The Brazilian Keratin Treatment for African American Hair

A friend of mine recently recommended the Brazilian Keratin Treatment, or BKT for short. I did not know what it was because it was the first time I have ever heard of this haircare treatment. After doing some research about Brazilian Keratin Treatment, I was a bit skeptic and weary of trying it out. However, I decided to give it a try. I thought if I didn't like it at least I knew why. The Brazilian Keratin Treatment process itself is very interesting to me.

The Brazilian Keratin Treatment is a way to make your frizzy hair straight. It is not permanent and, according to the beautician who did my hair, it is great to use on hair that is damaged and porous. What is even more amazing about BKT is that you can use harsh chemicals, such as highlighting and relaxing, the same day as the Brazilian Keratin Treatment. I was told that it takes 2 to 3 months for the BKT to completely wash out of your hair depending on how porous your hair is. To my surprise, I was told the more damaged the hair is the better and longer the result will last.

So what does this powerful treatment work? Brazilian Keratin Treatment has, well, Keratin in it which coats the hair and seals in shine. It keeps out moisture, thus preventing frizzy hair. It only makes hair that is damaged appear in good health. However, the downside is that you can't wash your hair for about 4 days and never use products that contain Sodium Chloride because it will eat through the Keratin coating. Nonetheless, I decided to suck it up and try out the BK treatment.

I had stop putting a relaxer in my hair for a year. So the first step was to put a relax since the BK treatment does not last long on natural African American hair. When the BKT was applied to my hair I was told I needed to close my eyes to prevent damage to them. Also, the smell of the formaldehyde was really strong. It lasted about 3 days afterwards. However, I was really happy with the result which lasted me for about 3 months.

The result of this treatment was very straight and silky hair. However, I do not think I will have it applied to my hair again. It's expensive, ranging from $250 to about $500 per treatment. I could not wash my hair right away and had to walk around with a strong formaldehyde smell. Also, the fact that it has formaldehyde in it really puts me off since I'm really a health freak.

I would highly recommend the Brazilian Keratin Treatment to any woman of the African/African American descent, as a way to get her hair straight and silky for three months. As long as she relaxes her hair, the treatment will last long even with washing and remember not to wash with Sodium Chloride based products.