We’ve all heard of keratin.

Some of us use it in various products,  such as Nexxus KerapHix and others. However, what many do not know is that our hair and nails are comprised of keratin. That’s right! our hair is made of keratinized cells that are bonded together by extracellular proteins.

Ok, so let’s break down this bio 101 jibberish and figure out what it all means.

Our hair is nothing more than dead layers of a protein produced by our bodies, as are our finger and toe nails.
This is why protein treatments are useful to “repair” or maintain our hair.

Now, let me explain why I personally do not like keratin treatments, of all of the proteins. The function of keratin in our bodies is to make things tough. The other function is to make things waterproof. This is why over use of proteins makes your hair dry, brittle and prone to breakage. Keep in mind that waterproofing your hair, may smooth down your fragile ends, but constant use prevent moisture from entering the protective shield.

So, when we I use products that are keratin based, I find that my hair is tough and no matter what I do to try to slide a comb through, it doesn’t work. Even after my hair has been dried and blown, I find it to be very stiff. In fact, I have a bottle of KerapHix that I’ve had for over two years. I use it infrequently and have pretty much reduced my harsh protein treatments to no more than every other month. That’s only 6 times a year.

When you use a protein treatment it does not magically remove the damage done to your hair. Instead, it works down the shaft of your hair, acting like a glue of sorts. It typically just smooths any frays or splits that you have to your external root sheath.

Now, on the other hand, I have been using silk amino acid as an additive to my conditioners and find that it works wonders. Amino acids are nothing more than proteins in their simplest form. A dominicanblowout.com reader shared a link to lotioncrater.com, where I purchased a bottle of liquid amino acid.

Being the science nerd that I am, I was intrigued and wanted to know if this amino acid could make my hair feel like silk. I used it once, twice, several times and each time my hair felt smooth and ran through my fingers water.

Silk amino acid has been safe enough to use daily. There is nothing about it that indicates that it should be used sparingly, or that it will have an adverse affect. I have been using CHI Silk Infusion forever, and have never had a problem with it, no matter frequently I used it. So, it stood to reason that I would have the same results with the liquid version of this liquid gold.

While there are other amino acids and other forms of protein that I’m now curious about, silk will remain in my hair closet for a very long time.