
What is the active ingredient?

 

[hothair]

Thank you, I didn't know that
What is the active ingredient?

[totally love your hair BTW] I used Global Keratin, they have also have a formaldehyde free one. Most of those seem to have ether as their active ingredient (although I haven't seen the Global Keratin ingredient listing for the formaldehyde free one- they're very good with responding to inquiries though). Check out Dontspeakdefeat and Pinkskates'.

 

[ToyToy]

I find it a bit scary that people are more concerned with whether their hair reverts to its natural state or not than with the fact that they will be inhaling formaldehyde over a certain period of time (and possibly regularly). It's one thing using it to take off nail polish, it's another thing using this stuff all over my head and close to my brain.

 

[Southernbella.]

Yes, it reverts 100% if you allow it to wear off.

If you get BKT, it will wear off in 3 - 4 months with weekly washing, 2 months for daily cowashers & faster if you use sodium shampoos. Everyone whom I spoke to about BKT said that it is temporary. I even corresponded with stylist who apply BKT to their clients every 3 - 4 months since it does fully revert. Denise Kingsley is a good resource - you can google her and email her as well. She uses BKT so much that she worked with a designer to create a fume extractor for her salon.

However, there are some people who use BKT once a month in order to get straight hair right out of the shower. Presumably, if BKT is used so often as to have 4a hair become straight hair even when wet, then maybe it will take much longer to wear off, if it wears off at all?

I won't ever find out since I will not ever use BKT once a month in order to have straight hair out of the shower. I like the versatility of frizz free, looser curls with less shrinkage....which is what BKT is doing for me.

RE: the bolded, I wonder why they don't just get a relaxer. It seems these treatments are costly and potentially hazardous. I'd sooner get a relaxer than do BKT over and over, but that's just me.

 

[Southernbella.]

I think we also have to take into account the fact that most people don't want their hair to revert back to its original texture...

Hmmm...good point.

 

[FlowerHair]

[totally love your hair BTW] I used Global Keratin, they have also have a formaldehyde free one. Most of those seem to have ether as their active ingredient (although I haven't seen the Global Keratin ingredient listing for the formaldehyde free one- they're very good with responding to inquiries though). Check out Dontspeakdefeat and Pinkskates'.

Thank you. You know ether isn't exactly healthy either, but I'll leave this alone now
I'm sorry for hijacking the thread...

 

[secretrose]

It seems that almost everyone that is praising BKT likes the loosened texture and plans on continuing the upkeep. For those who want temporary straightening and want the option to go back to their original texture and move on, this may not be for you. We have testimony from someone who said their BKT hair did not revert after a year of stopping, also said they may need to keep getting their roots touched up to maintain the same texture throughout their head. Some people don't have the money for BKT touchups. Also if your newgrowth does not exactly match your BKT hair, there will be a line of demarcation that can potentially lead to breakage. Weigh the risks and make your decision. 'Tis all.