For most clients, every three to four months, which works out to three or four treatments a year. But the better answer is: when the last one has genuinely worn off, and not before.
Finding your own rhythm
A keratin treatment lasts 12 to 16 weeks depending on your washing habits, your shampoo and how much sun and sea your hair sees. Rather than booking by the calendar, watch for the signs the treatment is done:
- Frizz returning at the hairline and crown on humid days
- Blow drying starts taking noticeably longer again
- Your natural texture is visibly back through the mid lengths
When you tick two of those three, it is time. In Cape Town many of our clients settle into a seasonal pattern: one treatment before the winter rains, one before the December wind and beach season, and one or two in between.
Can you do it too often?
Repeating too soon does not seriously harm healthy hair, but it wastes money and adds unnecessary heat exposure, because you are layering product onto hair that is still coated. Six weeks between treatments is too soon for almost everyone. Ten weeks is the sensible minimum, and only if you wash daily.
Stretching the gap
Two habits reliably push a 12 week result towards 16: a sulphate free shampoo used exclusively, and a mid cycle Intense Treatment (R150 at our studio) to keep the coating fed and sealed. Cheaper than an extra full treatment each year, by a long way.
Keeping it fair on price
Because we charge by the millilitre (R430 to R1570 depending on hair length and thickness), a maintenance treatment on hair that is still partly smooth often needs less product than your first one. You pay for what your hair takes, nothing more.
Not sure if you are due? Send us a photo of your hair on a humid day. WhatsApp us on 068 190 4674.