Keratin Treatement at Head Spa, Sydney - Waste of money?
By Hand On The Hip - 3/20/2019
Hello everyone!
"Keratin Treatment" is this buzzword that has been spreading around like wildfire. I have also been one of those people who has been Google searching these words several times and wondering if I should actually get it done or not. My hair is thicker at the bottom than my scalp and I end up looking like a mushroom if I don't get my hair cut in layers. The bottom part is also a bit frizzy and dry which gets unmanageable at times. But overall, I have decent hair and it's usually smooth and easy to blow dry or straighten. Due to a lot of different reasons I wasn't too keen on getting my hair straightened or smoothened, until one day when I finally made up my mind to get some extra protein in my hair!
For starters, those of you who do not know what a Keratin Treatment is, it's basically the process of chemically or non-chemically (as certain brands claim!) applying protein to your hair that has lost it's protein due to aging or external damage. A lot of my friends have gotten it done and have had great results. One of my former roommates even told me about how she had extremely curly hair and now she has poker straight hair after the treatment. I have colored my hair several times and I am very lousy when it comes to taking care of my hair, so I deffo needed some pro pro for my locks! But this treatment can be quite expensive considering the duration this artificially applied Keratin would stay on your hair.
I was really excited to find a Groupon voucher recently that had Keratin Treatment for $99 at the famous John Azzi's spa called Head Spa. I read amazing reviews about John Azzi and couldn't miss the opportunity of getting treated by one of Australia's finest hairdressers. As per their website, they have two branches - one in the CBD and one in Mosman. They're planning to launch in Hyderabad, India as well! I booked an appointment online for the spa at Mosman and lucky me, they had a slot open on Sunday. I was super excited to try something new for my hair! But alas, I wish someone had written a detailed review and I could've saved some money and time.
So, I reached the venue for my treatment at 1:00 pm as per my booking and I was confused to find no signboard there. I called them up for directions and the owner, Maryam picked up. She was shocked to know that there was an appointment for Sunday at the Mosman branch which apparently isn't functional until later this month. Basically, it was a technical glitch in their system and the salon was not open. However, Maryam still showed up in thirty minutes with all the products, also gave me the L'Abrea shampoo and conditioner for free as an apology and started the treatment. She sectioned my hair, applied L'Abrea products, which is an Australian owned Brazilian manufactured brand of Keratin products that are chemical free. The product was in my hair for an hour or so and then washed off, followed by some blow drying and hair straightening with a L'Abrea straightening iron. Maryam was wonderful to talk to and she asked me to blow dry my hair after each hair wash. The effect of the Keratin Treatment supposedly would stay for three months and I was asked to not wash my hair for 24 hours. She also told me that the products are vegan, cruelty free, chemical free and so on. We spoke about everything under the sun, but it was strange that in the four hours I spent there, there was nothing mentioned about John Azzi. I left the salon extremely happy with poker straight hair and a big smile on my face.
After 48 hours or more, I decided to give my hair a wash. I used the L'Abrea products that Maryam had given me. I also blow dried my hair as per her instructions and guess what? My hair was almost back to normal! The waves were back and my hair wasn't poker straight anymore. They looked exactly the way they would when I'd blow dry them. It was shocking beyond belief!
96 hours after the treatment, I washed my hair again and decided to not blow dry it this time. My hair is now a 99.9% back to the way it was before the treatment. After multiple washes, I pretty much gave up and figured I was looted!
Now, several washes later, it's safe to say that this treatment is a complete rip-off! Hello, old hair! -_-
Pros
- My hair has definitely become softer than before, but I am apprehensive about the lasting effects of the smoothness. I mean, three months? It barely lasts a few days!
- There's no hair fall and since the products apparently don't have any Formaldehyde in them, they didn't have any terrible effects on my hair.
- The shampoo and conditioner are good for the hair as they don't cause any hair fall either.
Cons
- This is not Keratin "Treatment" for sure! It's more like a spa treatment to cleanse your scalp and soften your hair until you wash it again.
- There is no long lasting straightening, frizz-free effects whatsoever. All the claims made starts to fade away in the second wash!
- I was charged an additional $50 for the length and thickness of my hair. I also read online that some others have been charged even more. It seems like the Groupon voucher is just a marketing gimmick to attract more customers.
- Although the coupon says "Head Spa by John Azzi", John Azzi is a partner only in the CBD branch and this again seems like a marketing strategy. Sad.
Personally, I am really disappointed in L'Abrea products for all the claims they've made. Maybe I chose the wrong product for my hair type? Maybe it's more effective for curly hair? Or maybe this isn't strong enough? If this was just a regular hair spa and the price of the same was probably $70 or so, I'd have given it a 4.5/5. But since it was supposedly a Keratin Treatment that's meant to "liberate you from hours of straightening and blow drying", I would rate this a 2/5 for the product and maybe 3/5 for the service.
Hope this review was useful.
Love,
Hand On The Hip
1 comments
My hair is wavy and very healthy. I have done my keratin treatment at Paramatta branch on Wednesday. After 3 days i took a hair wash with their own product. Unfortunately my hair return back to same as before with more dryness. i am really dissapointed, Please advice me
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