Brazilian Blowout or Keratin Treatment: The Honest Comparison
The two smoothing services clients ask about most are the Brazilian Blowout and the keratin treatment, and they get talked about like they are the same service under two names. They are not. Here is the plain difference, and how I help clients at the color chair pick between them.
Brazilian Blowout or Keratin Treatment: Which One Should You Book?
If you want to keep some of your natural wave and get back to washing your hair right away, a Brazilian Blowout is usually the better fit. If you want the straightest possible result and you can leave your hair alone for a few days after, a keratin treatment will take you further.
How Each One Actually Works
Brazilian Blowout
A Brazilian Blowout coats the hair with a protein solution that is sealed in with heat from a flat iron. The bond it forms sits around the outside of the strand rather than restructuring it from the inside. That is why it rinses away gradually instead of leaving a hard line where new growth starts.
Because the solution is sealed on rather than absorbed, the amount of smoothing is adjustable. A coarse wave can come down to a soft bend, or frizzy curl can come down to something you can air dry. You say where on that scale you want to land at the consultation, and the amount of product and the number of iron passes get set accordingly.
Keratin Treatment
A keratin treatment works deeper. The keratin is drawn into the hair shaft, the hair is dried and ironed to lock it in, and the internal structure is temporarily reset into a straighter shape. That deeper action is why keratin gets you a flatter, glassier result, and it is also why the aftercare window is stricter.
Both services sit on our texture and smoothing page, and both start with a consultation so someone can look at your actual hair first.
Wash Timing Is the Real Deciding Factor
With a Brazilian Blowout you can wash and style your hair the same day you leave. No waiting period, no sleeping flat on your back, no clips or ponytails to avoid. You walk out and your routine goes back to normal.
A keratin treatment asks for patience. You leave the hair down, dry and untouched for a few days so the treatment can set. No ponytail dents, no tucking it behind your ears, no washing. If you train hard most mornings, or you cannot stand skipping washes for several days, that is a real reason to pick the Brazilian Blowout instead. I would rather you know that before you pay.
How Much Curl You Keep
A Brazilian Blowout reduces frizz and cuts drying time while leaving your hair recognizable. If you like your wave and you just want it to behave, this is the one. Curl still moves. It just moves in a more organized way.
A keratin treatment is the stronger straightener. Wave gets loosened significantly and frizz mostly disappears. Clients who have spent years fighting their hair with a flat iron every morning tend to prefer keratin, because it gets closest to that finish without the daily work.
Neither service is a relaxer and neither is a perm. Both wear off, which is a feature rather than a flaw. A result you dislike is not one you are stuck with forever.
How Long Each One Lasts
Both fade out rather than growing out with a visible demarcation line, which is one of the better things about this category. How long yours holds depends on how coarse or fine your hair is, how often you shampoo, and what you shampoo with.
Sulfate free shampoo genuinely extends the result. Daily hot tools and harsh cleansers shorten it. If you wash every day with whatever is in the shower, expect the shorter end of the range your stylist quotes you. A bonder or a deep conditioning service between smoothing appointments helps too, and those are on our conditioning treatment page.
What They Cost at 3rd Coast
Starting prices for every service, full and express, are on our service menu. Yours gets confirmed at the consultation, before any product is opened. What sets one client's number apart from another's is this.
- Density and length. Fine chin length hair may take a fraction of a bottle. Dense hair past the shoulder blades takes several times that, every section worked twice. Density moves the number more than length does.
- How much texture you want changed. Calming a loose wave and taking coarse curl down to sleek are different jobs. A bigger change means more product, more iron passes, more time.
- Chair time. A stylist takes one client while an application runs, so the clock gets priced. Express and full service separate most here.
- Stylist experience. More years behind the chair and a fuller book generally price higher at city salons.
- What is included. A cut, a finish blow dry, or a gloss to correct tone afterward may or may not sit inside the number.
- Appointments the goal needs. Most smoothing is one visit. Conditioning work first, or color in the same plan, makes it two or more, so budget the plan.
Across Chicago salons, this kind of work generally lands in the low to mid hundreds for a full service, with express well under that and long, dense, coarse hair at the top.
The Express Versions
Both services have an express option, and clients get confused about what express means. It is not a rushed version of the full service. It is a shorter, lighter treatment aimed at frizz control and shine rather than maximum smoothing, which is why it costs less.
Express is a good call if your hair is already fairly manageable and you mostly want humidity protection through a Chicago summer.
What express will not do is take dense, tightly textured hair and make it straight. If that is the goal, pay for the full service the first time. You will spend less than buying the express version twice.
Smoothing and Color Together
This is my lane, so a few honest notes. Smoothing can shift color, usually by softening it slightly, so if you are doing both we plan the order instead of guessing. Blondes and anyone wearing vivid or pastel color should say so at booking. How dark your hair starts drives the color side, since more lift means more product, more time and sometimes a second session.
I would rather talk the sequence through at a consultation than have you book smoothing one week and a color correction the next. You can read about the color work on our color page, and see who does what on our team page. If you are traveling in to our River North studio from further west, we also have a page on keratin treatments for West Loop clients.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which one is better for frizz?
Both handle frizz well. The Brazilian Blowout is the better choice if frizz is your only complaint and you want to keep your wave. Keratin is the better choice if you want the frizz gone and your hair noticeably straighter at the same time.
Can I get either one if my hair is colored?
Yes, both are done on color treated hair regularly. Tell us at booking what has been done to your hair, including box color and any lightening, so the appointment can be planned properly.
How much does a Brazilian Blowout cost in Chicago?
Generally, a full smoothing service at a city salon lands in the low to mid hundreds, with express versions well below that. Density separates one quote from another most, then length, how much texture is coming out, chair time, stylist experience, and whether toner or finish work is included.
Do I have to change my shampoo?
Yes, if you want the result to last. Sulfate free is the rule after either service. It is the easiest thing you can control, and it makes a real difference in how many weeks of smooth hair you get.
Can I do either one on damaged hair?
It depends how damaged. Heat and product on compromised hair can make matters worse, so we assess honestly at the consultation. Sometimes the right answer is conditioning treatments first and smoothing later.
How do I book?
Book online any time, or call the salon at (312) 929-2627 if you want to talk it through first. If you are torn between the two, book a consultation and we will tell you straight which one fits what you actually want.
