The new keratin treatment: Why it's worth a second look

Looking into the ladies' room mirror, the reflection staring back at me was confusing to say the least. The perfectly blown out and curled hair I left the house with had expanded to twice its size with a frizzy rats' nest in the center – all from just the 20 minutes I was outside for a wedding ceremony. Love wasn't the only thing in the air — humidity had entered and made its mark as an unwelcome wedding guest. In between the futile attempts of smoothing the mess with the gratis toiletry basket hairspray, I decided it was time for a keratin treatment.

My first tango with a keratin treatment — the hair-smoothing, de-frizzing, and curl-relaxing treatment — was about six years ago when they first became popular in the United States. While I absolutely loved having perfect hair days on the worst days of summer, the rising concerns of formaldehyde (a common chemical that, when heated, converts to a gas, which can cause health problems when inhaled) made me think twice about getting a follow-up treatment.  Plus, the three-day, no-wash processing period was too much for most to handle.

But after doing some research this year, I learned newer formulas of keratin treatments contained either no formaldehyde or safer amounts. Our trusted family stylist, Dana, used a keratin brand called Lasio. Their One Day Treatment, which is the kind she uses, contained .02% formaldehyde, which was well below FDA/OSHA safety levels. The FDA allows products to contain up to .2% formaldehyde, and OSHA allows products to have up to .1% formaldehyde.

With that in mind, I booked an appointment and had it done last week.

It didn't take long to do. We started around 11:30 a.m. and we were finished at 1 p.m.  She washed my hair and loosely dried it with a blow drier, producing this lovely lioness look:

The solution was then applied to my hair, section by section, until the whole head was saturated. I didn't notice any smell or any irritation to my eyes. Since Dana does several of these a week, she wears a protective mask around her nose and mouth. I wore one as well, just for added protection.

She then blow dried my hair and finished up with a flat iron for pin straight locks.

Unlike the first time I got a keratin treatment, which took three days to process, this processes in 24 hours. I tried leaving it on an extra day but my scalp got irritated. It was at this point I started rethinking whether this process was worth it.

But once I washed my hair, just about all the curl was gone and my hair blew out straight, shiny and fizz free, even in the extreme humidity this past week. The great thing about the keratin treatment is that the results aren't permanent and my curl will come back gradually, but frizz free, giving me the option to wear it straight or curly.

All in all, I'm glad I got it done, but it's not for everyone. After deciding on the formaldehyde component, there's also the cost factor. I paid $150 for mine (with results lasting around four months) but some salons can charge over $400. My words of advice? Ask questions and do your own research.