ARCHIVE · KERASWIFT IN ZOLTAN’S CHAIR · 2017 · NO LONGER OFFERED
Zoltan no longer offers KeraSwift. Today’s soft smoothing is Straightment Semi. Book with Zoltan →
Formaldehyde-free smoothing · Soho and London pop-ups · 2017
Logo: the maker of KeraSwift. Shown as a historical item; not Zoltan’s brand, and no endorsement implied.
The KeraSwift year · 2017
KeraSwift
KeraSwift. Where I was in 2017.
In May 2017 I started offering KeraSwift from a private room in Soho, a few minutes from Piccadilly Circus, and on my pop-up days in two London salons. It was the treatment I reached for when someone wanted the frizz gone without the fumes. No formaldehyde, no burning eyes, no three-day ban on washing.
People called it a keratinDOWN. I'll be straight with you: keratin is a word, not a treatment. What KeraSwift actually did was smooth and calm the hair for a few months, then let it go back to what it was.
How it worked
KeraSwift sealed the hair in a thin film. Under the heat of the iron that film set on the surface, held the conditioning in, and pushed water away — so the hair dried faster and stopped puffing up in the rain. It didn't break the bonds inside the hair. When it washed out, your own texture came back.
- Time in the chair: about 45 minutes on short hair, up to 90 on long. Very long or very thick hair took longer.
- How long it lasted: I told clients 6 to 14 weeks, depending on how they looked after it at home. The press wrote "two to four months" and "three months" — the honest answer depended on the hair.
- Washing: the same day. Rinse it well first, three to five minutes, then shampoo when it suits you.
- What it did: less volume, less frizz, more shine. Smoother and straighter — but I never promised poker straight. That was never its job.
Who it suited
Coloured, highlighted and bleached hair (there was a gentler version for weak blonde hair). Curly, mixed and Afro-Caribbean hair, with natural-looking results. Hair that had been permedUP or chemically straightened — I left 30 days either side. Same-day colour was fine if KeraSwift went on first.
If you were pregnant or breastfeeding: it had no formaldehyde, but I always said check with your doctor first.
On film, May 2017
My own clips from the KeraSwift month in Soho, shared with my clients’ permission.
What the press said
- HELLO!, Nadine Baggott, 2017: "I love a keraSWIFT treatment with Zoltan, the hair texture guru" — frizz, fluff and flyaways gone "for three months".
- Beauty and Wellbeing, July 2017: "Ask for KeraSwift… it repairs the hair and leaves it unbelievably shiny."
- Powder, November 2017: a review of my smoothingDOWN treatment.
What replaced it
KeraSwift did one thing well: a soft, temporary smooth. That job is now my Straightment SemiDOWN — the same idea, done my way, lasting 2+ months. If you want more than that, it's a Demi or a Permanent, and I'll tell you which at the consultation.
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