Which is less harsh for your hair keratin treatment or relaxer?

[Misshairdiva]

I want to retain my length and I'm still reading about the keratin treatment but would like to know which is less harsh.

 

[Lilmama1011]

I assume the keratin treatment is less harmful. I'm in school and relaxers in general are frowned upon and they try to get you into something else

 

[Prettymetty]

I agree. Keratin treatments seem less harsh than relaxers. That relaxer overlap/runoff aint no joke. It'll eat up your ends

 

[krissyhair]

So you decided not to go with the relaxer for your tail bone length natural hair?

 

[Misshairdiva]

krissyhair what is an "unfree" relaxer?

 

[virtuenow]

This is easy, the keratin treatment is less harsh. Relaxers break down your hair strands and strip away protein. Keratin treatments are designed to build up the strand-- and add a layer or coating of protein. It is the extreme heat that people use to follow up keratin treatment programs that breaks the strand. You don't have to use that much heat-- and can do a modified version for successful retention.

 

[krissyhair]

krissyhair what is an "unfree" relaxer?

Android swype speak for "the"

 

[Lilmama1011]

This is easy, the keratin treatment is less harsh. Relaxers break down your hair strands and strip away protein. Keratin treatments are designed to build up the strand-- and add a layer or coating of protein. It is the extreme heat that people use to follow up keratin treatment programs that breaks the strand. You don't have to use that much heat-- and can do a modified version for successful retention.

That extreme heat is what scares me as well, like 450 is a must, or so they said

 

[Misshairdiva]

I have an appointment to get it done Feb 2! I'll let you know how it goes. BTW Lilmama1011 the lady who's doing my hair said the 450 degrees with heat damage isn't necessary.

 

[L.Brown1114]

Its healthier for your hair but breathing it in causes cancer because none are truly formaldehyde free

 

[CarefreeinChicago]

I had one BKT Nov 2010 and my natural hair has never bet the same. So I am against them and wish I had never heard of it. My hair texture was forever changed. I should have just found someone who could manage all my thick natural hair. Now I don't have to worry about it cause it's gone. I had it professionally done at a salon.

 

[LaFemmeNaturelle]

kinchen can you explain what changed? I would think all of the hair that was affected by the BKT has grown out now. You think it affected your hair as it grew in as well? In that case, it would certainly be worse than a relaxer!

 

[CarefreeinChicago]

The texture changed, just touching my hair felt different when ever I would put it in a ponytail you could see little bits of scraggly hair sticking up. My natural hair never felt the same or responded to any products I used to use again. I wish I could find pictures of the day I got it done it was thanksgiving and the few months later where I had bald spots. Other people had great experiences with them just not me. And I had not had a perm since 2004 so this was 2010 when I had the BKT.

 

[BeautyBlvd]

I get keratin treatments instead of relaxers. For me, keratin treatments are better for my hair, I like that I still get texture but the curls are looser and easy to manage. I have mostly type 4 hair with a few areas of 3 but for the most part it's coarse. The worst part of keratin treatments are the manner in which they are applied, it's a bit on the rough side with high heat use. I counter this by not getting the treatments frequently and avoiding using direct heat afterwards (rollersets are my friend).