The First 72 Hours After Your Keratin Treatment

If we could give only one piece of advice about keratin treatments, it would be this: take the first 72 hours seriously. The keratin has been sealed in with the flat iron, but it isn't yet fully stabilised in the hair strand.

What not to do

Don't wash your hair. Don't put it up in a ponytail, bun or braid. Don't use headbands, clips or hair bands. Don't tuck your hair behind your ears, and avoid pushing sunglasses up on your head. Anything that creates a kink can get locked permanently into the smoothed structure.

Also avoid workouts that make you sweat heavily, and swimming in pools or the sea.

What you can do

Your hair should hang loose and straight. You can brush it gently with a soft brush, and you can sleep on it – ideally on a silk or satin pillowcase, which creates less friction than cotton. If your hair gets wet in the rain, blow-dry it smooth again as soon as you can.

The first wash

After three days you wash your hair for the first time, using Cocochoco sulphate-free shampoo and sulphate-free conditioner. Lukewarm water, not hot. This becomes your routine from now on – not just the first time.

If you'd like everything in one place, our keratin treatment aftercare kit contains everything you need from the first wash onwards.

When is the treatment fully set?

After about a week, the keratin is fully set. You can then go back to wearing your hair up and to normal activity, but keep using the sulphate-free products for the whole period.