How long a smoothing treatment lasts, and why it changes from person to person

Whoever writes to me asking «how long does it last?» is almost always doing a different calculation: how often will I have to come back, and so how much does it really cost me. It's an honest question and it deserves an answer with numbers in it. The trouble is that numbers, on their own, mislead. I'll give them to you anyway, and then I'll explain why on your head they can turn into others.

The numbers we quote, and that I don't round up

A smoothing treatment — keratin or Bixyplastia, which here are the same treatment with different products — holds from three to six months. Not «almost a year», not «a season and a half»: three to six months. Which of the two products to use isn't decided over the phone, it's decided in the consultation, looking at your fibre.

The interesting thing comes when you repeat it. The product builds up on the hair, the protective film gets thicker, and the duration climbs to six or seven months. It isn't a loyalty reward, it's how the fibre behaves: the first time starts from zero, the second starts from what's already there.

Nanoplastia lasts six to eight months. I write that knowing it's twice as long as the nanoplastia treatments you find around, which stop between two and four months. It isn't the same thing done better: it's a stronger formula, with proteins and sixteen amino acids, and the nanoparticles work deep inside the fibre instead of stopping at smoothing the surface. Afro nanoplastia holds for the same period, six to eight months, and takes six hours of work: it's the longest treatment we do. That time is needed, it can't be shortened without losing quality, and quality here is exactly the duration.

On the anti-frizz I won't write you a number, and it's not out of caution. It's a light keratin: it takes away frizz and puffiness but keeps the structure of the hair, so the result doesn't «wear out» the way absolutely straight hair does, it softens together with the way you wear your hair. How long it will hold for you I tell you in the consultation.

Why the exact same thing, on two heads, lasts differently

When I prepare the product I look at three things. How long the hair is, how much mass there is — a thin ponytail where you can glimpse the scalp and a thick one you need two hands to hold aren't the same job — and what fibre I have in front of me: natural, coloured, bleached, or already treated.

The third point is the one that shifts things the most. Porous hair drinks: the more open the fibre, the more product it absorbs, and it's the same hair on which the effect then lasts less. Hair that's already been treated needs less, because the previous smoothing treatment is still there on the lengths. That's why two heads with the same treatment and the same length, a few months later, can find themselves in two different places: one still has the blow-dry, the other sees the frizz coming back.

The rule I repeat in the chair is short. On damaged hair the effect lasts less, on healthy hair it lasts longer. It isn't an elegant way of saying it's your fault: it's the reason why, when the fibre is compromised, I suggest a restructuring treatment first and the smoothing treatment after. It isn't an extra step to sell. On very damaged hair it's the step that makes the rest possible.

There's also the case where we don't proceed, and I'd rather tell you here than over the phone on the day of the appointment. On bleached hair I advise against nanoplastia: I suggest a more concentrated smoothing treatment combined with a restructuring one, and after bleaching how long to wait I assess in the consultation, looking at the elasticity of the fibre. While breastfeeding I advise against chemical treatments, smoothing treatments included: at that stage the priority is something else. And if in the consultation the test strand doesn't respond well, I don't proceed: I suggest a course of restructuring treatments first. A badly done smoothing treatment doesn't last a short time. It can break the hair.

What really shortens it

The first culprit is in the bathroom, and it's the shampoo. Sulphates and salt — on the label you'll find it as sodium chloride — are the two ingredients that shorten the life of the treatment the most. The wrong bottle works against you at every wash, two or three times a week, and in the long run it wins.

Then there's the water. Lukewarm, not boiling hot. I know a hot shower is a pleasure, but it's direct heat on the film we've just built, repeated at every wash. On the same line I put hairdryer and straighteners: low temperature, always, and heat protectant sprayed from a hand's width away over all the lengths before switching on anything, hairdryer, straighteners or curling tongs. Straighteners run over dry, bare hair are the fastest way I know to wear out a treatment.

The number of washes counts as much as the way you do them. Two or three times a week is the frequency I ask for; whoever washes their hair every day is shortening the road on their own. And when you wash, two rounds: the first cleans, the second treats. The scalp is massaged with the fingertips, not the nails.

The sea and the pool aren't forbidden — nobody gives up summer for a blow-dry — but salt is the same enemy we try to avoid in the shampoo, and chlorine is no kinder: after swimming rinse your hair with fresh water as soon as possible, even just under the beach shower.

That leaves the first few days. Until the first wash no hair ties, no clips, no hair pulled behind the ears: the shape sets and that line stays. How many hours to wait before the first shampoo we tell you in the salon, together with your home-care sheet, because it isn't the same for every treatment.

What has nothing to do with it, even though everyone fears it

Colour. It should be done after the treatment, a few days later: a strong smoothing treatment can lighten coloured hair by two or three shades. Colour you have done elsewhere, because we don't do it here: we do smoothing treatments, nanoplastia, restructuring treatments, anti-frizz and scalp detox. One thing though I tell you before and not after: nanoplastia, being a very strong smoothing treatment, can lighten coloured hair by two or three shades. It doesn't shorten your treatment, but it can change your colour, and it's right to know that when you decide in what order to do things.

Hair loss. A smoothing procedure creates a protective film on the hair and doesn't act on the bulb. If in autumn you find more of it on the pillow, it isn't the treatment wearing off: hair loss depends on genetics, hormones, stress, deficiencies or the season. Those are things that don't come from a product put on the lengths, and they aren't things that get solved in the chair: if it worries you, the person to see is a doctor.

Greasy hair after the treatment. It happens, and it's often read as «the smoothing treatment is already ending». It isn't so: it's the pH of the hair that hasn't been rebalanced, and it's fixed with a restructuring treatment after the smoothing one. They're two different things, and confusing them leads to redoing a smoothing treatment that wasn't needed.

What makes it last longer, and it isn't a miracle product

The restructuring treatment, in the right place. If the hair is very damaged it's done before, to prepare it; if it's in good condition it's done after. The scalp detox is half an hour of peeling that cleans what the naked eye can't see, and it's often the step missing for those who don't see results.

Then there's regrowth, which is the most sensible way of making an investment last: on the price list there are «Ricrescita lisciante» and «Ricrescita con ristrutturante». It's done only with smoothing treatments, never with the anti-frizz: with the anti-frizz you'd see the line between the root and the lengths that are already straight. It's a technical rule, not a preference of mine.

And there's repetition, which I've already talked about: the product builds up, the film thickens and you get to six or seven months. Whoever keeps the right routine at home doesn't buy more duration, they build it.

If you're weighing up whether it's worth it, the only serious answer is one I can't give you from here. Book the consultation from the website: it's free, it takes fifteen minutes, and I look at your hair wet, which is the moment when the fibre can really be read. From there I choose the product and I tell you, on your head and not in general, how long it will last for you.