Cocochoco Brazilian Keratin Treatment

That's so cool, glad to hear it did well for you!

I totally agree with the smell... it's very strong as you're straightening through it and it releases steam.  If the smell is in your hair, it does tend to be stronger the first day, so I would hope it would fade away a bit and should definitely be pretty much gone by Day 3.  I also wonder, since you tend to stretch washes so much, if you will feel the need to wash earlier than normal due to the shininess (my hair looks greasier after about Day 2 or 3 after using an all-over keratin), or if you can't stand the smell, ha ha.

I also notice sometimes after I wake up, there are little creases or folds in the lengths.  If they're very prominent, I just flat iron them out.  In fact, you can flat iron again a bit all around to seal it in a bit more.  After getting a keratin treatment at a salon, they advise to use NO hairclips, don't tie it back, don't wear sunglasses (so I've heard!), and just let it hang loose for the three days before you wash again.  Apparently they say that you get permanent creases if you don't let it hang straight... rubbish.

The first time I got it done professionally, I loved the new straightness (as my hair is naturally curly) and was disappointed when I washed it the first time and it went wavy again.  But then I was thankful because the keratin didn't permanently change the natural texture of my hair.  After a few years and SEVERAL uses, the end lengths definitely now dry straight, but the new growth a couple inches at the root (that I don't catch every time I straighten) has its natural wave.

I'm so glad you like it!  I think it does make a huge difference to the condition of the hair and acts as a great reconstructor, smoothing and locking in silicone-free keratin and making it so shiny and happy. 🙂

I also wanted to mention that I woke up with zero tangles! My hair still felt and looked as nice as it did the night before. Normally I have creases + flips/bends, but not today 🙂 now, it's 6pm and my hair still feels like it did last night. My mom even asked me what I did to my hair + she automatically touched it lol. I still don't have any tangles, not even in the back! I dont smell it anymore either.  I will definitely be using this again + recommending it to people!

This defiantly sounds like something I need for my hair!
Was just wondering the effect if any it has on semi-perm colours?  I always treat my hair to 3/4 deep conditioning treatments when the colour is beginning to fade befpre I redye but they tend to quite dramatically fade the colour!

It did not fade my color at all and I just recently applied it. It didn't take out any more color than just running it under cold water would. The water was barely even pastel pink.

It really is fabulous, I wish I had known about this particular one years ago! I just washed it for the first time yesterday and let it air dry - it looks like I flat ironed it- it's sooo smooth, it looks and feels so unbelieveably healthy, I cannot even put it into words lol. It feels like I have Asian hair (they have the most gorgeous hair texture in the world IMO)!

ALSO, I wanted to add on here, my cowlicks seem to be REALLY toned down since doing this! I have one in the back just to the left of my "swirl" , so normally it looks like I have a random, couple inch long center parting at the back of my head, or like I'm balding. Normally, I have to try and flat iron it right at the scalp (ouch) and backcomb it a bit to try and cover it up. Not anymore! Not even after sleeping on it. It's like it's just smoothed right down, you can't even tell I have it anymore!

The ones at my front hairline don't have as a dramatic difference as the one in the back - but they seemed to have 'calmed down' a lot though. The hair doesn't loop upwards and out as much, the hair just falls straight down and I couldn't be happier!

Wow oh wow, I'm so pleased!  I was wondering how it would be after you washed because my hair is naturally curly, and mine went just a bit wavy after I washed the first time - I thought it would stay pin-straight, but it did 'relax' it quite a lot.

Good question Jilliebob, about colour!  And I'm glad Katie tried it because I hadn't regularly used it over true semis.  I tried another type of keratin at one time (one you iron in, then wash right out), and it seemed to lighten my permanent hair colours just a bit (didn't work too well anyway).  But this one, the Cocochoco, has never changed the colour at all.

(So glad it's smoothing out the cowlicks as well, excellent!)

I think I'm sold!  Definitely need to get some of this!  Bring on payday!

It really is amazing. I just cannot praise it enough!

I've seen some for sale with shampoos etc do I need to use a special shampoo before I use or will my regular be okay?

The supplier I use for this product includes a shampoo with the set.  But basically, it is a clarifying shampoo, something to remove all the silicones from the hair so the keratin can sink into the hair without any barriers.  So that's what you'd use if you buy just the keratin.

And for the aftercare, you're meant to wash with gentle, sulphate-free shampoos to keep the hair as smooth as possible and help the treatment last longer.

If you're interested in the supplier I use, I'll PM you!  🙂

I'm tempted to try this simply because of the cowlicks thing. I have one right at the front of my head which makes having a fringe impossible, and some at the sides too 🙁

Oh cool thankyou!  If you could pm me that would be fab!  Can't wait to try it now haha!

I didn't think it would have any effect on the cowlicks at all, it's kinda like an added bonus! I don't know if it will do the same on everyones hair - I have fine hair with a compact cuticle. And I left it between an inch and 2 inches from my roots! I'm tempted to put a little bit closer to my scalp where my cowlicks in the front are to see if they end up like the one in the back, I have a strong feeling they will

I'd say the reason you probably got a good result for the cowlicks is because of the 'weight' the product adds to the hair.  Perhaps it thickened the hair lengths beneath to counter the cowlick a bit.  Can't be certain, but that's my guess.

That's effectively why it is used to straighten curly/wavy hair as well, just by adding that weight with extra keratin in the lengths.  Like I mentioned, the first time I had it done, I washed, and my hair didn't stay pin-straight.  Now after countless applications, most frequently on the lower lengths, the ends pretty much airdry pin-straight, but the few inches at the root are coming in wavy.

That being said, the few inches at the root are just "wavy", not as curly as my hair would normally be, probably because of the same reason, that the keratin pulling it down!

i totally agree with you Alexia! I think it's the weight of the keratin the helps pull it out, just like how it helps pull curls and waves out so they are looser. I'm excited to keep using this over time. I have some really strong S waves at my roots on the back of my head and they are much looser now. I'm thinking with my next application I'll use it closer to the scalp there too, and combined with the weight of the keratin on the lengths, I'm hoping eventually they should be almost gone. I know right at the root I'm sure I'll always have a slight wave back there, but this keratin is definitely helping and I've only applied it once!

How often do you apply it Alexia? And it says to use shampoos that are sodium chloride free. Have you used shampoo that does have sodium chloride in it since doing the treatments, and if so, did you notice any kind of a difference in it? I typically CO wash but for when I do use shampoo, it's usually after I've done an overnight oil treatment or I'm clarifying before dying or something. It's just hard to find a shampoo that doesn't have sodium chloride in it. Even my sulphate free shampoos still have it in it! I'd like to find one that doesn't have sulphates OR sodium chloride. But, if the sodium chloride didn't seem to make any kind of drastic change, then I won't worry about it so much and just stick with the sulphate free shampoos

I went through lots of phases with this keratin stuff: sometimes I used it after every shampoo, about twice a week, and other times, perhaps once or twice a month.  In October/November, when I was bleaching, I could swear I probably bleached out most of it.  Then after learning it was silicone-free, I started applying it again after bleaches, which was brilliant.  At the moment, I use it perhaps once every 1 or 2 weeks.

At the beginning, I used L'Oreal Hair Expertise shampoos, the only ones I could find that were marketed as sulphate-free, but as I was probably using silicones as well, that range didn't seem to cleanse well enough, and my hair got greasy-looking so quickly.  And as I was doing the keratin so frequently, I started to use any shampoo that I wanted to.

Because of one of your posts, Katie, I picked up a coconut oil shampoo, which I used again today and actually just noticed it's sulphate-free as well, Palmer's Coconut Oil Formula Shampoo.  It's good stuff and inexpensive too.  I'm not sure if you've got Palmer's there (I seem to recall the brand), but I think that's the one I'm going to carry on using!

I thought of that as well, if you just CO wash, you're not washing away any keratin, just adding moisture and conditioning.  But when you do want to wash, do you think just a good colour-safe shampoo would do?  That's what the L'Oreal Hair Expertise is marketed as, probably just a bit gentler and not deep cleansing.  But when I do use a normal shampoo, it doesn't wash the effect away.  I'd suspect it would if you wash often with strong shampoos though, but once shouldn't do it, especially if you've left it in for the 72 hours they advise (and you left it in for longer, I know!).

To be honest, I've been confused about the difference between sulphate and sodium chloride... they're not one in the same, are they, ha ha.

🙂