Hi have been getting quite a few enquiries about Olaplex, what it is and what it does. So in the interests of happy, educated clients I thought it would be a good idea to explain:
What is It?

olaplex at simon clark hairdressing
Well technically olaplex is, Bis-Aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate. Which is the single active ingredient mixed with water and a few other goodies to make it stable and easy to use. Forget about the big words I’ll explain it more simply in a second
Some back ground basics
Simpy put your hair is made up of Keratin, which intern contains a lot of the amino acid cystine. Cystine inturn contains a sulpher atom. When you put 2 of these amino acids side by side the sulpher atoms are able to join the 2 cystine molecules together by forming a disulpide bond.
It is this bond that gives hair its strength and shape. (This is the bond you break and reform when you perm or straighen hair.) Now when you are colouring hair, more particularily bleaching it the bleaching process also breaks these disuphide bonds. Interstingly, for reasons we won’t go into here, the peroxide used in the bleaching process can prevent these bonds from reforming. This is usually what leads to the damage to hair.
How does Olaplex work?
Now if you imagine these disulfide bonds as the stairs in a spiral stair case, then a stair case with broken stairs will not be any good. Olaplex is essenially a replacement stair and when mixxed with hair colour will seek out and repair broken disulfide bonds before the peroxide can prevent them from being repaired.
How long does it take?
Your Olaplex in coloring treatment consists of adding Olaplex to your bleach mixture. This can cause the mixture to develop about 30% slower. Most salons, us included over come this by bumping up the strength of the peroxide mixed. So it should add much if any time to your colour processing time. Interestingly this also seems to improve the effects of the Olaplex in preventing damage.
When should I use Olaplex?
At Simon Clark Hairdressing we recommend that you use Olaplex when ever you bleach or perm your hair. It is absolutely essential to prevent damage when making dramatic color changes. Beyond that if you are just doing your normal month to month hair colouring, then your normal in salon and at home after care like, Wella’s oil refections should be more than suffient.
Remember you can book your next hair appointment online at www.simonclarkhairdressing.co.za