I’ve mentioned my tragically thin hair many times here on the blog and over the past few years have gone on quite the journey to repair it. As you may have noticed, I used to wear extensions every day for a few years (which I loved and gave me the hair I always dreamed of) and I also used WEN for a long time, which if you want to look it up was involved in a class action lawsuit for people’s hair actually falling out. I remember about mid way into my extension journey some coworkers wanted to see what I looked like without my extensions and I took a picture for them. I was horrified. I couldn’t believe how little hair I actually had left. I took this picture in 2015 and am sharing it so you can see the difference. Even looking at it now makes me want to cry at how damaged my hair was…I am practically bald!
After that picture, I decided to start slowly taking out my extensions. Every six weeks I would take out a weft so it looked more gradual. I also was doing a number of other things to help grow my hair:
- Taking Biotin
- Taking Prenatal vitamins
- Stopped using the round brush
- Stopped using heat to blow dry my hair (I use the coldest setting possible)
- Switched my part every six weeks
A few months ago I was visiting my sister (who has a cosmetology license) after getting my hair done and she asked me if my hair dresser was using heat on my hair when I got it highlighted (she was) and she suggested that I was going too blonde which is why my hair wasn’t growing. I started thinking about it and doing some research. Other women go blonde all the time and don’t have problems, but if you compare pictures of me from college (when I could only afford to get my hair done every six months on my bday and Christmas) it had a lot more length and thickness. So I stumbled across this article from Marie Claire and this one and a few other ones (which I can’t find again unfortunately) and heard the word Olaplex. I had never heard of Olaplex before and was intrigued! Apparently all the celebrities had been using it for years to go blonde and not kill their hair.
Right about the time I was discovering this, Olaplex came out with some at home treatments that I could try on my hair. They have an intensive treatment that you can use after coloring and about once a week and a shampoo and conditioner that you can use every day at home. Now I haven’t been using these long enough to give you a comprehensive “after” picture, but I have noticed a HUGE difference in my hair and I finally feel like I’m going in the right direction. I wanted to try the at home treatments first before I invested in the salon treatments to bring to my stylist. Once I start doing that I feel like we will see an even bigger difference. At my last hair appointment I also stopped going under the dryer when I get my highlights.
Even better news is that Olaplex is now carried at Sephora so you can get the Hair Perfector ($28), Bond Maintenance Shampoo ($28) and Bond Maintenance Conditioner ($28) right at your local store or online. AND you can earn points at the same time…win-win. Olaplex actually REBUILDS the damage in your hair and makes it better. I have never found anything that gave me better results. If you can use the Hair Perfector overnight that yields the best results, especially with hair like mine. I try to do this when I can on a Sunday night and wash it out Monday morning. As you can see in this picture my hair looks a lot better than it did in 2015. This has a lot to do with the list above and I hope to have an even better picture after amping up my Olaplex use. In this picture I had just started using the Olaplex Hair Perfector.
Have you had experience rebuilding your hair? I would love to hear your success stories! Next on my list will be investing in the Olaplex 1 and 2 treatments for my stylist.
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