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The cost of hair botox varies widely by location, product, and where you have it done. But don’t worry — we’ll cover each of these in detail in our complete guide below. Read on to learn more.
How Much Does Hair Botox Cost?
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Hair botox is a deep-conditioning hair treatment that doesn’t actually involve needles or botox injections. Rather, it’s a treatment that makes hair silky smooth. But how much does it cost?
Hair Botox usually costs $80 to $375+ in a salon. Prices start at $50 for at-home treatments.
The cost also depends on where you get it done (salon vs. at home), any add-ons you get, and the length of your hair. Hair botox is usually offered at high-end and specialty salons and takes 2-3 hours to complete.
We’ll cover every aspect of hair botox cost here, from what’s included with the treatment to examples of hair botox prices at salons around the nation.
We’ll also talk about the basics – what hair botox is, how the procedure works, and what you can expect if you get the treatment done. First up: What is hair botox, and what does it do to your hair?
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What Is Hair Botox?
Hair botox doesn’t actually involve botox or injections at all. It’s a deep-conditioning hair treatment that coats and seals your hair with nourishing and rejuvenating vitamins, proteins, oils, and antioxidants.
After the treatment is done, everything is sealed into place with a very hot flat iron – usually heated from 410 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Every strand of hair on your head has natural gaps in the fibers of the hair. These gaps can cause your hair to tangle easily and look frizzy, dry, or damaged over time. Hair botox serves to fill in those natural gaps and smooth the strands while sealing in all the good stuff – those proteins, vitamins, and oils.
Just like botox injections temporarily soften or get rid of wrinkles, hair botox temporarily fills and gets rid of the little gaps in the fibers of your hair to create a smooth, more uniform surface. This results in:
- Deeply conditioned hair
- Sealed split ends
- Reduced frizz
- Fewer tangles
- Smoother hair
- Added shine and gloss
- Straighter hair
- Reduced drying and styling time
- Decreased hair loss*
*A 2010 study done by a Canadian research team found that hair loss in participants was reduced by 39% after hair botox, and 75% of participants experienced an increase in hair growth.
Hair Botox Ingredients
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Hair botox seems like a miracle mask for damaged hair. So what’s in it that makes it so effective? The ingredients will vary from product to product, but common formulations may contain the following nourishing components.
- Vitamin B5
- Vitamin E
- Amino acids (protein building blocks)
- Glyoxylic acid (natural compound used instead of formaldehyde)
- Collagen complex
- BONT-L peptides (synthetic chains of amino acids)
- Caviar oil
Hair botox smooths and fills the gaps in your hair with proteins and collagens while trapping nourishing vitamins, oils, and antioxidants. With the help of heat during the process, these ingredients can get into the hair strands and begin working their “magic.”
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How Much Does Hair Botox Cost?
Now that you’ve seen what hair botox consists of and how it works, let’s look at the average cost of this treatment. How much does hair botox cost? The treatment can cost anywhere from $50 to $375 on average. But there’s a little more to it.
If you get a hair botox treatment done in a salon, you’ll probably pay somewhere between $80 and $375. Salon hair botox cost depends on the location, stylist’s experience, and length of hair. It’s possible to find locations that do the treatment for less than $150, but typically these are the prices for very short hair that doesn’t take as long.
If you opt to try doing the treatment on your own at home, the cost can be anywhere from $50 to $250. At-home hair botox cost depends on the brand and the amount of product in the package. On Amazon, you can find dozens of brands that offer hair botox.
We found that most of the products offered were priced around $150 for 32-33 ounce packages (enough for long hair or multiple treatments) and $50 to $60 for 8-17 ounce packages.
Salon Hair Botox Cost Examples
Salons in different locations have varying prices for hair botox services. Here’s a look at the current pricing at several salons across the United States and Canada.
- Current by Nese in Ashburn, VA charges $80 for hair botox treatments
- Jaxson Maximus in Miami, FL charges $100+ for hair botox treatments
- AllenMay Salon in Canton, MI charges $150+ for hair botox treatments
- Hairdoctors locations across Florida charge $160 for “hair botox regular” and $190 for “hair botox extreme”
- Copper Willow Salon & Spa in Charlotte, NC charges $225 for express hair botox (shorter processing time) and $275 for the regular hair botox treatment
- SalonPure in Little Silver, NJ charges a flat $300 fee for hair botox treatments
- Hair by Guiselle in Calgary, AB charges $140+ for hair botox on “ultra short hair” and $375 for the treatment on longer hair
Of course, these are just a few examples, so they’re not a definitive guide. But it’ll give you a baseline for what to expect when you hit the salon.
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Salon Hair Botox Cost vs At-Home Cost
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If the hair botox cost is lower when you do it yourself, why would anyone go to a salon to get it done? In a nutshell, the answer is “expertise.” Since the application and treatment process involves several steps and takes 2-3 hours on average, you risk messing it up by doing it at home.
And every step must be done precisely in the correct order, with varying percentages of the treatment left on the hair between steps. It gets complicated.
The hair has to be stripped of any residues from oil, dirt, hair products, shampoos, and conditioners before beginning. If you don’t remove all residues, the treatment’s effects are reduced or nonexistent.
Hair botox can also lighten your hair color a little, so be aware of this potential side effect before getting the treatment done. In a salon, your stylist may be able to apply a toner or reduce processing time to avoid changing your hair color during the treatment.
The Hair Botox Treatment Process
Wondering exactly how hair botox works? Here’s the step-by-step process that your stylist will use. If you’re opting to do the treatment at home, you’ll follow these same steps.
Hair botox is an 8-step process that typically takes anywhere from 2-3 hours. Express treatments are available at some salons to cut the processing time down. If you’re doing hair botox at home, make sure you don’t skip any of the steps.
- Residue removal. Clarifying shampoo is used to strip the hair of any residues that may be lingering on it. The hair is washed twice with no conditioner used. Then, the clarifying shampoo is completely rinsed out.
- Dry and detangle. The hair is blow-dried until it is about 80% dry. Typically, a stylist will use medium heat instead of high heat for this step to avoid damaging the hair before the hair botox application. The hair will be completely detangled in this step, too.
- Mix and prep. The hair botox mixture will be prepped, including adding a little warm water according to the product’s instructions. If water is added, the mixture should be stirred and mixed until it is a creamy consistency.
- Part and apply. The hair is parted into four equal sections. The hair botox cream mixture is then applied to each section beginning at the back and about 1/4 inch from the roots. Every strand should be saturated in every section, but not overly saturated with the mixture. A comb is used to evenly distribute the mixture along the strands.
- Process and apply heat. The mixture should stay in the hair for around 45 minutes, depending on the desired results. A plastic cap (like a shower cap) can be used along with a hooded dryer or a hand-held hair dryer to speed up the process. This heat enables the product to better penetrate the hair.
- Rinse 50% out. About half of the mixture will be rinsed from the hair. For very fine hair or hair that tends to get oily or weighed down, as much as 80% of the mixture can be rinsed out. Leave the remaining mixture on the hair for the next step.
- Blow-dry completely. The hair will be blow-dried with the remaining mixture still on it. The hair should be completely dry with absolutely no moisture left.
- Flat iron at high heat. A flat iron preheated to 410-450 degrees Fahrenheit is recommended, or if the hair is bleached or heavily damaged, a lower temperature (365 degrees) is used. The blow-dried hair should be flat ironed in small sections to seal in the treatment. The hair should appear shiny, smooth, and soft at the end of the process.
Is the Hair Botox Cost Really Worth It?
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With all this info in mind, is the cost really worth it in the end? Most people who have had hair botox treatments agree that the results are worth the expense and time spent in the chair. Smooth, shiny, manageable locks that are resistant to tangling and frizz for up to 12 weeks? Yes, please!
Looking at the complete process from start to finish can help you make sense of the cost of hair botox in a salon. For up to 3 hours, your stylist will be washing, drying, applying the mixture, rinsing about half out, blow-drying, and flat ironing your hair in small sections.
It’s a lot of work! You can see why some stylists charge anywhere from $80 to $375 for this treatment. Keep the eight steps in mind if you plan to do it yourself. You might want to get help from a friend to part your hair and apply the mixture, blow-dry, and flat iron it.
The complete at-home expense can be anywhere from $50 to $250 (depending on the product you choose and the size of the package you buy). But with the amount of work involved and the length of time it takes, you’re paying for it in ways beyond your wallet.
And that’s not even considering the added difficulty of repeatedly washing the hair without a dedicated shampoo sink, or pointing a hand-held blow dryer at your hair for 45 minutes as it processes without access to a hooded dryer.
Overall, we believe the cost of hair botox – as low as $50 and up to $375 – can absolutely be worth the results you get. As long as you make sure you go to a salon you trust or choose a highly-rated hair botox product to use at home, you’re going to love the glossy, smooth, and healthy-looking results.