In today's world of bond-building hair treatments, there is no shortage of products to help you achieve stronger, smoother, and shinier hair. But that wealth of options means it can be harder to suss out which ones will help you achieve your hair goals.
So we decided to dive into the benefits of two of the most popular bond-builders on the market: K18 and Olaplex. We tapped cosmetic scientist Xi Huang, Ph.D., board-certified dermatologist Kunal Malik, MD, Olaplex chief scientist Lavinia Popescu, and K18's Casey Yee and Cassondra Kaeding to learn more about each brand and its products. Keep reading for everything you need to know.
Meet the Expert
What Are Bond Builders?
Bond builders are formulated to repair hair that's been damaged through heating, bleaching, coloring, and other potentially harmful processes. They repair and strengthen hair from the inside out, Malik says.
There are many different restoring formulations for dry and damaged hair on the market, and most of the patented technologies claim to repair hair by reconstructing and repairing disulfide bridges or bonds within keratin, Huang tells us. Keratin is a fibrous protein in the hair that contains disulfide bonds that make hair strong and flexible.
"When hair is damaged by chemical treatments such as coloring or perming, the disulfide bridges in the keratin proteins become damaged or broken, which can lead to breakage, split ends, and other forms of damage," says Huang.
What Is Olaplex?
Olaplex uses an ingredient called bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate to repair damaged disulfide bonds and restore the hair's strength and elasticity. "This helps reduce breakage and improves the overall health of the hair," Huang says.
Olaplex is designed to work on all hair types, but since curly hair has more hair bonds, Popescu says it's even more important for people with curly hair types to use bond-building products. "People can use Olaplex daily as part of their everyday hair routine, in accordance with the directions on each product," says Popescu.
