SURRY HILLS
Keratin smoothing
A keratin treatment will not fix your hair. It will make it behave.
It's the treatment I get asked about most, and the one most often sold as something it isn't. So here is what it actually does, and what it doesn't.
Your hair has a cuticle — overlapping layers, like roof tiles. When they lie flat, hair is smooth and shiny. When they lift, it's frizzy, dull and slow to dry. A keratin treatment seals a protein solution into the cuticle with heat, so the tiles lie flat and stay flat.
What it does
Frizz drops right down, especially in humidity
Blow-drying gets faster and a lot less of a fight — and if you want it perfectly smooth, it goes there easily.
Your curl loosens and sits flatter. It doesn't disappear.
Hair looks glossier, because flat cuticle reflects light
What it doesn't
It doesn't repair anything. Hair isn't alive. Nothing puts damage back — not this, not a bond builder, not a $90 mask. Anyone selling you repair is selling you a word.
It won't make curly hair straight. It loosens the pattern. If you want permanently straight hair, this is the wrong treatment, and I'll tell you so.
It doesn't replace looking after your hair. It's a treatment, not a rescue.
Keratin or hair botox?
I offer both, and they get sold everywhere as two versions of the same thing. They aren't.
Keratin
Works on the hair's surface. It seals the cuticle and changes how your hair behaves — less frizz, faster drying, looser curl. It fades out gradually over months.
Hair botox
Has no Botox in it. The name is marketing, and I'd rather tell you that. It's a deep conditioning treatment that fills and coats, so hair feels softer and looks glossier. It doesn't smooth curl. It washes out in weeks, not months.
So: if your problem is frizz and time in the morning, that's keratin. If your hair behaves fine but feels dry and looks flat, that's hair botox. If you're not sure — that's what the consultation is for.
Who it suits, and who I'd turn away
There isn't one keratin. There are two formulas, and which one you get depends on the condition your hair is in.
That's the whole decision. Not what you'd like the result to be — what your hair can actually take. Because as I said, none of this repairs anything. It works with what's already there.
One is for hair in good condition — natural or coloured, any hair type. If your hair is healthy and you want it smoother and easier to handle, this is the one.
The other is made for hair that's more damaged. A different formula, for hair that needs handling more carefully.
You don't have to work out which — that's what the consultation is for. Hair Botox is simpler: anyone can have it; there's no hair it doesn't suit.
On the day
Keratin takes two and a half to three and a half hours. Hair botox is quicker — two to two and a half.
Both follow the same shape:
I wash your hair first.
I apply the product. Hair botox is two products; keratin is one.
It sits for forty minutes to an hour.
It's rinsed out completely.
Blow-dry, then iron.
The ironing is where the two treatments actually diverge — it's done differently for keratin than for hair botox.
Formaldehyde-free. If you want to know more about what I'm putting on your hair before you sit in my chair, ask me. I'd rather you asked than assumed.
After you leave
Afterwards
Best to use a sulphate-free shampoo. That's the one thing that protects the smoothing and makes it last.
You don't have to wait to wash it. Wash it the same day if you like, or leave it a few days — either way, it won't go greasy.
Before that first wash, two things: don't put any product on it, and if you tie it up, keep it loose. A soft bun or ponytail, nothing tight.
Steam is the one to watch — hammam, sauna, heavy humidity. Avoid where you can. Not forbidden, just not helpful.
And if you're having colour done too: keratin first, colour after — with at least two washes in between.
How long does it last?
Four to six months.
It doesn't grow out; it washes out — gradually. So there's no line, and no morning where it suddenly looks wrong.
It's safe for your hair. I'd still only do it once or twice a year.
Prices
Includes a blow-dry. Add a haircut for $80.
Thicker or longer hair can take more product and more time — if that applies to you, I'll tell you before we start, not after.
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Short $350
Medium $380
Long $400
*2h30 to 3h30 in salon
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Short $110
Medium $130
Long $140
*1h to 1h30 in salon. The short version. Less time in the chair, and the easiest thing to add to an appointment you're already booked in for.
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Short $240
Medium $275
Long $295
*2h to 2h30 in salon
Booking
Every new client starts with a consultation, $50, taken off the price of your service. It's twenty minutes to look at your hair properly, talk about what you actually want, and tell you honestly whether keratin is the right treatment for you — or whether it isn't.