- Yes, you can do a keratin treatment on your bleached hair.
- However, you should know how long it’s been since you bleached your hair.
- There should be at least three weeks between bleaching and the keratin treatment. I’ll tell you why.
- What you can do is apply keratin masks after bleaching your hair to start repairing it until the moment you apply the keratin treatment.
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN: How long after bleaching can I have a keratin treatment?
Why is it important to wait three weeks after bleaching to do a keratin treatment?
Bleaching breaks the natural keratin bonds in your hair. So, after bleaching, your hair is frizzy, dry, and dull.
The keratin treatment seals the hair with a flat iron at high temperatures several times.
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN: Can you do the keratin treatment without a flat iron or any heat?
If you don’t wait three weeks to apply the keratin after bleaching your hair, the high temperatures of the flat iron could burn your hair.
Also, I suggest you do the keratin treatment in a salon.
Although there are keratin treatments for home use, I don’t recommend them. If you don’t have the experience and the necessary tools, you could irreversibly damage your hair.
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN: How long does a keratin treatment last? Professional vs. home treatments
Considering your hair health, this is my suggested plan, which consists of two steps:
- First, I’ll explain why you should wait for three weeks after bleaching your hair to have a keratin treatment.
- Then, I’ll tell you what to do during those three weeks. Trust me, you shouldn’t just sit and wait.
Shall we start?
Why should you wait three weeks after bleaching your hair to get the keratin treatment?
First, let’s analyze why you shouldn’t get a keratin treatment if you just bleached your hair.
When you bleach your hair, it gets damaged. If it’s the first time you bleach your hair, you may be shocked if you didn’t know it’s an aggressive process.
You may have even watched some YouTube tutorials before bleaching your hair and nobody mentioned anything about hair damage.
And now, here you are. Your hair isn’t healthy and you’re not happy.
What happened? You bleached your hair without having the necessary training. As bleaching is one of the most aggressive chemical processes for hair, it was damaged.
Then, you search online and find that keratin treatments help in those situations.
Believe me, I understand your anxiety. But it’s time to go back to reality, where things are completely different than in virtual life.
In real life, a professional colorist tells you that there should be at least three weeks between bleaching and a keratin treatment.
Why?
Imagine for a moment that you flat iron your damaged hair at 450° C to seal the keratin.
- Do you think it would be a good idea?
- Do you think your mane would stand up to it?
- Do you think you would leave the salon looking like Rapunzel?
Honestly, the chances of your bleached hair resisting the keratin treatment if you don’t wait three weeks to apply it, is one in a million.
If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t risk it.
That’s why I recommend you wait three weeks to apply the keratin treatment after bleaching your hair.
After bleaching, your hair is too weak to withstand the chemicals and heat from the flat iron and blow dryer.What can you do while you wait three weeks?
Apply keratin masks to your bleached hair before you do the keratin treatment
Remember that your bleached hair changes both its color and texture.
What can you do?
Your hair needs repair. If you REGULARLY apply moisturizing keratin masks, you can start repairing it before applying keratin.
Notice that I highlighted “regularly.” Moisturizing your hair every once in a while has no results. Hair damaged by bleaching isn’t repaired overnight.
Instead, you should moisturize it at least three times a week for at least three weeks.
Also, you can use shampoo and conditioners with keratin. Major brands such as TRESEMMÉ KERATINE SMOOTH, KERATINE COMPLEX and NEXXUS have developed specific lines that include keratin as the main ingredient to repair damaged hair.
What’s more, these shampoos help extend the effects of future keratin treatment.
How do you apply the keratin mask?
- Wet your hair with HOT WATER and towel dry it.
- Apply the keratin mask from roots to ends and massage your hair so that it penetrates into your hair fiber.
- Cover your hair and leave it on for 30 to 40 minutes.
- Rinse with plenty of COLD WATER, and don’t use shampoo or conditioner.
- Remove excess water with a towel. Comb and dry with a hairdryer at low temperature.
Repeat the mask three times a week. Also, wash your hair with cold water.
Hot water opens the cuticles and allows the hair fiber to absorb nutrients. Instead, cold water closes the cuticles and retains the nutrients in the hair fiber.
If you rinse your hair with hot water, you’ll lose the effects of the keratin you applied.
Conclusions
After bleaching your hair, you should wait three weeks to apply a keratin treatment with heat. Otherwise, you could seriously ruin your hair when you seal the keratin with a flat iron.
