Things To Know Before Using A Keratin Shampoo

4 Things to Know Before You Start Using A Keratin Shampoo

It’s the hero ingredient behind many in-salon smoothing treatments (AKA the Brazilian blowout), but what exactly is keratin, and is it good for your hair? The simple answer is: your hair is keratin – a protein that makes up roughly 90 per cent of its structure. When your strands become damaged by external aggressors (such as heat and chemical coloring), their protective layer is broken down, causing these essential proteins to become damaged and depleted. Wondering how in-shower hair care can counteract this? Here’s everything a keratin shampoo will (and won’t) do for you…

1. It won’t straighten your hair and get rid of its gorgeous natural movement

While treatments such as the Brazilian blowout rely on chemicals like formaldehyde to straighten texture and nix frizz, protein hair care – such as Nexxus’ Keraphix range – works by seeking out damage on the outer cuticle and plugging gaps to reduce moisture loss and frizz, as well as preventing future breakage. It contains a unique PROTEINFUSION blend with keratin protein and black rice to visibly heal signs of damage. So, if you want to replenish wavy, curly, or coily hair, the Keraphix Shampoo will do just that, without compromising your curl pattern. You may want to combine it with products from the Curl Define range, which contains sweet almond oil and silk protein rich in glycine and serine amino acids (curly hair contains two-to-six times more of these than straight hair).

2. It seeks out damage

Most people are unaware how damaging daily rituals can be for their hair. Sun exposure, pollution, heat styling, and even heavy-handed brushing can cause the outer lipid layer to raise and crack, leaving the protein-packed inner cortex vulnerable to attack. Keratin hair care works by replenishing like-for-like – plugging gaps in the cuticle in order to align raised cells and boost their moisture-locking, protein-protecting abilities.

3. It fights frizz

Here’s the thing about dehydrated hair: it seeks out moisture from the air around it, which is why on a particularly muggy day, your strands tend to swell and rearrange into a halo of fuzz. If you’re a fan of the look, leave it! But if smooth is your style, keratin hair care is the answer. Damaged hair (especially chemically colored hair) is more porous, meaning the cuticle is raised and unable to repel humidity as well. Keratin hair care works by sealing a raised, cracked cuticle, trapping moisture, and keeping frizz-causing humidity out.

4. It boosts bleached hair

Bleaching your hair will damage it, sure, but if you like the look, then it’s all about investing in products that offer damage limitation. The Keraphix Keratin Protein Hair collection was designed specifically with severely damaged hair in mind. The most common symptom of damage is split ends – those pesky frayed strands that can’t be completely reversed without a good trim. But, they do need to be sealed and smoothed to prevent further damage between trips to the salon, and that’s where protein hair care comes in. It’s also worth alternating your regular keratin shampoo with a toning one. Blonde Assure Purple Shampoo contains keratin protein (the hair’s building block) plus a purple pigment to help neutralize unwanted yellow and orange tones that tend to pop up in bleached hair.