Olaplex explained

[katiesiepierski]

Long time no see! I know when Olaplex first came out, before the MSDS sheets and ingredients lists were available, I was extremely curious and extremely skeptical. Well, let me explain what Olaplex is. It is freaking awesome! It doesn't coat the hair, it doesn't leave any product behind, it's not a temporary filler, it's impossible to overuse, it's impossible for it to not work, be it hair on your head that's curly, straight, damaged, coarse, fine, resistant, beard hair, hell even armpit hair or pubic hair if you feel so inclined lol. I've even had clients use it on their horses and dogs for shows. There IS nothing else like Olaplex, there are at least 25 copycats that have arisen since Olaplex came out, and none have the chemistry to back their  (false) claims.

Olaplex was developed by two of the world's leading PHD's in Materials and Chemistry that had never worked on hair products before, Dr. Eric Pressly and Dr. Craig Hawker. Comissioned to develop this brand new ingredient by Olaplex CEO, Dean Christal.

Olaplex has only one active ingredient, Bis-Aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate. This is an entirely new chemistry with 8 pending worldwide patents. Olaplex is a single active ingredient, Bis-Aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate. This single active ingredient has two reactive ends that cross link single sulfur hydrogen bonds to form disulfide bonds before, during and after a process. No.2 and No.3 have additives just for cream form but still use that as the primary ingredient for the chemistry to take effect.

Olaplex is designed as a system and there are reasons for all of the parts. No.1 is the concentrate - Added to your color or lightener to prevent from color fading and to prevent excessive damage when bleaching, or to use as a stand alone treatment.

No.2 is diluted with a cream additive to use as a treatment afterwards. It is not a conditioner, activator or neutralizer. Use this as a treatment to repair the bonds that were broken during the service. By using this alone, you are not working against any other chemical such as color or bleach. All its doing is finding single bonds in the hair and pairing them. The more paired bonds in the hair you have, the stronger and healthier the hair is.

No.3 is a slightly diluted form of the no.2 - This is available for the public to buy from a salon or stylist, to use for at home treatments. Great for maintenance and repair

Here's a quick explanation on the how and why of Olaplex. When a disulfide bond is broken, it turns into two single sulfur hydrogen bonds. The first reaction that can happen is this single sulfur hydrogen will pair with an oxygen molecule and that will be a perfect pair. That's a good reaction. The second reaction that takes place is what Olaplex works to prevent. This single sulfur hydrogen will pair with 3 oxygen molecules and create SO3 or what is known as a sulfate group. This sulfate group will then go on to create cystic acid. Cystic acid will then eat the protein out of the hair.

As this reaction does not happen immediately, this is also why Olaplex is effective as a treatment as it finds single sulfur hydrogen bonds and cross links them back together to form disulfide bonds. During the process, Olaplex works by coupling with the single sulfur hydrogen bonds faster than the 3 oxygen molecules can preventing the negative reaction.

This is entirely different than any other product out there and the only one capable of doing this. Olaplex is free of silicone, sulfates, phthalates, DEA, aldehydes, formaldehyde, gluten and peroxide. There are links to the MSDS sheets that list all ingredient on the olaplex website. Log in, go to FAQs and scroll all the way to the bottom.Olaplex is actually not a conditioner. It works internally. Moisture and protein are external issues that should be addressed separately. It is meant to work with the shampoos conditioners and treatments you already love.

Olaplex is the only product on the market that can actually cross link bonds. All the other copycats and products that claim to "build bonds" or "reconstruct" or "repair", don't. They just coat the hair, mask damage, make you think hair is healthier than it actually is. They're nothing but temporary filming ingredients that once they wear/fade out, then you can see the hair's true condition, like with coating ingredients like silicones, artificial copolymers, etc. They do nothing for the hair besides coat it, giving a false appearance of health, hindering or completely blocking beneficial ingredients from working properly if at all. And if you heat style, these things can melt into the hair in a manner of like when you dip your hand in paraffin wax. Once these coating ingredients are removed, then you can see the hair's true condition, which often is a very unpleasant surprise. You can think you have the healthiest hair in the world because of these ingredients. Ever had this happen where the hair feels great, looks great, then you lighten it and it's way more damaged than you thought it would be? That's because the hair has been constantly coated, like varnish on a piece of wood. Of course most products do have beneficial ingredients that the hair still needs like ingredients for moisture and protein, but none of these things are capable of changing the structure of the hair or repairing it.
Chemically, from a factual scientific standpoint, Olaplex is the only product capable of cross linking disulfide bonds.

The next best thing you could possibly use to minimize damage when lightening or using oxidative color is using PURE coconut oil as a pre treatment. Not surface, coating oils or film forming ingredients that do absolutely nothing to actually minimize damage. All those things do is give a false appearance of health. They wash out, then the true condition is revealed.

Honestly Olaplex is one of a kind. Everything else is false advertising. There is absolutely nothing else that can actually link bonds,  They are all just temporary filming ingredients. If not using Olaplex, the next best, safest thing to use is coconut oil as a pre treatment to minimize damage. Leave it in a minimum of 15 minutes, ideally 2 hours, then apply your oxidative color/bleach right over it. It needs time to absorb into the hair so that the Lauric acid can bind to the keratin bonds and chelate/minimize the damage. It won't just coat the hair and give a false appearance of health, it is actually chemically/structurally minimizing damage.

Here's ingredients in Brazilian Bond Builder, who is pushing this product hardin attempts to compete with Olaplex. Chemically, there is no competition to Olaplex, because there is nothing else that can chemically do what Olaplex does. The copycats claim to build bonds, hence the name of this one in particular, but it in fact does not build bonds, nor does any other product on earth besides Olaplex.

Ingredients in Brazilian Bond Builder  (aka B3)
-Dimethyl isosorbide: water miscible organic solvent that may penetrate skin
-PPG-3 Benzyl Ether Myristate: artificial oil used as a silicone replacement
-Hydrogenated castor oil / sebacic acid copolymer: oligo ester for coating hair, does not repair bonds, similar to silicone and possibly heavier
-Benzyl alcohol: solvent
-Tocopheryl acetate: vitamin E acetate
-Tocopherol phenol: vitamin E derivative
-Argan oil: if there's metal deposits in the hair it does help chelate the reaction that causes to the hair, helps keep hair moist
-Jojoba, sunflower and apricot oils: coat hair and do not minimize damage nor cross link bonds
-Herbal extracts to round it out. None are capable of minimizing damage or cross linking disulfide bonds.

Not only do I love Olaplex as a product, but I love Olaplex as a company, and the Olaplex team. They are completely transparent about their chemistry and don't have to lie about anything. The chemistry speaks for itself. The team is always, ALWAYS willing to answer any and all questions about Olaplex Use, ingredients, other products claiming to be like Olaplex, they will literally list every ingredient in whichever product your asking about andexplain each and every ingredient for you.

Here's the instructions for using Olaplex alone or with lightener/color/perms/relaxes/keratin treatments etc. It also has the MSDS sheets at the bottom, in case you have any allergies

http://www.olaplex.com/pages/faq

There's a salon locator on the Olaplex site, and if anyone has any problems locating Olaplex or wants Olaplex, please do not hesitate to ask. Everyone should be able to experience this amazing, revolutionary product, everyone can benefit from it.

Here's some before and after photos too, which you can find hundreds and thousands of examples online:

[Janineb]

"Honestly Olaplex is one of a kind. Everything else is false advertising."

Statements like this are a red flag to me. They make me less likely to believe it, not more

The before and after photos are the kind of thing I see coming out of hairdressers salons long before olaplex. It's the difference between a bad bow dry and a good blow dry, so not convincing to me unfortunately.

I'm not saying those things mean I believe it doesn't work. I'm just sceptical, very sceptical. My bias tends me towards not believing any claims from companies when it comes to beauty products and I admit that. It's going to take a couple more years at least before I really start to believe what is claimed with Olaplex. Especially as the hype has died down.

[katiesiepierski]

I totally understand! It's the active ingredient that speaks for itself,Bis-Aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate. Olaplex doesn't need to lie about anything like literally every other product on earth that says it "repairs" or "builds bonds". All those are just temporary fillers and reinforcers. It is one of a kind, there is no other ingredient or ingredient combo like Bis-Aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate. There is nothing else on earth that can make the hair repair itself, nothing that can make broken disulfide bonds link back together and actually repair hair. You know this better than anyone, Im sure. I was extremely, extremely skeptical too, until they actually released their ingredients lists and MSDS sheets, I researched the active ingredient, and the chemistry speaks for itself. I do hope you try it one day Janine, and do the research for yourself, you'll completely understand. I know it's a MASSIVE claim to make, and it sounds too good to be true, but it's not. It's impossible for it to not work, all hair regardless of hair type is made of disulfide bonds. The only way it's not going to work well is if you have a bunch of buildup on the Hair blocking it from penetrating.

I was exactly like you Janine, I thought it was a load of hype and BS like every other product craze. If you read up on the active ingredient, you'll see that it isn't just some fad, some temporary bandaid, or false claims. You can do all the research you want, but the results will speak for themselves.

[Janineb]

I've read up on it, I promise! More than once in fact. I'm not a chemist though, so I'm not going to pretend to totally understand. I do know that in science, just because it seems like something should act in one way it doesn't mean it does.

Until I see some real, blinded tests done then I'll stay sceptical, even if I do use it myself and feel that it works! Humans are very easily fooled into thinking something does more than it says. Like homeopathy and acupuncture, neither are proven to work in anyway other than placebo yet millions believe it helps.

[katiesiepierski]

Have you seen this?

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/OLAPLEX-Tested-Again.html?soid=1102356594365&aid=RGJVd8Idfn4&mc_cid=f035c57cba&mc_eid=d5928461ec

Not saying it's wise to bleach with 40 vol for that long, but this is proving a point. Olaplex always urges everyone skeptical to do side by side comparisons, but then wash them several times to remove all the coating, temporary ingredients that are just making the hair appear healthier than it really is.

There's this as well which explains it:

http://www.labmuffin.com/2015/04/how-does-olaplex-hair-treatment-work/

[Janineb]

No, I hadn't seen that top one. A little more convincing, but it's still just a photo on the internet. I know, it's difficult to get evidence that isn't just that. Again, I admit, I can't let go of my bias towards not believing it. Sadly they have a long way to go to undo all the damage done by decades of BS!

But I had seen the lab muffin one. She doesn't go that far to convince me.

There is one thing it can't do anything about of course... melted cuticles!

Anyway. Yeah, well, the curiosity got the better of me when I just found it on Ebay in the UK. I might regret it when it turns out to be fake lol Oh well. It really better work for the flipping cost of it.

[katiesiepierski]

I know, it's the lies of other products for decades, on top of a claim that seems way too good to be true, that make it seem totally unreal. And you are completely right, there has to still BE disulfide bonds left in the hair for them to be able to cross link back together. If you've melted them off you're missing way too many bonds to begin with. It will have the most potential to help vs other products, but you absolutely still have to use your head and judgement. It's not a magic wand, you can't expect to use 40 vol on already pale yellow hair for 45 minutes and not expect your hair to melt lol just because you're using Olaplex.

Did you already order it? I'm so wary of the online sellers, you really don't know if what you're getting is real or diluted or something from a dollar store or what.

[Marthakins]

I think that Janine's point about things not behaving the way they should is valid.

Like, yeah, they've tested this under lab conditions or whatever but that doesn't mean that it will be as effective at reforming bonds on actual hair.

I want to see a real study, where they get hair samples of people using it and not using it and see whether bonds are reforming.

I'll probably just have to settle for trying it though :p

[Janineb]

Thanks Katie, but it's ok. There's a lot of restrictions on sending liquids across the pond that have been added recently, so I don't think you could anyway. Not legally that is!

Sadly Martha, I just don't think those kinds of studies happen to often with beauty products.

[Marthakins]

Exactly, that's why I said I'd just have to settle for trying it lol. It would be impossible to get the funding.

[katiesiepierski]

I actually have sent some to a couple  UK friends. They haven't just been in labs using it, it's been tested in the real world, every hair type, and with every bleach and color line, testing it thousands of times for over a year before releasing it, in every kind of hair situation you can imagine. There's hundreds of thousands of people that have used it, professional and non. There's more girls in the FB group I admin for Anya Goy, Rainbow Hair Colour, that are using Olaplex, there's plenty of real life, non professional results there if anyone is interested. Hair is hair no matter if you're using it at home, in a salon, testing on someone's hair or on test strands in a lab, it's all the same.

I cannot wait for you to use it Janine! Please share your results! 

[Janineb]

Ok, well you shouldn't have been able to! As far as I've heard, people have had liquids confiscated at customs. Good job theirs weren't. Anyway, I'd prefer getting it in the UK. It's easier not to bother with the customs bit.

With the testing, thats not really what I mean. Maybe I'm wrong, but if they all knew what they were trying when they tried it, that can skew the results a lot. I want to see a double blinded test, with a lot of subjects and a control. Testing really isn't all the same, even though it seems that way. Anecdotal results can only take you so far. It's not that I think any one is lying about the results they're seeing. I'm not saying anyone is stupid. I'm saying that humans are very flawed and we can see results that aren't there frequently.

I won't even fully trust my own veiw on results on me, I do actually want it to work, which could lead me to believe it's working better than it is.

I have a feeling we could just go around and around in circles though, discussing this

[Wicked Pixie]

My package was checked by customs. I had to pay charges, but no problems with it being allowed.

[BabyJ]

I just wanted to pop in here and update on my usage of Olaplex.  So, before I said that the first time I used it I was floored at the results, but that those results seemed to wear off after 2 weeks.  I did multiple stand alone treatments after, never really getting the results I wanted or saw with my first use.  Since those comments, I have done two more stand alone treatments.  Before, I was just kind of mushing it into my hair like conditioner.  These last two times I have sectioned my hair as if I were dying it and made sure to thoroughly coat each and every strand.  The difference is astounding.  There were two inch-wide sections at the back of my head that felt fried(you know when your strands get dry and crimped looking?  Like that) - those sections are now feeling silky with the rest of my hair.  I can't even remember the last time any of my hair felt silky!  It is finally retaining moisture again.  I will continue to do treatments every time I wash my hair.

[Embo]

Be interested to know how you get on with it, WP.

I also wonder when it will be readily available in the UK and if the price will ever go down! I'd love to try it.

[katiesiepierski]

The distributor for the UK is Star Qualities, I'm not sure how they go about actually distributing it though, the licensing system over there is totally different from the US. I know I have their email saved somewhere if anyone needs it. No1 and 2 are meant to be used by professionals only, No3 is the only one available for the public to use and it has to be bought from a salon/professional.

There are the eBay abd Amazon sellers, but again you really don't know if what you're getting is diluted or if it's even Olaplex at all, not to mention it's usually priced over double what stylists pay. Olaplex doesn't want their product diverted, because if say you get something abd it's not even real Olaplex, you're disappointed, or say it's something dangerous to use - Olaplex will still be the ones blamed. Really I don't recommend that if you're going to buy Olaplex, get it from a professional, even better a professional you trust. Because it is a very expensive product, it's worth every penny, but I can almost guarantee you there's people out there selling fakes/diluted Olaplex, it's simple to re seal a bottle.

@BabyJ omg I'm so glad you've used it! I had a feeling you would I can't believe how silky my hair feels either! Like my undercut i had I was letting it grow out but as usual it soon became a knotted, sparse looking dry mess, despite my avoiding sulfates, sulfate like ingredients  (I call them sulfate cousins lol), silicones, artificial copolymers, etc with my CO washing, vinegar rinses, etc. With Olaplex though omg it feels and looks no different than the rest of my hair! My ponytails keep sliding out now, just like when I was a kid because my hair is so silky and healthy now. I guess it's a good problem to have! Lol. I've used it on my daughter too, she's about 2 and has always had the typical baby hair that dries out and is fluffy and tangled every morning, despite the very gentle care I use with her. With Olaplex though it's smooth, it doesn't get dried out all the time or tangled because it's less porous, it feels and looks so much healthier and behaves healthier too, she's certainly more happy wuth it, especially when it comes time to brush lol. I love this stuff so much and I stand behind it completely, which I can only say about a few products. I seriously wish everyone could just try it, it's such an amazing product, and as cliche and overused as it sounds, it truly is unlike anything else. Because it's an entirely new category to the industry, there are no other bonds multipliers/bonds builders that actually have the scientific, chemical proof to back up their claims, let alone actual real life results. The rest are just temporary ingredients that hang out in the hair for a wash or a few, sometimes longer like with thermal keratin treatments, but those are all adding things to the hair, foreign things. Olaplex isn't adding or filling or coating at all, it leaves absolutely no product left in the hair. It's in the hair, making broken disulfide bonds cross link back together, then you rinse it out and that's it, you have nothing foreign left in the hair at all, it's your bare hair and that's it, the repairs remain. It's not leaving ingredients behind.

[Janineb]

Well, what I got might have been overpriced, but it got to me fast, I didn't have to worry about customs and there wasn't as much chance of it bursting on the way I also don't know any hairdressers to buy it from here, so I don't have that option!

It is real and I've used it now. My hair isn't dry yet, but yes, it has done what others said it would. My hair feels soft and in much better condition and the curls have come back again (the bleach powder and oil thing managed to also kill the curl structure again, as well as the yellowness, even though it felt better than before!).

I'm still on the fence about long term though and how long it will last etc. I'm still not totally convinced, frustratingly enough

[katiesiepierski]

It doesn't fade out or wear off, because there is nothing to fade out or wear off. Olaplex doesn't leave anything behind in or on the hair, when you rinse it out that's it,it's gone, it's your bare hair. I know it's kind of hard to grasp the concept of it, we are all familiar with proteins filling the hair or coating it, silicones, artificial copolymers coating the hair, most oils just coating the hair, when we think of products, especially ones that claim to reconstruct/build bonds, we think of what ingredients are being added to the hair, that can build up, wear off, etc. Olaplex is unlike this though, it's not something that fills or coats, it's the active ingredient Bis-aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate that penetrates throughout the hair, causing the broken disulfide bonds of our hair's actual molecular structure, to cross link back together. This ingredient makes the disulfide bonds repair themselves, it's not filling them or coating them temporarily or at all.

I am so glad you tried it! The results are just that, your results. These bonds, just like your existing, unbroken bonds, have no difference. So if you bleach, brush, heat style etc, they can break just like the rest of your bonds. They aren't indestructible. Bonds get broken every day from anything from friction on your pillowcase or collar to chemical processes, etc. So these results can't just "wear off" or fade out, your bonds are linked back together just the same as the still naturally intact, unbroken bonds you have. They get damaged exactly the same as the rest of your hair, there is no difference. The awesome thing about Olaplex is that it's impossible to over usr, because there is no product buildup, there is nothing foreign left behind, it's your hair's structure and that's it. So you can continue using Olaplex to repair the daily bonds breakage we all encounter, and having a more structurally sound foundation from Olaplex, hair doesn't get damaged as easily, it doesn't dry out as easily either as damaged, porous hair with a bunch of broken disulfide bonds. Yours get repaired every time you use Olaplex.

Like, when I first started using it my hair wasn't in bad shape but it definitely felt far from virgin. I did a stand alone treatment, it felt better, i did a couple more, it felt even better, i started retaining moisture longer, my hair wasn't getting as tangled, my hair felt virgin again, like when I was a kid. From there on its just maintenance to keep it that way. I repaired my accumulated damage, got my hair back to a virgin feeling state after about 4 treatments which I did over a few days, and I just do a treatment every couple weeks now to repair any little damage I may accumulate from everyday stuff

Just keep up with it your next few washes and you'll see exactly what I'm trying to explain. Your hair will feel and look smoother, healthier, shinier, it'll stay moist longer, your color will last longer, it'll be stronger and more resistant from damage from everyday things like mechanical damage or when you chemically process it.

[Janineb]

I understand the concept. I have from the start. I don't think that there's anything else like silicone in it. I don't think I ever did, or if I did, I've changed my mind. I also know, and always have since I was 16 and doing hairdressing myself, that hair bonds break during normal activity. So I would absolutely expect the bonds to break in this case as well. One thing I don't think we know, and can't know if we all use it continuously, is if these bonds are weaker than natural ones.

I shouldn't have said how long it will last, that isn't actually what I meant to say.

[Embo]

Well, what I got might have been overpriced, but it got to me fast, I didn't have to worry about customs and there wasn't as much chance of it bursting on the way I also don't know any hairdressers to buy it from here, so I don't have that option!

It is real and I've used it now. My hair isn't dry yet, but yes, it has done what others said it would. My hair feels soft and in much better condition and the curls have come back again (the bleach powder and oil thing managed to also kill the curl structure again, as well as the yellowness, even though it felt better than before!).

I'm still on the fence about long term though and how long it will last etc. I'm still not totally convinced, frustratingly enough

Where did you get it from Janine?

PM if you prefer thanks!

[Swilks]

I went for my second application and I do feel theres been quite a difference this time - I also followed babyj's advice doing sections. I was comparing how my hair felt to my 5 year olds virgin hair - and I was impressed to be fair!

Feelin damn good this morning haha!

ETA: oh god I never thought it would get this good. I clarified and slightly dried for another standalone treatment and it was then that I realised what a difference it has already made. Normally I can never get my hair to style after just clarifying and no conditioner. No way, it feels like a birds nest and I at least need to use a blow dry cream to get through it. This time? My hair felt awesome even when wet, my hubby was shocked too. 3rd treatment in and my hair feels like someone else's. Similar to Katie it seems after a few applications the results begin to show. I'll just start doing occasional "top ups"
I've just woke up to easy to manage hair. I'm shocked.

[katiesiepierski]

@Swilks I'm so happy to hear this! Thank you, and everyone else too, for sharing their experiences! I love Olaplex and stand behind it completely, hearing new Olaplex Users experiences just makes my day <3 it's such an incredible, truly unique product!

[Swilks]

It's an absolute drug Katie lol!  And I am very very thankful. I didn't think I was ever going to be won over right from the start and I'm not a fan of some of the promotion from other people, but your experience won me over. Not sure what I'll do if I run out though! 

[katiesiepierski]

I know the distributor over there is Star Qualities, I have the enail saved somewhere if you need it. I will gladly send you more but I know it would be cheaper for you to be able to get it directly from SQ as opposed to having to pay shipping from the states. For that 2lb  (just over) package it was I think like $35

[belowtheocean]

Janineb I have heard that the bonds that they build are actually stronger than natural bonds!
I'm glad you've had good results because this is actually one of the only products I've used that ACTUALLY does do what it says.
Thanks Katie for all the info!