So, What is Keratin?
Keratin is the type of protein found in our hair, skin, nails, glands, and internal organs. Sounds glamorous, right? As a protective protein, keratin protects cells from scratching and tearing, which is why your nails are a lot tougher than the rest of your skin.
Since your hair is composed of keratin, people supposed that adding keratin to your hair would help prevent breakage and make your hair look healthier. Keratin treatments put a protective layer of keratin over the strand of your hair, replenishing your natural keratin that’s lost over time because of harsh chemicals and heat.
Using keratin has led to smoother, frizz-free, and easy to manage hair. But where exactly is the keratin coming from?
Other animals naturally produce keratin in their feathers, horns, and wool. Since we aren’t pulling keratin from other humans, many keratin products contain ground-up animal parts. We know. YUCK.
So, if we don’t want to put animal byproducts in our hair, are we doomed to frizzy, dull locks?
What is Vegan Keratin then?
As people have moved toward cruelty-free beauty products, more and more companies have worked tirelessly to produce vegan versions of their customer’s favourites. One of the developments in the hair industry came with the push for a synthesised keratin substitute.
The thing is that there’s not a plant that naturally produced keratin, so technically vegan keratin isn’t actually keratin per se. However, the synthesis of amino acids extracted from grains creates a hydrolysed protein that functions as an alternative to animal-based keratin.
When we developed our smoothing treatment, we knew that we wanted to stay away from traditional keratin. Our goal was to find a keratin alternative that:
- Didn’t require formaldehyde or create formaldehyde gas when applied
- Made smoothing treatments more affordable
- Supported our goal to create a vegan and cruelty-free product
- Made it possible to cut the time required for keratin treatments
- Leaves hair frizz-free, smooth, and shiny
- Works as well as real keratin
After exploring our options with derivative proteins from quinoa, jojoba, baobab, rice, silk, soy, milk, and wheat, we settled on a hydrolysed wheat protein to be the star of our vegan keratin.
What Is Hydrolysed Wheat Protein?
Hydrolysed wheat protein is a powder derived from wheat through a process known as hydrolysis. The gluten in the wheat reacts to water and acid and produces proteins small enough to get through broken hair cuticles and restore your natural keratin.
These synthesised proteins act like natural keratin proteins by adding volume to your hair, protecting your texture, and preventing future damage. The end result? Your hair is left as soft and silky as it would be with natural keratin.
Hydrolysed wheat protein is safe to use on any hair type unless you have a severe gluten allergy. Feel free to cut carbs out of your diet; just be sure to add them to your beauty routine.
In all seriousness, anyone with curly, dry, damaged, or colour-treated hair can benefit from hydrolysed wheat protein in general.
If you’re using our smoothing treatment as recommended, you don’t need to use any other protein-based product. Too much protein, natural or synthesised, can make your hair brittle. Like every other good thing in the world, you have to practice moderation.
Why Is Vegan Keratin Better than Regular Keratin?
For starters, vegan keratin is better because it isn’t made from animal products. Vegan proteins are produced humanely, and you know exactly what you’re getting when you see a vegan protein rather than the blanket term of “keratin.”
Along with being cruelty-free and sustainable, vegan keratin treatments last as long as regular keratin treatments without causing unintentional damage to your hair. The synthesised proteins work as well as—if not better than—traditional keratin proteins when it comes to leaving hair silky and shiny.
Vegan keratin treatments are safe to use on any hair type and can be used by any person looking to add some oomph to their luscious locks.
Are There Other Ways to Increase My Natural Keratin Production?
At this point, you might be wondering if there’s a supplement you can take to boost your natural keratin levels. The issue with keratin supplements in pill form is that 1. They still aren’t vegan, and 2. It can cause an overload of keratin in your body, leading to conditions such as proteinuria and hyperkeratosis.
Before you give up hope, though, there are changes you can make to your diet to boost your keratin levels. Just as eating more protein has phenomenal benefits for weight loss and muscle building, eating whole foods with a high protein level can help your body produce more keratin without going overboard.
Some of the best foods for natural keratin production include lean meats, beans, eggs, nuts, and hemp. These protein-filled and biotin-rich foods will give you the amino acids you need for keratin production.
Answr’s At-home Keratin Treatment
Our smoothing treatment made with hydrolysed wheat protein is better for your hair and is available for a fraction of the cost of salon keratin treatments. Our product is vegan and free of sulfates, formaldehyde, and other nasty chemicals.
In short, your hair will be as smooth as pure honey with one easy, cruelty-free product application. But you don’t have to take our word for it—you can look through our collection of before and after pictures submitted by reviewers and think, “Oh wow... Vegan keratin did THAT?!”
Experience the power of vegan keratin and pick up your smoothing kit today!
