Michelle Obama’s hair always looks fantastic — even in DC’s super-humid August air. It never frizzes or shrinks. Are keratin treatments the reason?
Pictures from her youth reveal Michelle’s hair to be a Type 4 mix — characteristically hard to smooth and easily susceptible to breakage, frizz, and shrinkage. Yet photos from her White House days show shiny, smooth, frizz-free hair that grew noticeably longer during those years.
Did Michelle Obama transition from relaxers to keratin treatments?
According to Johnny Wright, her stylist for over a decade, Mrs. Obama used relaxers up through the 2008 Democratic National Convention, but by 2015, he said “…she had been natural for years.” 
The question is, did she transition from relaxers to keratin treatments? Likely so, for several reasons. First, photos from post-relaxer days show all the characteristics (see below) of Type 4 hair when it’s under the influence of keratin treatments. Second, her stylist has made a number of statements that are consistent with the use of keratin on a client.
Indicators that Michelle Obama gets keratin treatments
- She transitioned without a Big Chop Sometime between 2008 and 2015, she stopped using relaxers but managed to retain hair that had years of relaxer damage. This alone is a strong indicator of keratin treatments, which were originally created to restore relaxer-damaged hair. (Their smoothing and frizz-control properties were discovered later.)
- Her hair grows long without breakage (including previously relaxed portions). Keratin treatments are the most powerful means available to structurally strengthen (and thereby lengthen) hair. Type 4 hair in particular has an inherent propensity to break due to the shape of its molecular bonds. Nothing counteracts this breakage as dramatically as a keratin treatment.
- Her hair styles rapidly and with minimal or no heat (see stylist’s remarks below).
- Her hair doesn’t frizz, pouf, or shrink (even her bangs, the ultimate test) without relying on heavy, greasy product;
- Her hair has a polished sheen rather than a matte look.
- The cuticle looks smooth rather than rough as it did in her early photos.
More evidence: her stylist’s keratin-friendly words
Johnny Wright, her stylist from the Chicago days through the White House years, doesn’t disclose exactly which products he uses on Michelle Obama’s hair, but what he does say points strongly to the use of keratin treatments.
He needs to minimize heat and work fast
Wright says he creates most of Mrs. Obama’s styles with a flat iron. When a stylist regularly flat irons a Type 4 head, he’ll try to minimize heat any way possible. Add to that the First Lady’s schedule and there’s pressure to work really fast.
A high-end professional like Johnny Wright knows that keratin treatments are the single best way to minimize heat exposure and styling time. It’s a fact that keratin-treated hair takes 2-4 times less blow drying and flat ironing than hair without.
He needs structural strengthening for long growth
To grow out Mrs. Obama’s relaxed hair as well as eliminate the breakage common to Types 3 and 4 natural hair, he’d also want to add keratin’s structural 
strengthening to support longer growth.
He talks ‘revolution’ using keratin treatment buzzwords
The most compelling evidence that Wright relies on keratin treatments is found in his remarks about the “revolution” against relaxers and for styling versatility and healthy hair:
“Women are starting to see what type of damage chemicals have caused their hair over the years, and they’re really starting to embrace the fact that they can be versatile…They can wear it curly. They can wear it straight…They can do it all…That’s the revolution…” Johnny Wright, Ibid.
This is keratin-friendly language, loud and clear. The revolution he speaks of — style versatility with zero chemical damage — can only be had with keratin treatments. There simply isn’t any other product or process that delivers them both powerfully enough to constitute a revolution.
Keratin treatments make natural hair easy
Johnny Wright is not saying that simply “going natural” by quitting relaxers is enough to get hair which “does it all” without chemical damage. Yes, it will prevent any further chemical damage but, it won’t produce the styling versatility he sees coming about.
Smoother looks need help Most natural curl patterns don’t smooth out easily, the reason relaxers get used in the first place. When relaxers are taken out of the mix, other help is needed for straighter styles, and keratin treatments are ideal for this purpose.
They form a temporary keratin coating on the hair causing it to air-dry looser and to respond to heat by quickly smoothing out. This coating also blocks humidity and perspiration from causing frizz, pouf, and shrinkage, making the smoothing last.
Beyond simply avoiding relaxer damage, keratin treatments strengthen, restore, and deep-condition hair to like-new, allowing it to grow longer.
Natural hair worn curly can be very high-maintenance The “curly” part of the revolution Wright talks about can bring its own set of styling difficulties:
- Taking a day or more to dry;
- Shrinking to a fraction of its full length;
- Frizzing in humidity or sweat;
- Breaking easily;
- Not blending well due to mixed curl patterns.
Keratin treatments minimize these issues:
- Keratin reduces water retention so hair dries in one-third the time;
- It ends shrinkage — curls air-dry looser, longer;
- It repels humidity to prevent frizz, pouf;
- It stops breakage with a protective coating;
- It blends textures by minimizing pattern differences.
Keratin treatments fully enable the revolution Johnny Wright is talking about: versatility, easy straight styles, easy curly styles, no chemical damage. No other product or treatment offers the same benefits. And their conditioning is so powerful that even hair with severe heat, bleach, or relaxer damage can participate, often without a big chop.
In the final analysis, Michelle Obama’s various hairstyles, her chop-free transition from relaxers, and the words of her stylist, Johnny Wright persuade us that keratin treatments are an integral part of her hair regime. Likewise, they would be helpful for anyone with Type 3 and Type 4 natural hair who’s trying to create similar styles at home.
What’s your take?