One of my clients always used to rave about Olaplex treatments and say how they helped restore her damaged hair so that it could tolerate an extreme colour change. I then read articles and glowing reviews about it. After that of course I had to try it…and I loved it!
I usually have the Olaplex treatment while I am having my hair coloured because it is cheaper. No.1 is mixed with the hair colour, and No. 2 is applied after rinsing the colour out. If you wish you can buy No. 3 – a pre-shampoo treatment – to use when your hair needs it.
About 18 months ago Olaplex brought out a whole range of products for use at home. I had not used Olaplex No.4 (shampoo), No. 5 (conditioner), or No.6 (styling treatment) until recently as I felt that the core of Olaplex is the salon treatment and that additional products were just extras capitalising on the popularity of the brand. I have been burned too much with those – for example no Elizabeth Arden 8-hour products are anything close to the unique 8-hour cream for me. Maybe for others, but for me the only product worth buying is the original 8 hour cream. Everything else seems like a cash grab.
Well, I was totally wrong about Olaplex home products. I have been using the shampoo and conditioner for about a month now, followed by the leave-in cream, and my hair feels really really good. The biggest difference is how easy it is to comb when I am just out of the shower. Curls often tangle but not with this. I was most worried about finishing the conditioner after a couple of uses as I have so much hair, but you only need a tiny bit. Way less than regular conditioner. Can recommend!
The blurb is that Olaplex rebuilds bonds broken by chemical treatments, weather, hair tools etc. You can use it to fix damaged hair or you can use it as ‘hair insurance’. My stylist says that people whose hair would not withstand any more processing can have an Olaplex treatment and in most cases it restores their hair so she can then work on it. In my case it seems to strengthen my hair to the extent that it does not get dry from colouring, riding on the motorbike (I plait and cover my hair with my buff but there is always some hair that gets hammered at high speed by the wind), and winter.