a new way to treat hair
infrared ultrasonic hair treatments. its a mouthful to say the least. i wanted to get a blog post down before sharing images of the treatment online because from what i’ve seen, there is a lot of confusion when folks see a hair iron clamped to wet hair without proper context. “isn’t that destroying the hair?!” is a fairly common response. i’ll explain how they work, why i favor them over heat/steam treatments, and why they’re important to incorporate into your hairs’ diet.
lets talk about hair treatments in a general sense. when you apply a hair treatment (mask, repair serum, etc) to your hair, the proteins target and adhere to the weakest parts of your cuticle to help superficially strengthen the hair. its like a band aid. every time you apply a heat tool, clarify, or get your color done you rip the band aid off, and your hair feels damaged again. they’re useful because they help keep damage from getting worse in moderate lifestyles, but aren’t enough when hair has already been compromised through aggressive coloring or heat treating.
schematic cross section of a hair fiber
the reason that the treatments are superficial and cannot provide better long term benefits centers around the physical structure of the hair. your hair has three main parts, the cuticle, which is comprised of roughly 8-16 layers of flexible sheaths, the cortex, which is where the hairs pigment and protein is found, and the medulla, the center of which everything circles around. the cuticle has three types, (which is almost always overlooked) and serves to protect the interior of the hair. the cuticle swells slightly when wet, but doesn’t open completely (this is why we need strong chemicals to create hair color), so most hair treatments don’t go much farther than the epicuticle. this means that if you’ve ever bleached or lightened your hair (damages protein from in the cortex), your at home mask isn’t penetrating deep enough to undo the damage caused. yes, even at home olaplex treatments, and super luxe repairing shampoos and conditioners aren’t getting deep into the internal guts of your hair (unless you eroded a TON of cuticle). they’re helping to keep superficial damage at bay, but when it comes to restoring lost curl or elasticity from bleach (stretchy hair that snaps), they underwhelm with their results.
if the goal is to get inside the hair to repair, we have to open the cuticle up. hair is naturally acidic, and we can use alkaline solutions to open the hair, like hair color, but these cause the fiber to weaken. we could also use heat, which has been the primary driver for decades, but the swelling can cause cuticle layers to stay bloated, causing the hair to appear frizzy. in some cases, using too much prolonged heat on wet hair can cause hygral fatigue. essentially, the center of the hair cuticle bloats and shoves the outer cuticle away, leaving it susceptible to chipping and erosion, and the center of the hair gets too stretchy and gummy in texture, and will stretch and snap easily. *FWIW this is not as common as social media wants us to think it is, and typically high alkaline treatments (bleach, perm, relaxer) began the damage before the heated treatment did. if you have freshly treated your hair with with a high alkaline treatment, you could apply treatment on top and it would sink in decently as your hairs cuticle would be open still, but what about in between services?
the TL:DR so far- hair treatments are minimally effective at repairing protein damage unless you can drive the treatment past the cuticle into the hairs cortex, but the cuticle doesn’t want to open up without a fight. so how do you drive the treatment in farther without causing damage?
i stumbled upon the treatment iron when making a color order. i was curious if there were any treatments i could try in the studio that would be a good fit for retailing to my clients for at home use. it seemed gimmicky at first- ironing a treatment into the hair with LED light? but i watched the demo, and read into the science, and decided to take the plunge. the concept is straightforward- it looks like a flat iron but it does not generate heat. rather, it has two different plates. the metal plate produces ultrasonic vibrations (like a sonic care toothbrush), which takes your hair treatment from a fluid to a micro mist. what this does is break the larger particles into smaller ones that can then slide between the cuticle layers without heat. while it may look like the iron is streaming, its actually just the particles becoming small and light enough to float. science!
the second plate is red LED, which activates each time you close the plates. this plate encourages the cuticle layers to close and seal, effectively locking in the ingredients of the treatment, and encouraging a shiny, healthy cuticle. this helps prolong hair color, reduce surface frizzing, and prevents the cuticle from eroding/splitting.
this also pushes water deeper into the hair, which we know = more moisture and bounce for curls. added bonus!
jen showing the treatment iron before and after their clients hair color service. notice the curl retention in the ends of their hair after the treatment.
if you were hanging around the tiny studio with me last fall, you may have had the pleasure of getting a complimentary mini treatment while i was testing the irons effectiveness out. on all of my clients i saw a reduction in frizz, an increase in curl definition, and increased shine. when i tested the iron on my bleached and breaking hair, i saw a huge increase in my hairs strength, and the smooth sensation stayed for 7 washes with full heat styling.
i’ve been using the treatment iron several ways in the studio.
as a hair color sealer and strengthener using olaplex concentrate, plant protein extracts, and a color protecting mask combo to seal in fresh color.
after a hair detox to combat dehydration using essential oil hydrosol, olaplex concentrate, and hyaloronic acid rich masks.
for major hair repair using olaplex concentrate, plant keratin fiber, and plant protein extracts to increase strength and water retention.
treatments take 30 minutes as an add-on service to a cut or color, and are $65.
while i don’t think you should stop masking at home, i think they’re a great pick-me up several times a year when your hair needs a boost, and compliment your at home masking routine. kind of like getting facials even though you use skincare at home. i feel that for clients who are doing heavy bleaching, they should be added on each time if possible to help prevent excess damage. the iron is indispensable when it comes to bond builders because they drive the bonding agent to where its needed most- the cortex, where they permanently rebuild until broken again.
the tl;dr- masking at home is great, but if your hair isn’t thriving you should try an in studio treatment with the magic iron. it turns your extra special mask/treatment into an ultra penetrative micro mist that looks like steam, but its cold! and will strengthen your hair plus seal your cuticle for shine and less frizz, and can help bring back broken curls from the dead.
wow. thats a lot to read lol. thx. jen