Have you heard of Olaplex?
I bet you have. It’s the hottest hair treatment in hair salons now. Touted as the “HG for coloured hair”, it promises to strengthen your hair and undo the damage hair dyes do to your locks.
That damage is the reason why I haven’t dyed my hair in years. When the urge to go red, pink, or turquoise hits, I remember how dry, brittle and lifeless blonde dye had turned my hair in my late teens. After a year, I started to resemble a scarecrow!
But, after witnessing what Olaplex can do for not dyed hair, I’m seriously thinking of taking the plunge and turn my hair into a rainbow-coloured mane. Yes, Olaplex can be used by everyone, even by those who would never dream of changing their hair colour.
What’s Olaplex?
Olaplex is a conditioning treatment on steroids. Its job is to repair the disulfide sulfur bonds in your hair. These disulfide bonds give your locks their shape, strength, and elasticity. But they’re very fragile.
They can be broken down by hair dye, but also by other chemical treatments such as perming, heat, and even sunlight. That’s why Olaplex isn’t just for adventurous ladies who like to experiment with their hair colour.
Olaplex contains a substance, bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate, which can create artificial disulfide bonds. It happens pretty quickly too. When Olaplex is mixed in with hair dyes, it can repair hair while you have it coloured, drastically reducing the damage hair dying causes. Amazing, isn’t it?
The Treatment
Olaplex doesn’t have to be mixed with hair colouring. It can be applied on its own. That’s what the hairdresser at ColourNation hair salon in Winsley Street, just off Oxford Street, did to me. Obviously. I’m still sporting my natural hair colour.
First, she applied the Olaplex Bond Multiplier all over the length of my hair, from root to tip, and let it there for about 10-15 minutes. I didn’t know what to expect, but certainly not what happened.
Olaplex has no nasty chemical smell. It doesn’t come with a tingling or burning sensation. It feels as lightweight and gentle as your run-of-the-mill leave in conditioner.
Once that was washed off with warm water, she applied the Bond Perfector, and left it on for another 10 minutes, which I spent relaxingly reclined, reading my Kindle.
This second part of the treatment was pretty underwhelming too. Nothing bad or exceptional to report. Having Olaplex done is like having your leave in conditioner applied twice, and washed off, by someone else.
Ten minutes later, my hair was washed and blowdried. That’s when I stared at the mirror in awe.
The Results
I admit, I was sceptical. As Olaplex is promoted as a treatment for dyed, damaged hair, I didn’t think it’d do much for me. I was wrong.
My hair had never looked better. It was very soft and super shiny. I felt like a model just being styled for a photoshoot. My hair looked THAT good.
But was it stronger too? I believe so. The following days, whenever I combed my mane, I found fewer stray hairs on the comb. Losing a few hairs each day is perfectly normal. Hair sheds all the time. But the shedding was considerably reduced after Olaplex.
A week and several washes later, my hair still looked amazing. Olaplex isn’t something that disappears at the first sight of shampoo. It can last up to several weeks, or until you dye your hair again. Whatever comes first.
But then, if you decide to dye your hair, you should ask to have Olaplex added to the dye to fight the damage as it is happening.
Now, where the heck where you 15 years ago, Olaplex?
Price & Availability
£50 on its own; £25 with colouring treatment at ColourNation Hair Salon in 5 Winsley Street, London.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I color my hair and this sounds like it would make such a difference! I’m definitely going to try it sometime!
Meg, it will. You must try it!
I’ve been avoiding that area ever since I got my hair highlighted. But with olaplex I can finally change my hair color so I’m definitely going to give it a try once I’ve saved up enough money 😀 Thanks for mentioning olaplex!
-H
H, my pleasure. It is a real hair saver!
Sounds pretty amazing! You hair looked good before too though.
Melissa, thank! I guess that’s because I haven’t dyed or mistreated it badly in a long time. But Olaplex gave it that oomph no haircare product ever could: 🙂
You look great in both photos. I think your hair looks much richer in the second. What a cool treatment! I’ve never even heard of this.
Janessa, thanks. My hair wasn’t that damaged before, but Olaplex still gave it that wow factor. I’m truly amazed.
I just wanted to let you know that my hairstylist recommended Olaplex and used it on my hair while I was at her salon, getting highlights, on Saturday night, December 19th. She applied Olaplex to my highlighted hair then washed, conditioned, cut and styled my hair. After leaving the salon, late that night, I experienced extreme burning and redness all over my scalp and parts of my face. The next day the symptoms were much worse. I had chemical burns all over my scalp and now all over my face, with extreme redness, bumps, pealing skin, burning, itching and my skin was very hot to the touch. I ended up having to go to the doctor to get help. It took a full week before I looked normal again, however, I still have some bumps and burns on my scalp. In addition, my hair started breaking off. As a result I had to cut my hair short to compensate for the extreme damage it sustained from this product.
Valerie, oh no! How awful! I’m sorry you had to go through that ordeal. Unfortunately, anything can cause an allergic or negative reaction to someone, but it sucks when it happens to you. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Maybe it’d be best to ask hairdressers to do a patch test first, so things like this wouldn’t happen anymore.
Listen this has just happened to me
I have never been allergic to nothing
Maybe there are defective products flying around I don t know .
But I am so regretful I used this …
Same story I got chemical burns hair loss ended up in accident and emergency at the hospital seeing dermatologists all of it still I am in pain from it and was 3 weeks ago now about and it s not even over …
I am so distraught .
I have bleached my hair for years. I’ve had the same hair stylist this whole time as well. I am now on my second Olaplex treatment and my hair looks terrible. Frizzy, dry, brittle, coarse. My hair has never looked so bad, especially after just getting it bleached and cut last week. Usually it looks better after coming home from the salon. My stylist did not push my hair too far, like the people at olaplex always claim when they get a bad review. It does limit the amount of hair that falls out in the shower, but that doesn’t make up for how bad my hair looks. It makes all the breakage that I already have stick out away from my head like static. And now my hair seems to be breaking more and more. It’s definitely the olaplex and I don’t think it’s my stylist using it incorrectly. I have seen a lot of reviews just like mine. Beware, this product could ruin your hair. My hair was damaged before but it looked and felt good. I can’t even stand to look at myself now. And no amount of styling or product is helping. No more olaplex for me!
Meghann, I’m so sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. I don’t know why your hair reacts this way, but, it goes to show, even the best treatments don’t work for everyone. Hope it’ll go back to normal soon.
My stylist got me a small bottle of Olaplex to try. I followed the directions exactly. My hair lost all shine and suppleness. It became dull and waxy. It took 3-4 shampooings to get my hair close to normal. The silky gloss from my recent salon visit was gone for good though. I will go back to the salon for a gloss treatment. Not sure if I will try Olaplex again. Maybe I’ll give it to someone else with a warning about my experience.
Mrspabk, oh no! I’m sorry you had such a bad experience with Olaplex. It just goes to show that not everything works with everyone, sadly. 🙁
Hello Gio..I would like to know if for the first time, do you recommend me having the Olaplex used as a conditioner first, then risned out or- mixed in with my haircolor? Or do both with # 1 treatment? I can’t wait to try this in August at my next appt !!
Ravina, hi! For the first time, I’d recommend you try it as a conditioner, just to see how your skin reacts to it. But, do talk about it with your hairdresser and see what she recommends, too. That’s so exciting, I hope you’ll love it as much as I do.
I have just been back to the hairdressers having had an Olaplex treatment 2 weeks ago. My hair hasn’t had any colour for over 18 months, and other than being naturally dry my hair is in very good condition. Since having the Olaplex treatment my hair has been like hay!! Frizzy, brittle and hard to comb. It has been horrible. I have waist length hair and usually wear it down, but I haven’t worn it down since I had the treatment. My hairdresser felt terrible and did an alternative deep conditioning treatment for me for free to try and repair the damage so fingers crossed! Wouldn’t use Olaplex again!
Amy, oh no!! That’s awful! I hadn’t coloured my hair in ages when I had Olaplex but it worked so well for me. Maybe it works just for some hair types?
That was really nice of your hairdresser’s. Hope the deep conditioning treatment fixed it.
i am a senior and had thin hair and scalp showing in some area. i had lost most of my hair on the front sides 0f my temples.
every day i had huge hair loss. today after many month of olaplex my hair grew back and is full again, i am amazed i am so sorry for these ladies that had bad experience.. my sister has lost most of her hair and i am recommending this. i wish i could show pics
Raquel, thank you for sharing your experience. So glad Olaplex worked such wonders for you.
OLAPLEX DAMAGED MY HAIR. BEWARE OF THIS PRODUCT!
Felycia, I’m sorry you had such a bad experience with Olaplex. It worked very well for me. I guess it depends on the individual and the hairstylist, as I’ve heard lots of mixed opinions about it.
It damaged mine, too – after using Olaplex No 3 my hair was dry, brittle, breaking and I’m not sure why
Me too . I over did it and put in my hair every day as a leave in on holidays in Vietnam and came back with breakage /chemical hair cut .