What shampoo should you use after a straightening treatment?
Can I use any shampoo from the supermarket or is it better to use a sulfate-free shampoo?
In this article, I’m going to tell you exactly what shampoo to use after a straightening treatment.
I’m also going to tell you other cares so that your hair looks as beautiful as the first day that you did the treatment.
Straightening treatments are expensive.
In Argentina, in China, or on Jupiter, straightening treatments are expensive.
The other day someone told me that in Japan, a straightening treatment could cost 200 dollars.
Yes, you read that right.
If you spent a fortune on a hair treatment, surely you want the effects to last longer.
The longer, the better.
But most people make the same mistake.
They spend a fortune on a straightening treatment and after, they ruin it as soon as they get to their house.
They ruin it using poor-quality shampoos and products from the supermarket.
Now, let me ask you the following question.
Does it make sense to spend a fortune on a straightening treatment that only lasts a few days?
Unless you have extra money or you have a money fountain on the patio of your house, I don’t think it’s fun for you to waste your money.
That’s why today, I’m going to tell you my best tricks so that the effects of the straightening treatment last much longer.
I’m going to explain to you exactly what shampoo and care you should use so that your hair looks as perfect as the first day.
The best part is in addition to having beautiful hair for longer, you are going to save money on countless visits to the salon.
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It’s important to respect the straightening times so that what happened to this woman doesn’t happen to you…
She entered the salon yelling.
I want to see the manager!
I want to see the manager!
Each time she yelled louder and with a totally distressed look on her face.
When we got her to calm down, I explained that I was the manager.
And that I was available to have a conversation, but only if we did it respectfully and without yelling.
The woman, some fifty-something years old, had done a straightening treatment 3 days before.
And now her hair was a disaster.
It looked like she had stuck her fingers in a socket.
Don’t laugh, please because it was a very uncomfortable moment for all of us that were in the salon.
There were even other clients there, and the poor things didn’t know where to hide.
The idea is that the woman blamed us because her hair was like that.
She insisted that we had used an expired product that she was going to call I don’t know who in the government to close the salon.
The woman didn’t want to hear reason.
She was convinced that we were imposters and that we had damaged her hair on purpose.
At one point, it dawned on me to ask the woman how long she had waited to wash her hair.
Four hours.
The woman answered me.
In that moment, we understood everything.
Her hair looked like that because she had wet her hair much sooner than she should have.
As you know quite well, after a straightening treatment, you have to wait 49 to 72 hours to wet your hair. The exact time will depend on the treatment.
This woman didn’t just wash her hair right after doing the treatment. She also used a generic shampoo from the supermarket.
Do you realize the double sin that this woman committed?
First, she washed her hair 4 hours after the treatment.
And on top of that, she did it with shampoo that made the problem even worse.
The first step for the treatment to last longer is to respect the time that they recommend to you in the salon.
That could seem obvious, but many people forget it.
Today, people go around with so many thing in their head that they end up doing crazy things without even realizing it, like what happened with this woman.
The saddest part of all of this is that it wasn’t the first time the woman had done a straightening treatment.
If you have any doubts about how long you should wait to wet your hair, it’s best to ask. You are going to save yourself so many headaches. And you aren’t going to look ridiculous entering in the salon yelling where you did the treatment.
The poor women left the salon so embarrassed about the scandal she caused that I don’t think she’ll come back.
The next step so that the treatment will last a long time is to choose a good quality shampoo.
What shampoo to choose after doing a straightening treatment
The next step so that the same thing that happened to this woman doesn’t happen to you is to choose the right shampoo.
Forget about the classic shampoos and products form the supermarket.
Those don’t work for what we need.
They are only going to deteriorate the treatment much faster than what you would like.
What happens is that classic shampoos have sulfates.
Sulfates are very effective in cleaning hair, but they aren’t compatible with a straightening treatment. That’s why it’s best to use a sulfate-free shampoo.
What brand of sulfate-free shampoo should you choose?
I always recommend two.
Valquer and Art Naturals.
Let’s talk a bit about each one of those.
Most shampoos that you find nowadays in the supermarket are made with sulfates.
Those sulfates are like a hurricane, they erase everything.
The erase the dirtiness of the hair.
But they also erase the straightening treatment.
What sense does it make to spend a fortune on a straightening treatment to later ruin it with a shampoo full of chemicals?
The truth is that it doesn’t make sense.
What is the solution then?
To use a sulfate-free shampoo like Valquer.
The difference between this shampoo and a common, supermarket shampoo is ENORMOUS.
Believe me that you will feel the difference from the first wash.
Don’t even get me started on the praise you will get for how your hair looks.
I’m sure your friends will ask what shampoo you are using, your coworkers and classmates too.
Everyone will want to know your secret for why your hair always looks so attractive and shiny.
It’s up to you if you want to share your secret or keep it to yourself.
Check Valquer shampoo price on Amazon
In addition, for the quality of the shampoo, it has a very good price.
This second shampoo is also sulfate-free.
Also, it’s made with natural ingredients like argan and aloe vera.
I see it very simply.
If you use a classic, supermarket shampoo, your keratin could last about a month, a month and a half if you’re lucky. Using a sulfate-free shampoo, your straightening treatment could last three months or more.Do you see the difference.
Everyone I know that tries a shampoo like Art Naturals doesn’t want to go back to classic shampoos.
And it’s understandable.
The lifelong, classic shampoos left their hair very greasy and very dry.
Or it caused a horrible frizz.
Or it ruined their expensive straightening treatment.
With this shampoo, none of that occurred.
That’s why I recommend it to you.
Check this shampoo for after a straightening treatment on Amazon
Is it best after a straightening treatment to use those costly shampoos that they sell you at the salons?
Some hairstylists recommend that their clients use the exclusive and costly products that they themselves sell.
This way, they not only sell you a straightening treatment, but they also sell their clients shampoos and products for aftercare.
This usually is a business move on behalf of the hair stylist than anything else.
They get the products that they sell and very low prices and then sell them at very high prices to misled clients.
Some untrustworthy clients even scare their clients, telling them that if they don’t use the shampoos and products that they sell them, their hair will end up looking like a disaster. This, to me, seems like very bad taste and is something that needs to be done away with in the world of hair styling.
You can find sulfate-free shampoos of high quality to use after the treatment at much lower prices than what hairstylists try to sell you.
I recommend that you look natural product stores and even online.
Now that you know what shampoo to use after the straightening treatment, we are going to see another mistake that many people make after doing a treatment.
Avoid the flat iron and hair dryer after a straightening treatment
There are people that use the hair dryer and flat iron every day.
It’s not that they use it a few times a week for special occasions or for a date or something. No.
They use the flat iron and the hair dryer every day.
I don’t want to declare war against the hair dryer and the flat iron, because that isn’t the point of this article. Also, every time, I’m more convinced that it’s a lost battle.
People will keep abusing the flat iron and the hair dryer until the end of time.
But what is important is that if you do a straightening treatment, you should know that just as much the flat iron as the hair dryer make the effects of the treatment wear off. And they make it wear off a lot.
But that’s not the worst of it.
The worst is that in the seemingly unoffensive act of using a hair dryer, we aren’t only ruining the effects of the straightening treatment, but we are also damaging the structure of the hair. The same thing when we use the flat iron.
You can have the best treatment in the world
You can use a sulfate-free shampoo to care for the treatment.
But if after, you abuse the flat iron and the hair dryer it doesn’t matter. The effects of the treatment will last as long as the blink of an eye.
Let’s review everything that we have said up until now to care for our straightening treatment.
1- Respect the times indicated before the first wash
2- Wash your hair with sulfate-free shampoo
3- Don’t use a flat iron or hair dryer
Up until now, we’ve been talking about the most basic stuff.
If you aren’t ready to do everything we’ve talked about up to here, it would be better if you don’t do any straightening treatment because you’d just be throwing away your money.
But there are still many more things that we can do to care for your straightening treatment so that it lasts much longer.
A detail that few people keep in mind after doing a keratin straightening treatment
There’s another detail that can be very helpful when it comes to making a keratin treatment last longer.
Exposure to the sun.
This also can seem like something very basic for the most experienced people doing a straightening treatment. But many girls that do a straightening treatment the first time don’t know that exposure to the sun weakens the treatment.
The formula is very easy.
The more sun that hits your hair, the less time your straightening treatment will last.
What is the solution?
The solution is to not expose our hair to the sun.
This would be the most logical, but I also understand that many times, that is impossible because it would mean not going outside. And people have to go to work, to study, to buy things, etc.
Because of this, in some cases, it’s impossible that the hair isn’t exposed to the sun at some point during the day.
There are various solutions for this.
- Use a hat.
- Use a headscarf.
- Use anything else to cover your head.
The second alternative that’s a bit different is to find sunscreen for your hair.
Just like there are classic sunscreens for your skin, there are also some sunscreens especially designed for your hair. They are pretty inexpensive.
If you ask me, the best option to protect your straightening treatment from the sun is to use a hat or a headscarf. This is what I did when I was younger and I did straightening treatments.
As you can see, there are various things that we can do to care for our hair.
They are difficult to do, and if we think that our hair is going to look beautiful for longer, it’s worth it.
Pull back your hair and braid it after the treatment
(It’s not good to tension the straightening treatment)
Don’t pull back or braid your hair.
Braiding or any object that keeps tension in your hair will ruin the effects of the straightening treatment.
Many people do sports and have to tie their hair back no matter what. You can’t do sports with your hair down unless your sport is chess. With all due respect to chess as a sport.
I’m not going to tell you to stop doing sports because it’s impossible and also, it’s great tha you do sports.
What you can do in this case is use a hydrating mask after having your hair tied up.
Conclusion
Maintaining a keratin straightening treatment isn’t difficult.
You have to be available to change a series of bad habits to incorporate new, healthier ones for your hair.
Most people do the straightening treatment and after, they want to continue with their bad habits as usual. That’s okay. I don’t blame you.
But then it would be better if you don’t do the treatment.
After all, if you are able to incorporate these things that we were talking about here, not only will your treatment last longer, but your hair will be healthier, silkier and shinier.
Who doesn’t want hair like that?
Are you thinking about doing a straightening treatment or have you already one it?
What shampoo do you use to care for your hair after a straightening treatment?