As I’ve gotten older, my hair has gotten drier and more fragile and even though I’ve found a tried and true shampoo and conditioner combination which works beautifully (more on that later), it’s in my DNA to try five thousand other shampoos and conditioners to see if I’m missing out on something better.
I’ve been with the same stylist for about 14 years or so – I love her. She has saved my hair from my bad choices more times than I can count. After a particularly hair melting home coloring adventure, I made the decision to never ever touch my hair again and to just leave everything in her capable hands. Her name is Ciria, she’s at Hair People (in Denver), and she is my Hair Angel. Actually, in pinches I’ve had a couple of the other stylists sub in when I needed to come in on her day off; they are all amazing and talented. But, of course, she’s my girl.
Blonde hair is especially difficult to preserve and protect because it’s more porous, fragile, and dry than darker hair. Coloring takes its toll quickly and upkeep is pretty much a nightmare (unless you have a Hair Angel). As I’ve researched and tried dozens upon dozens of different shampoos, conditioners, oils, conditioning masks, leave-in conditioners, supplements, dietary options, etc. (seriously – you name it, I’ve tried it), I keep hoping I’ll find the Holy Grail – the one thing that will save my hair and bring it back to life. Well, as fate would have it, I stumbled across this new thing called Olaplex a couple of weeks ago. From their website:
We started by finding 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. With this fresh outlook, this dream team invented a single ingredient chemistry, that is free of silicone or oils, that links broken bonds in the hair during and after chemical services making them stronger than they were before.
I started researching researched Olaplex like crazy (looking for pictures and testimonials, was it environmentally safe/friendly, was it a long or short term fix, etc.) and was really pretty astounded by what I was finding and doubly excited to learn that it was primarily formulated to help mend blonde hair – or otherwise chemically lightened hair. I asked Ciria about it and it turns out Hair People actually offers the Olaplex treatment. Yessssssss!
Before I go on – I need to say that my hair always looks great after Ciria is finished with it. She’s a top notch colorist and her round brush work produces amazing results because she makes me look like a Breck Girl when I leave the salon. My issue is around the dryness and how it looks after that first washing following my the appointment and the fact that I look like a freaking scarecrow if I don’t curl or straighten my hair (which, as you know, makes the hair even more dry and straw-like). I think the struggle is real here and many women feel a similar frustration.
Well, today I had my appointment (I get a partial color every five weeks), and was super excited to give this new treatment a try. It only added about an extra 20 minutes or so to my regular service with the couple of extra steps (one to bond the strands and another to seal the bond – there could have been another step, but honestly, I’m not remembering it so I’ll be sure to pay better attention next time).
The real test will come tomorrow when I wash it and see what it looks like after I blow it dry. I’ll still curl it and am super curious to see if my hair will hold a curl any better now that my strands are all happily bonded – actually, there’s a lot to see after that first washing and, quite frankly, I’m a little nervous about it because, here are my before and afters (no editing at all, BTW):
Can it please just look like that all the time? Too much to ask? I’m hoping not… like, really hoping not.
A shout out to Brittany who did my hair today – I couldn’t be happier, thank you! Ciria was off today, and I’m leaving town for week and – as you can see – not in a position to wait another week to deal with that mess up there on the left.
Stay tuned, I’ll post updates here and there after I wash and dry to see how the product holds up until my next appointment.
If you like geeking out on chemistry, lovely Lab Muffin blogger, Michelle, gives a great breakdown on the science behind Olaplex.
Fab Over Forty Five 