What’s Up With Olaplex? A Professional Hairstylist’s Take on the Lawsuit
As many of you know by now, Olaplex is being sued by 28 women for causing hair loss issues.
There is no way for us to know what was really happening in the privacy of these women’s homes that could have led to hair loss, scalp blisters and broken hair.
Here’s what we need to remember when using any product that promises it’s a miracle, all-in-one repairing, protecting, strengthening and hydrating.
Most of the time, it’s being used incorrectly.
And if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
How Olaplex Started
Olaplex started out in 2014 as a two-step bond-building treatment for over-processed hair to be used by professionals in the hair salon. Olaplex Step 1, was added to bleach to help lighten the hair without causing breakage.
Hairdressers still use this technique to protect your hair.
It can also be used on its own while diluted with some warm water, and kept on the hair for 5 minutes, before applying Step 2.
It took longer for the hair to lift when Olaplex #1 was mixed with bleach, but the results were worth it. It kept your hair intact and without the crispiness of over-processed, damaged hair. This was revolutionary.
This is the kit we use in the salon to help build your hair bonds.
Olaplex Step 2, acted as a sealant that was to be applied generously all over the hair to help repair the bonds more and add a conditioning element.
Olaplex #3, which also came out in 2014, is basically a diluted version of the salon-exclusive Olaplex #2. It was available to consumers to use at home.
Olaplex is a bond builder, not a one-size-fits-all miracle hair remedy.
From Pro to Consumer
Olaplex wanted to reach a larger audience - the consumers. Thanks to social media, everyone bought into Olaplex as the all-in-one remedy, even if they didn’t need it.
Olaplex started selling at Sephora in 2017. They expanded the line and in 2018 came out with a shampoo and conditioner. This allowed them to tap into both the professional and consumer markets.
Professionals had their backbar sizes, and consumers bought smaller bottles.
I remember trying out their shampoo and conditioner at the first salon I ever worked at in Toronto and feeling massive disappointment. It was so concentrated, making it hard to break up with water. It made my clients’ hair tangly, dry and dull, and it was a pain to wash out of the hair.
But I still believed in their Steps 1 & 2 because literally nothing else had made my fine, thin hair stronger and more resilient to heat than those two treatments together.
What this did was it took away the professionals’ ability to educate consumers on how to best use the products. Olaplex turned from B2B to B2C and now anyone could get it with zero education. Unless a client specifically asked at the salon, most people were experimenting.
The Massive Growth of Olaplex Products
After 2018, and all throughout the pandemic, Olaplex continued to release products that seemed to me, as a skeptical professional with a science background, as if they were meant to simply make more money.
There was the #6 Bond Smoother, then the #7 Bonding Oil, then the #8 Bond Intensive Moisture Mask, the purple shampoo, the #0, the #9 and more recently the lash growth serum.
Is it just me or is that a bit much? It feels a lot like they are throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what would stick.
Growth, and taking a massive chunk of the market, was at the forefront of their minds, and it showed.
What did this growth do? It confused customers and professionals.
Most people don’t know how to use Olaplex, despite all the tutorials online. And maybe that’s the problem - everyone with a camera has a tutorial on how to use the products and in what order.
Professionally, I’m telling you, you don’t need ten products to make your hair pretty. The order also makes no sense. Are we supposed to put all of the oils, serums and leave-ins, in our hair on top of one another?
Nah.
The Over-Hype
Olaplex is a bond builder, and all their products have bond building technology built in, not an all-in-one hair remedy. It was over-hyped up as the miracle all-in-one that will heal your hair and make it shiny and new again.
That’s simply not true.
It’s great for people with damaged, compromised hair. Very good for blondes.
But let me tell you something: people who have used Olaplex only, have no idea what they’re missing. I started working with the Kevin Murphy line, and more recently, Hairstory. The difference in shine, brilliance and manageability of the hair is staggering. It’s like night and day.
Mis-using Olaplex
So what happened? Consumers were misusing the products. I’ve even over-heard professionals recommend sleeping in Olaplex #3 to repair their hair. Anyone who knows hair knows NOT to sleep with a mask in the hair because that could lead to breakage. We also don’t have any studies on what 8+ hours of sleep with Olaplex could do to the hair follicles.
So what happens when a strong, professional line is sold to consumers who don’t have formal hair training? They misuse it.
All in all…
As for the lawsuit claims of hairloss, there are so many variables that we know nothing of that could have lead to these issues.
Some of them are:
Hormonal changes
Stress
Mixing Olaplex with other brands
Applying products on the roots that are meant for the ends