My hair used to be light blonde but, as with most people, it darkened to a mousy blonde over time. I have blonde foil highlights every three months. My hair has a lot of red pigment in it (my mother was a redhead), so it takes a while to take on colour. I like to pamper it afterwards to keep it in good condition.
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 have been using it for a couple of years now.
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.
Over the years, Olaplex brought out a whole range of products for use at home. Initially 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 them for a while now (on and off for a few years, and almost all the time for the last 6 months) and I can see a real difference in my hair. 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. My hair is also much shinier. Curly hair reflects light differently than straight hair and it is hard to really show shine, so to have really shiny curly hair is an achievement!
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.
The only product I use that is not in the photo above is No 0, which is a liquid that you use before shampooing, together with No 3. Mine is finished and I am waiting for a duo pack to come so I can buy it cheaper. Olaplex is expensive, despite being so economical, so I buy when it is on special offers, with a discounts, or a multipack. Often you receive little extras in the gift pack, such as samples or accessories. I was most worried about finishing the conditioner and mask after a couple of uses as I have so much hair, but you only need a tiny bit. Way less than regular conditioner.
- No 0 is a liquid that you use before you shampoo. For best effect you put No 3 on 10 minutes after that so that they can work together.
- No 1 is a salon treatment, usually mixed with your hair colour
- No 2 is applied after rinsing the colour out
- No 3 is a pre-shampoo treatment
- No 4 is a shampoo
- No 4P is a purple shampoo to be used to remove brassy tones from blonde or grey hair
- No 5 is conditioner
- No 6 is a leave in conditioner + styling cream
- No 7 is a bonding oil (I have not used this one)
- No 8 is a hair mask