Here at Stevie English Hair, we were lucky enough to be asked to be ambassadors of a revolutionary new product called Olaplex. Lucky because we got a chance to play with the product before it is officially available in Australia, and it comes with some pretty big promises: that you can lighten your hair without damage, or in fact improve the condition of the hair.
WHAT THE ??!!!!!
As a professional hair colourist of 20+ years, I have never heard of a product that could deliver on that kind of promise, so naturally I was well keen to get my hands on it. Olaplex is a 3-step system that consists of Bond Multiplier, Bond Perfecter and a take home Hair Perfector. The basic premise is that the product multiplies the bonds that are broken by lifting or depositing colour on the hair, thus preventing breakage and other damage. The first product can be added to any colour, powder lightener or perm solution, the second step is applied after rinsing & the third used at home.
Powder Lightener/bleach has always been my best friend and my worse enemy. You can do amazing things with it, but it damages hair! So when a product claims to turn your colour world upside down, you can imagine me being extremely nervous the first time I used Olaplex! But also so excited! I was lightening one of my stylist’s hair- she had previously had lots of breakage and her ends were pretty well fried. Her hair was a patchwork quilt. And this would normally be put in the too hard basket unless you want an inch blonde crop.
After reading the directions seven times, I mixed up powder lightener, bumped up the developer level (ARGHHHH), added the Olaplex and went in. I did strand tests every 5 minutes, and basically hovered behind the chair the entire time the colour was on her hair (sweating). At the basin- no breakage! After the second step was applied, the hair felt even better, it turned to silk. I could not believe her ends survived- I would never have tried to lighten them without the Olpalex’s promise.
Since that first colour, I have used Olaplex pretty much every day - my team have also been blown away by the results they can achieve without damaging the hair. The product completely delivers on its promise and I don’t know any colourist who would not be excited about a product that can do this. There is an extra fee but its so worth it! Never have i been able to guarantee hair in this way.
Game changer? Definitely!
