Final Verdict for Keratin Complex Treatment by Coppola

I'll be categorizing this review of the Keratin Complex Treatment on African American hair and giving each area a "Grade" for relative comparison purposes. I'll be using categories that are marketed to be the biggest benefits for this treatment.

Duration - F
My treatment did not last the 3-5 months as advised by the advertisements and stylist. I received the Keratin Complex Treatment by Coppola at Ulta on March 8. Today is March 31 and my hair is back to normal. I've shampooed and deep conditioned my hair five times with appropriate products over the past 3.5 weeks. I did my wash regimen approximately every 5 days. For the amount of money this cost me, even on special at $185 + tip, this was a severe dissapointment.

Mangeability and Appearance - B-
There was a significant increase in manageability for the first two washes (about 10 days) after the treatment. And of couse, days after my initial treatment, my hair was a dream. Oh how I wish it would have stayed like that.

After the first wash, I noticed a decrease in sleekness, yet my hair was still very much better for the treatment. After the second wash, there was a very noticeable difference from the first treatment. By the third wash, my dry hair appeared back to normal, however when wet, it was still stronger. The fourth and especially fifth wash, my hair was pretty much back to its normal state, both wet and dry.

I could quickly detangle my hair with minimal wet breakage with a fine tooth comb without the need of using a wide tooth first. However, I did not get reckless. Wet styling time was decreased because I did not have long detangling sessions.

Change in Health - C
Keep in mind this treatment is supposed to work better with multiple applications back to back. The health of my hair was a slight improvement. Normal styling breakage decreased slightly with the most significant change being wet styling.

Product Usage - A-
I did not have to use as much product as I normally use in my regimen. My products seemed to spread more easily and perform more effectively. A conditioner and serum that I was so-so about, worked great and I have been only using those two for those purposes. Since I've been sticking to the same product regimen for the Moisture Challenge on the Hair2Toe Beauty forum, I can't say about the rest of my stash.

Overall feelings

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2nd Wash Post Keratin Comlex Treatment

Friday was my second wash day after the Keratin Complex Treatment. While my hair is still very manageable, I can definitely tell the treatment is already wearing off. I have made sure to refrain from using the wrong ingredients to extend the life of this treatment, but I believe it is pretty safe to say these effects will not last for 3-5 months. I say 3 at best is what I'm looking at.

Here is my regimen for the last two washes:
Prepoo: Jamaican Black Castor Oil/Coconut Oil
Shampoo: Creme of Nature Conditioning Shampoo (old red label)
DC: Aubrey Organics White Camelia Smoothing Conditioner (just a cap for a while/no artificial heat)
Leave In: KeraCare Leave In Conditioner
Moisturizer: Jane Carter Solution leave in/Elasta QP Olive & Mango Butter (almost daily)

None of these products have sulfates of sodium hydroxide in them which are the two no-no ingredients. 

My hair still feels good, but if I had to quantify the reduction in initial effect, I'd say there is about a 20% reduction each time I wash. There has been no effect on the manageability of my texlaxed roots. But I can say they feel just as manageable as they did after the Aveda Damage Remedy Reconstructor.


As usual, I will continue to update you on the status of my hair while giving an objective opinion before I officially put my stamp of approval on it.

L8rs!

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How To Grow Your Nape

The nape area is probably the most vulnerable area of our hair. It's always rubbing against clothes and collars and for many people, this area has hair that is finer and more delicate than everywhere else, along with the hairline.

My nape was the reason I started my hair journey in 2008. I didn't care about having long hair, I just wanted to be able to have my nape not look like taco meat even being 1 day post. I did everything wrong that there was to do with at home hair care and consequently, my nape took the brunt of the beating.

This is my starting point in August 2008.

 

And below, March 2010. 

(I've had two haircuts and 2 trims between the first and second pics.)

Now, my nape is the same length as the rest of my hair and I love not having see-throughs. The growth process was a bit slow even during my Megatek stint. Disclosure: Megatek only increased my growth rate, not helped retain it. You must apply healthy practices to keep the hair you grow.

Here are the biggest tips I was thoroughly consistent about over the past year:

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Aveeno Active Naturals Nourish + Condition Leave-In Treatment

Where to buy: Most drug stores

Price: 5.2 oz - $6.99

Ingredients: Water, Behentrimonium Methylsulfate, Cetearyl Alcohol, PPG 3 Benzyl Ether Myristate, Triticum Vulgare Gluten (Wheat), Triticum Vulgare Germ Oil (Wheat), Mauritia Flexuosa Fruit Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Quaternium 91, Glycerin, Cetrimonium Methosulfate, Butylene Glycol, Amodimethicone, Fragrance, Propylene Glycol, Ethylhexylmethoxycinnamate, May Contain (+/-): CItric Acid

 They say:

• Deeply replenishes dry, damaged hair
• With nourishing wheat complex

Aveeno® Nourish + Condition Leave-In Treatment does much more than nourish and condition - it quenches the thirstiest hair with a fusion of deep conditioners and moisturizers, recharging it with healthy new life.  Hair is instantly revitalized and scientific studies show that just three uses helps repair dry damaged hair.*

This exclusive Active Naturals® formula, infused with Nourishing Wheat Complex, is designed to feed your hair - replenishing moisture as it zeroes in on the weakest part of hair - fortifying the hair shaft with protein where it needs it most.

Developed with at team of experts, including a leading dermatologist and stylist, our Active Naturals® formula harnesses the power of nature combined with advanced scientific methods, and is shown to give you the beautifully strong, healthy hair you desire and deserve.  And, because it's from Aveeno® you can trust that it's gentle on color-treated hair.

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Keratin Complex Treatment: Mini Update

Periodically, I will check in and let you gals know how things are going with my hair.

I can definitely say that my hair is bouncier than usual and still has that slick, sealed feeling which I can really appreciated. Naturally, it isn't as sleek as it was when it was flat ironed. If anything, this would be the feeling that I'd miss most after it wears off. I'm on day 3 of my roller set and feel no need to add any product to my hair. I simply pin curl for maintenance.

My texlaxed roots are still behaving well. I'd say this treatment "stretched out" 4b kinky edges about 50%. I can lightly pull my hair and it will go completely straight and bounce back when I let go. No breakage and not as fragile as before. This effect definitely takes the strain off of the line of demarcation. Although I still enjoy my results, I still cannot justify the price of around $250 for a 3-5 month duration.

I plan on doing another treatment when I get around 14 weeks post relaxer. Right now, I'm 3 weeks post. This treatment will be to evaluate the results on a significant amount of new growth. I can't say that I would keep this treatment up as this is just guinea pig research for YOU! :-)

I've been eyeballing the Marcia Texeira Keratin Treatment and QOD Brazilian Keratin Treatment. These contain formaldehyde. Yikes! I know of a stylist who is also on LHCF who has been using this treatment consistently for the past year every 3-4 months on herself which GORGEOUS results. She's transitioning and her hair looks in-friggin-credible!

Of course the Curious George in me wants to try it. The benefits are that it is supposed to be more straightening on virgin hair than the "non-formldehyde" version I got. This feature could definitely make stretching/transitioning a breeze drastically decreasing the chance of demarcation breakage. And yes, it wears off and your hair will completely revert.

I'm going to spend the next few weeks before my next treatment to research side effects and whatnot.  But as far as I know, as long as the treatment is applied properly and with proper ventilation, you should be fine.

What are your thoughts? If a product could give you healthier, stronger, sleeker, easier to manage hair with less breakage and wider styling versatility, would you overlook an ingredient like formaldehyde and drop around $300 per treatment?

Let's chop it up...

:-)

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1st Wash Post Keratin Complex Treatment

I waited until day 6 to wash my hair. Here are my results and observations:

~ When the water hit my hair, it didn't feel weak. It still felt incredibly sleek, strong, and soft. My cuticles felt completely sealed.
~ I used less product to get my point across.
~ I only applied a little leave in conditioner and nothing else then set my hair. (I normally use a serum for detangling slip.
~ Detangling and setting was much easier - not extremely, but easier - considering I didn't use any serum or silicone product.
~ I still saw my normal amounts of shedding and breakage considering which is nothing alarming. Meaning this treatment is not an excuse to over manipulate your hair. However, I was disappointed because this was one of the most attractive options. I'll keep monitoring throughout the next couple of months.
~ My texlaxed roots were extremely easy to part and comb through with a fine tooth comb. There was no resistence whatesoever.
~ There was a subtle relaxation of tightness of my texlaxed roots.  
~ My hair dried a little faster under the dryer.
~ My set came out extremely bouncy, soft but resilient, and shiny especially considering no silicone serum was used in my regimen.

NOTE: This treatment does not "upgrade" your natural texture. Ex: If you're a 4b, you don't magically get 4a coils, you get a less kinkier 4b and so on and so forth.

I used products consistent with the Winter Moisture Rich Regimen by Kena Brewer that we are doing on the Hair2Toe Beauty forum. These products so happened to

Prepoo: Hot Six Oil (smells great) and Coconut Oil
Shampoo: Creme of Nature Moisturizing Shampoo (old red label)
DC: Aubrey Organics White Camelia Ultra Smoothing Conditioner
Leave In: KeraCare leave in
Style: Rollerset on magnetic rollers and pincurled for maintenance.

More pics in my Fotki.

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"Everybody Doesn't Have Good Hair."

Err...what?

This statement was made repeatedly by Paula, my stylist at Ulta who gave me the Keratin Complex Treatment a couple of days ago.

She was complimenting my hair, but I thank her because she is doing all of the work. She said I have "good hair" and it's taking very well to the treatment like she figured it would. I mulled over what she just said for a moment before I replied.

Me: Everyone has good hair, they just need to know their lane when it comes to styling.

Paula: No, everyone doesn't have good hair, honey. You ever heard the term, "you can't polish a turd."

Me: WTF *giggles* (I couldn't help myself, she came out of left field on me.) Yeah I've heard of that.

Paula: Well, not everybody has good hair and there is some hair a stylist just can't help.

Me: Well, my bff has super, super coarse shrinky hair. In school, she used to relax and it looked really bad. In college, she transitioned with braids and whatnot and went natural. Now she has some gorgeous, thick shoulder length locs that she maintains herself.

Paula: Really?

Me: Yep, I feel that she just needed to find her lane when it comes to styling. Everyone has the potential to have good hair.

Paula: *crickets*


Clearly gay black stylist standing next to us: MMM-HMMM! (co-signing)

~~~~~~~

Understand that sometimes a style choice may not be the best fit for you. But don't ever think your hair can't look good. You may just have not found the best look for you yet. Straight hair does not equal "good", long hair does not equal "pretty" and natural hair does not equal "healthy". Be open to other style choices if you're not completely satisfied and most important do what fits you. Ladies and gents, don't EVER let anyone tell you that your hair cannot be good because it can!

:-)

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Keratin Complex Treatment @ Ulta Today!

I'm exhausted so this review won't be wordy.

My stylist was Paula at my local Ulta Salon. She is white and really in tune with African American hair types so my hair was not mistreated at all.  My appointment lasted from 10:00 am - 1:30 pm. She consulted with me first, clarifed my hair twice, detangled, blow dried, applied the keratin, covered me in a plastic cap and let me sit for 20 minutes, blow dried, sectioned and flat ironed at 450 degrees with a 1 inch flat iron.

My hair feels in-freaking-credible. So swingy, so bouncy. There is no shine, but a healthy sheen which is to be expected. But the feeling is unlike any relaxer can give. It feels "whole" if that makes sense. It feels stronger and healthier. I am also able to really see the haircut I got last week at Aveda and I love it. The pictures really do it no justice.

So the real test will be over the next few weeks after washing. This treatment is not about immediate results, it's about long term health, reduced breakage, frizz elimination, and easier manageability during the duration of the treatment.

For the next three days, I can't wet my hair or do anything to cause it to have bends in it, such as pin it and whatnot as the treatment settles in a neutralizes itself. For maintenance, I'll be using the last of my WEN since it does not contain sulfates or sodium chloride which are two no-no ingredients for maintaining this treatment. She said if I use the right products and only wash my hair once every 5 days or so I can see results towards the 5 month end. Shampooing more often and using sulfate products will open the cuticle stripping the protein from my hair causing it to diminish fasted.

See My Fotki for more pics.

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Why Keratin Complex Treatment?

I've been bouncing back and forth between the E'tae line and the Keratin Complex Treatment and have decided that if my consultation at Ulta tomorrow goes well, I'd prefer the Keratin Complex Treatment.

Here are my reasons:

1. I'm curious. And since I've taken the responsibility of this blog, I want to offer myself as a guinea pig to those of you who are curious as well. I also have no qualms about chopping if need be. I'll rock a fly bob with the quickness and not think twice about it.

2. It's the lesser of two evils. After debating about when and if to give myself a corrective relaxer, I decided it was safer for me to get this treatment, than to expose my hair and scalp too early to more relaxer. I over-based my scalp applying Vaseline to my new growth, therefore preventing consistent relaxer processing. When my new growth comes in, I'll be dealing with three different textures and I don't want that.

3. Easier styling for my lifestyle. I don't want to fight with the line of demarcation so the less styling time and easier manageability benefit is definitely a plus. Also having to use less product when washing should help offset the cost of this treatment if I decide to do it again. Who knows? I'm just hypothesizing at this point.

4. I honestly have not let go of transitioning. As I've mentioned several times before in recent blogs, I will definitely be a heat using transitioner/natural. I'm not a bunner or consistent protective styler. While I love my tiny kinks and coilies, I want to wear my hair straight without fear of heat. KCT infuses keratin which makes it safer to use heat. The hair is more resilient and actually brings out the treatment's best potential with safe heat use. If this works for me during my next stretch, I may keep it up...who knows.

5. It's supposed to emulate healthy hair. By fusing keratin to the hair, albeit temporarily, this is supposed to fill in the damage making each strand feel totally healthy and drastically reducing breakage. It's supposed to also improve the health and texture of the hair over time with multiple applications. Wet combing is supposed to be effortless even on natural or transitioning hair according to testimonies I've read.

So there you have it. I would have to say that these reasons all tie together and could very well lead me to attempt a very long stretch at the least. So we'll see. It all stems on what happens tomorrow.

L8rs!

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Keratin Complex Treatment

Although I had never really considered this service, the recommendation resonated in my head after the Ulta Stylist recommended it to me as an alternative to a relaxer. It should be clear that this is not a straightener or relaxer. It is simply a product in which its application infuses the all too important keratin into the hair making it smoother, softer, more pliable, and "loosening" the already existing curl pattern (if applicable). The results can last anywhere from 3-5 months depending on the hair type and wash/product regimen.

What peaked my interest in this process is that my severely underprocessed hair from my "relaxer" I gave myself a week ago is just ridiculous. The problem was that I based my entire scalp with vaseline so much that the relaxer clearly didn't penetrate consistently. Apparently, I inadvertently applied vaseline to my new growth as well.

Well, a corrective relaxer this soon is out of the question. On the other hand, the inconsisencies in texture and demarcation line may pose to be a problem down the line. So, I started to do my research on the Keratin Complex.

There is little information available on the benefits of the Keratin Complex Treatment from official sources. However, the most noted benefits are easier manageability, stronger and softer hair, drastic decrease in breakage, less products needed, and the KCT doesn't contain formaldehyde, but a gentler derivative of it.

Anywho, Ulta is having a special for first time clients for $185. The normal pricing is $250. Both of these prices are comparable to buying the treatment, shampoo, and conditioner myself. I'd rather have someone else do it anyway to make sure I get maximum results. I have a consultation on Monday morning and if I like what I hear and the stylist seems competent, I'm going to go full steam ahead. But the real question is...

Why this? Why now? I'll answer that in the next post...muah!

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50% off Shipping for Progress T-Shirts Ends Soon!

Our current promotion for $2.50 shipping credit for ordering your Hair Length Measuring T-shirt ends March 20! Don't forget to take advantage!

Check out the YouTube video and get yours today! For more information, click here.

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March Member of the Month: TamikaG

Meet Tamika G from Maryland!

3 Favorite Products: This is VERY difficult (to name only 3)
Elucence Moisure Balancing Con
Nairobi Wrap Foam Lotion
JCS Nourish & Shine

Hair regimen
My hair regimen is not really set right now. I have so much going on I haven't been able to be as consistent as I would like to. Once a week I pre-poo with Hairveda's Vatika Oil or whatever I have in my arsenal...then wash w/a sulfate free poo (Elucence Moisture Benefits) deep condition with Elucence Moisture Balancing con with heat (when I have time). I probably cowash 2 times a week with whatever I have on hand, but preferably HairOne Olive Oil, my second cowash will be w/a light protein con like Apoghee's Keratin 2 Min. I absolutely love air drying. I use the ponytail method. I find that layering leave-in conditioners enable me to air dry with a nice smooth finish. So first I use Shescentit's Green Grape leave in then add Lacio Lacio,and Keratin & Green Tea Restructurizer. I comb back into a ponytail, add either a dab of serum or coconut oil, then tie down with my scarf. I plan on reintroducing steaming back into my regimen---just haven't had the time it takes. I'm really not using heat right now...sorta active w/my workouts so I'm wearing half wigs. My last texlax was in September.

Why and when did you start your hair journey?
I started my hair journey at the end of 2007. I began it because I moved from my home state and the best hairstylist EVER! I moved to MD and had a few bad experiences with a couple of stylists so I told myself I had to take matters into my own hands.

What is the best piece of advice you've gotten to obtain healthy textured hair?
Listening to your hair....once you learn the basics of textured hair care, if you listen to your hair it will tell you what it needs...moisture/protein/clarifying...etc.

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