These days consumers are blessed with a bevy of at-home hair treatments that can help with everything from smoothing frizz and adding shine to delivering volume and fullness. But as any hairdresser will know, not many can do it all or stack up to the professional in-salon counterpart. Now, there’s a new trending treatment making waves in the hair community, dubbed “hair Botox”. Below, we breakdown everything you need to know…

What is “hair Botox”?

Similar to the way wrinkle relaxers work to smooth fine lines for a few months, hair Botox is the equivalent for your locks. It’s a semipermanent, professional salon treatment, which smooths hair for about the same length of time. But that’s where the similarities end.

Despite the name, there are no needles involved – it’s more of an umbrella marketing term. Unlike Botox, there isn’t one specific formula with a set list of ingredients and verified claims, which means the treatment will entirely depend on the salon and the formulas they already use.

At-home masks vs in-salon treatments

Hair Botox treatments contain more potent and active forms of nourishing and strengthening ingredients that you can’t get in at-home haircare such as proteins, natural fatty acids, pH balancers, and vitamins like B5. In salon, the stylist can also tailor the treatment to the specific needs of the client’s hair and apply thoroughly section by section.

How “hair Botox” differs from keratin treatments

While it may sound similar, hair Botox is not to be confused with keratin treatments. The latter is a chemical treatment that smooths hair and eliminates frizz, whereas hair Botox is a deep-conditioning treatment with many of the same effects sans the chemicals. Namely, hair Botox does not release formaldehyde—which the CDC defines as a known carcinogen—when applied. It’s a nonchemical conditioning treatment, which revitalises and repairs dry, damaged hair, as well as plumps it up.

Both keratin treatments and hair Botox will leave hair feeling softer, smoother, and glossier, but with different strengths and permanency. Keratin treatments last up to three months with the key goal being to smooth out the hair while deep-conditioning treatments strengthen and hydrate without straightening. There’s also no standard efficacy period as all treatments differ but typically, they will last around three months.

Main image credit: @jastookes

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