Hi ladies I found this today and I am sceptic. What do you think? And do you think we'll ever be able to get our hands on it? In a nutshell it's a product that promises0 breakage. http://behindthechair.com/displayarticle.aspx?ID=3801&ITID=1
Posted : June 15, 2014 7:33 am
It reads like an advertisement instead of an informational article, which instantly makes me suspicious of it. Also, it's based on a silicone molecule, which again, makes me distrust it. They say they were looking for a long lasting silicone molecule, and then suddenly this magic molecule binds broken hair back together? It sounds like the hair isn't actually stronger, it's just coated in a super plastic.
It's possible it's real (crazy things have happened from chemistry accidents). But I'd like to read more about the actual chemistry of it before I make a decision about it.
Posted : June 15, 2014 7:43 am
It sounds like the hair isn't actually stronger, it's just coated in a super plastic.
I've been wondering lately, what's wrong with having silicone-coated hair? Dyes might not stick as well, the true condition is hidden... but why if it's the best way to keep hair from breaking? it is unnatural method, I agree, but taking into consideration how much hair one loses due to mechanical damage, it sometimes makes sense to use a bit of silicone... Tell me what You think, I really want to know your opinion 🙂 thanks!
Posted : June 15, 2014 8:01 am
Well, if it still lets me dye my hair with direct dyes, I'm not really worried about silicone being the thing that does it. They claim somewhere else that it rebuilds the disulphate bonds. If that is true and, as intemp says, it's not just coating the hair with silicone, then I'm all for it. I don't really expect it to be as good as they make it sound.
Also, this sounds like bunk “What I love is that the Olaplex provides controlled lift without over-lightening! I can start and finish anywhere on the head and the level comes out evenly! Zero breakage, even when slight overlapping is necessary to balance the tonality!”—Guy Tang
Posted : June 15, 2014 8:09 am
It sounds like the hair isn't actually stronger, it's just coated in a super plastic.
I've been wondering lately, what's wrong with having silicone-coated hair? Dyes might not stick as well, the true condition is hidden... but why if it's the best way to keep hair from breaking? it is unnatural method, I agree, but taking into consideration how much hair one loses due to mechanical damage, it sometimes makes sense to use a bit of silicone... Tell me what You think, I really want to know your opinion 🙂 thanks!
I just hate them because any SLS wash makes my scalp go inflamed and itchy for days after, even low SLS. I don't even SLS wash before colouring any more, so I avoid silicones because I have no way of removing them without seriously irritating my scalp.
Additionally, like you've pointed out, they hide the true condition of one's hair. So I don't necessarily buy something worded like an advertisement based off of a silicone molecule that claims that hair will be totally damage free if you use it. It's more likely that the damage on your hair will be masked really, really well. It frustrated me that the article kept saying "without the chemistry lesson, this is what my product does." Give us the chemistry lesson, prove that what you claim it does is actually what it does.
Do silicones have their purpose? Yes, if hair is heavily damaged, they can help provide slip and stop broken strands from catching on other strands and knotting or breaking further. However, there is a danger of the uneducated believing that just because their hair feels silky, it's not actually damaged, and we've had a lot of hair melting stories of people who genuinely believed that their silicone-laden hair was totally healthy only to have it disintegrate with the next process. People should be aware that silicone based products do not actually fix hair or make it stronger, they just coat it in a substance that provides slip and shine.
Posted : June 15, 2014 8:36 am
Thanks for all the info. So there isn't really anything bad about using silicones.. My problem I'd say is mainly mechanical breakage, that might be possibly avoided with sillicones... I dunno. I might think of coming back to silicone in the future. Detangles, helps with mechanical damage, adds shine and softness, hmm... I dunno
Posted : June 15, 2014 11:15 am
Crowcrow, I use silicones still but I also make sure I give my hair a good scrub every few weeks. I'm also aware of the real damage to my hair and that really helps. I use silicones to hide any damage to other people, but not from myself lol
Posted : June 15, 2014 9:30 pm
Yeah, basically, to use or not use silicones is a personal preference, as long as you know the true condition of your hair and don't believe that silicone-laden products are making it healthier.
In reference to the original post, I don't trust a product that claims to make hair super strong that is originally based off of a search for a long lasting silicone molecule.
Posted : June 16, 2014 5:58 am
I was just having a onset look on their Facebook page. Saw this article https://www.facebook.com/olaplex/photos/a.541423639298984.1073741828.347578558683494/603058036468877/?type=1&theater
At the end he says "no silicones" which is interesting. I'm not totally sure what that means, but maybe this is actually a reality (ie there is just a polymer bonding chain links and not just coating the outside) and its not bunk. That would be refreshing.
I still doubt it though.
Posted : June 16, 2014 6:32 am
Okay this is really long, just warning you guys!
I've tried emailing the company to find out more of the science behind it, as well as checked their website, their facebook page, read through others' posts on facebook on different hair pages like Behind The Chair, of the emails they received from Olaplex, and they are all so vague and don't go into any detail at all. The most useful/detailed information I've been able to find was an article on the BTC website. I'm terrible at summarizing (as I'm sure most of you know with all the novels I write on here lol), and I don't think you will be able to access the article if you don't have an account there, so I will just paste it here:
Olaplex Could (And Will) Change Everything
One curious man. Two chemists. One big question. Could you create a product that would never, ever break hair again while haircoloing…even at 40-volume?
Could It Be True?
About a month ago, I got a frantic call from Tracey Cunningham while I was in Europe and she was in Dubai. She said, “Mary, call me back. I have to talk to you. I’ve just used a product that could change everything.” I love Tracey, but was sprinting a marathon of meetings that week in London. She was insanely busy as well, but when I didn’t call her back, she texted me the next day and then the next day. I called her and this is what she shared, “I’ve just used a product that gives me the superpower to do things I never thought were possible. It allows me to color more often, go lighter and double process the same day without any fear of breakage. Like, no breakage, Mary. I’ve used it on Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow and pretty much every client for the past month. I’m going through a liter of it a day! I’ve been blown away by what I’m seeing.”
And Tracey isn’t the only one. In fact, nearly every major celebrity salon in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, including Guy Tang, Nine Zero One, Estilo, Goodform, Sally Hershberger and Chris McMillan all have their army of celebrity colorists testing this “secret” formula, which from all accounts, is no longer a secret anymore.
The Holy Grail of Haircolor
It’s called Olaplex, and it just could be the holy grail for haircolor. To never break hair again is a huge claim, so Tracey gave me the guy’s name and number who created the product and the second I got off the line with Tracey, I called him. For the next two hours, Dean Christal spoke to me in a language of chemistry I didn’t understand, with one exception. The part I did comprehend is that the most world famous chemist from the polymer field of chemistry, with countless awards and patents to his name, who has nothing to do with hair, had created a new molecule that would link broken bonds in hair back together again. This molecule, he claims, when added into any haircolor services, will absolutely prevent any breakage. The two-hour chemistry lesson all boiled down to one simple idea—a hair coloist would never have to worry about destroying a client’s hair ever again. One simple molecule. One simple ingredient. Nothing simple about its effects. Imagine never breaking a client’s hair again. Imagine never stripping haircolor again.
One Curious Man. Two Curious Chemists.
The Olaplex story, in Dean’s words: “I was working with a group of chemists for three years trying to develop a UV activated silicone that would stay in the hair for up to 25 washes. It worked beautifully 80 percent of the time, but 20 percent of the time, various wavelengths in the UVA range made it sticky. An Australian chemist working on the project suggested that I take a shot at meeting Craig Hawker at the Hawker Group at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He said Craig was a chemistry savant and the only one capable of coming up with the solution for our problem. I hung up the phone and immediately drove out to the university and unannounced, walked into Mr. Hawker’s office. We talked for four hours. Almost immediately, Craig came up with an idea for our perplexing UV activated chemistry, and he and I discussed what it would take to create the holy grail of the beauty industry—preventing damage to hair. Craig was intrigued with the idea of repairing hair and preventing chemical damage from occurring. Craig introduced me to Eric Pressly that evening, a PhD in materials, and when I returned the next day at 2 p.m., I was given my first batch of Olaplex. “Craig and Eric were both surprised that the industry had not created something like this,” Dean shared.
Thinking From the Outside…In
Olaplex has now filled multiple worldwide patents. The work these chemists are famous for involves helping to stop organs and transplants from being rejected by the body. It’s life-saving work. Dean convinced Craig and Eric that helping women feel more beautiful was also life-saving work and just as important. Which it is. And now, the best chemistry from the best minds in medical polymer research has been offered to our industry to solve a problem that’s existed since the development of haircolor.
The Story Goes On
Interestingly, the story gets even bigger than this (if that’s possible). It appears this molecule called Olaplex will also radically change the hair texturizing business as well, allowing a permanent wave to be done on the same day as color. Dean says, “I had a stylist Japanese relax a swatch of hair two times, then 40-volume bleach it, then perm it, and the hair was still in good condition. The control sample that had no Olaplex disintegrated halfway through the test. I knew at that point in time that Olaplex would completely change the way hair was chemically treated forever.”
“If you have ever had clients who worry about their hair breaking off from the coloring process, tell them, ‘Don’t worry, I use Olaplex!’ Not only does it help prevent breakage, my clients tell me that their hair feels stronger, silky and fuller as well. This is a brand new hair care product unlike any other, and it makes my job a heck of a lot less stressful!” —Tracey Cunningham
Idk, if this does somehow permanently link the broken bonds back together permanently, and the hair still feel normal and not crunchy/stiff like with that PEC complex BS, then this will change the hair world. It just seems wayyy too good to be true. I mean, what, so you could bleach someone's hair 8 times with 40 vol for an hour each application all in a single day and the hair would still be perfectly healthy? Or bleach already pale yellow hair with 40 vol for an hour in foils under a dryer and the hair would still be fine? Even if it does link the broken bonds back together, they still get broken in the first place, so is it a permanent link or just a bandaid? Despite the rave reviews on it, I am still highly, highly skeptical, it just sounds way too good to be true.
An online friend of mine with much more of a chemistry background had this to say about it:
"Dean Christal is just a guy who makes his money off of patents and, from what I can tell, probably isn't all that familiar with the 'language of chemistry' himself. I'm willing to bet that he's probably funding the project but doesn't work all that closely with the ground-level research. Since there are patents going through now, I doubt that there will be any journal publications anytime soon.
Anyhow, Craig Hawker is definitely the guy with a reputation and a ton of well-cited publications and based on the papers I've read coming out of his lab, I have two guesses on how this stuff works.
1. It's a small, organic molecule that similar in structure to your hair's keratin (or maybe not). After a peroxide treatment, it fills in the gaps in your hair and then application of the 'bond multiplier' (probably something to change the pH or maybe sensitizes the molecule to heat/light) assembles all the small, single molecules into a longer chain that get stuck in your hair and won't wash out.
2. It's some sort of silicone-like material that also self-assembles, but coats the hair rather than penetrates it.
Anyhow, either way, I'm guessing that it won't make it so your hair can be processed indefinitely, since it relies on the fact that your hair still has enough keratin structure to actually hold in the small molecules. However, it might be able to extend the amount of times you can bleach/dye your hair and maybe reduce the waiting time, since you don't need to wait for the cuticle to tighten back up. In terms of how 'permanent' the process is, it's hard to tell. It's quite possible that it's stable in high pH and is resistant to detergents so that it won't break down with shampoo, but I'd be surprised and impressed if it was also completely UV stable.
EDIT: After looking at the bottles more closely, I'm guessing the self-assembly is peroxide-activated, which would make sense since Craig Hawker did a lot of his early work is on polymerization with radicals like peroxide. The second step probably stops the polymerization and/or helps inactivate the peroxide."
"I've no idea what the monomer is aside from some sort of alkylamine (like any protein unit), and I suspect that it won't be published material on it anytime soon, since it'll probably be a 'trade secret.' I wish cosmetic companies weren't so tight-lipped about their formulas so people could actually figure out what was in them."
I'm curious what @puerkz thinks about this stuff with her goldmine of cosmetic science knowledge!
Posted : June 19, 2014 1:16 pm
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