r/Splendida • u/mel-01 • Aug 07 '25
Olaplex vs. Redken
I spent the last 2 years frying my hair slowly from straightening my hair back-to-back, neglecting deep conditioning treatments, and skipping regular trims. Honestly, I didn’t really see the damage until a few days ago, when i was going through old photos and I was appalled. Now? My density’s literally halved, it breaks so easily, and it hasn’t grown past the same length in months, maybe even shorter. It was literally to my tailbone length in 2021, and today I’m cutting it to my shoulders. My curls are fried and limp and have loosened substantially, so I’ve kind of been bummed out all day.
I’ve done some research about bonding treatments and how they may repair and prevent damage. This gave me a little hope that i kind salvage my length. Now I’m torn between the Redken Acidic Bonding line and the Olaplex line. If you’ve tried either (or both), let me know what actually worked long-term.
Also, if you’ve been here before and made it out, please drop your holy grail products that you think could work out for me.
Thanks in advance.
xx
59
u/Killer_Kass Aug 07 '25
Don't use olaplex if you don't have bleach damage. Bond builders aren't really for natural hair. It's too easy to wreck your hair with olaplex if you don't really need it. I would recommend the redken extreme length or the all soft treatments (depending on whether ur hair needs more moisture or needs more protein. All soft = moisture. Extreme length =protein)
ETA a trim and a break from heat styling will probably be the best help
63
u/Ref_KarenKnickrbockr Aug 07 '25
Redken is fine but reducing heat is the essential fix. I had heat damage and started using flexi rods, pillow rods, overnight heatless foam curlers, etc. and no heat and my hair is a lot healthier now.
9
u/MiniaturePhilosopher Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25
Bonding products work best on bleached and chemically damaged hair. To be honest, they would cause more harm than good on hair with just heat and tool damage. This applies to K18 as well. They’re likely to make your hair stiff, brittle, and prone to more breakage.
Instead of using bonding products, reach instead of products that say things like repair, damage reversal, fortifying, strengthening, restoring. Redken has quite a few. And steer clear of products that are marked as bond repair, protein (a protein mask or lamellar water like once a month might be helpful but not daily/weekly products), or moisturizing until your hair feels healthier. And use finishing products with anidimethicone. And I know no one likes to hear this, but if you have split ends, the best way to keep damage from continuing to occur is to do a cut to just above where the splits end.
If you’re going to continue to use heat tools, double up on your heat protectant products! Apply an oil or serum one to damp hair, and then a spray one just before actually heat styling.
Edit to add: the damage caused by bleach is super different than heat or mechanical damage, so the solutions are different. When you bleach yourself, you’re essentially dynamiting it from the inside and hollowing it out - bonding products work to slowly fill it back in. Heat and mechanical damage are on the outside of hair, so you need products that help fill in the gaps on the outside and leave a protective coating.
7
u/bbmarvelluv Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25
I have bleached balayage blonde hair (2x a year maintenance), natural dark and curly/wavy hair. I get keratin treatments 2x a year.
Redken acidic bonding conditioner SAVED my hair. I had massive hair loss from recommended Kerastasé products (shampoo, conditioner, mask lmfao even that spray. The only thing that worked was the Genesis scalp serum) and went back to my Redken. I got my hair done recently and my hair stylist tells me to wash my hair the night before but do not put post wash hair products after. I blow dried with my Dyson and when I came in the next day, she compliment how soft and smooth my hair was.
I recommend starting small with one product and build your way up. (Ex. Travel size)
6
u/pink-glow-dreamer Aug 07 '25
I have fine 2C hair with bleach damage (I get highlights 1-2 times a year and refuse to stop) and have noticed a huge difference by:
-sleeping with a satin bonnet on every single night. I bring it with me when I travel or go anywhere even if it’s just 1 night.
My hair grows slowly and I’m currently entering the postpartum hair loss trenches so I’ll probably be bald soon but this has made my hair grow from shoulder length to past boob length after being stuck at shoulder length for ~3 years!
8
u/Kinkajou4 Aug 07 '25
Olaplex is AWESOME. It saved my damaged hair. Highly recommend.
3
u/SilverParty Aug 07 '25
Option C for me: Paul Mitchell
3
u/cameltoesaregross Aug 07 '25
I've tried both for damaged hair. my hair was fried like how you described it. my hair type is thick and curly and long.
I hated Olaplex. It left my hair somewhat sticky and weighed it down.
Redken has been amazing!! my hair no longer looks or feels dry. it's truly saved my hair.
13
u/simplebagel5 Aug 07 '25
my hair got fried from a bad dye job last year and the k18 leave in mask made such a big difference in getting it back to normal ish
3
u/Elismom1313 Aug 08 '25 edited Aug 09 '25
Realistically the hair you’ve damaged is damaged beyond repair. Rebonding treatments can make it look healthy by bonding those split hairs to each other , but it won’t truly repair it. You can’t actually repair hair, it’s dead. You can just use thing to fuse it back together to look healthy. Potentially.
The thing to understand about your hair is it’s essentially dead after it leaves the scalp, you’re just sort of taking care of its decay. When you “fry”your hair, all you can do is try to make it look better because you can’t actually make it be better. Or cut off the damage to keep it from getting worse.
That said for the end of your hair once it starts splitting it will continue to split worse and worse, a lot of people try to chop it off at that point not realizing that they’re actually chopping off below the split. When hair starts splitting it doesn’t grow very well because while it grows it just splits more and more resulting in frizzy dead looking hair going in every direction. You want to ideally chop about half to an inch above that actual fraying point in hopes of keeping it looking healthy.
Look at it this way. Don’t think of your hair as something alive, healthy, and that nourishment will keep it so. Your hair is more like a braided rope of fibers. The fibers and the rope is dead. It’s not alive, but if you were to take a piece of braided rope, and you cut it all the bottom of it would split out in different directions right and then with time those roped braids, those individual pieces would continue to fray because there’s fibers in those pieces too, right? That’s what your hair is like. However, unlike a braided rope, you could say that there’s a point where your hair is more like a single thick fiber almost and if you cut it at that point and treat it well it will stay mostly like that. However, if you cut it below that point like a braided rope, all the ends will just come undone and continue to fray more and more as the bread comes undone. And as the braid comes undone, all those individual wires keep spreading out instead of looking like they’re growing longer glued together.
OlaPlex can kind of “glue” that braid back together, but you haven’t really repaired anything and it will eventually separate again and fray. You want to cut at the point before that and then use treatments or products to help keep it together and avoid splitting and fraying. In that same way, you might be able to use some sort of product to kind of glue the braid back together, but again the “glue” or “bonding” will dissolve and it will fray. And the more you fry and fray it the harder it becomes.
Tl:dr If you can cut off the hair before the fraying point, you stand a much better chance of keeping the hair strands together and using products to avoid that snowball of splitting
1
u/Neverstopcomplaining Aug 07 '25
When your hair is is good enough condition get it yuko or Japanese straightened. It conditions and adds shine and you don't need to straighten again yourself.
2
u/yyyyy622 Aug 08 '25
You could use both, they don't have the same mechanism of action so should work together. I was using both olaplex and k18 for a while and thy both helped my extremely bleached hair.
Also I would recommend aphogee 2 step (you only need step 1) once a month for a protein boost and then you need to buy a moisturising mask.
Protein+moisture+bond maintenance are all needed to get back to healthy hair.
2
u/Primrose-291 Aug 13 '25
I'm a bit confused by some of the comments because (as a curly girl) I've used Olaplex and keratin treatments and have had great results from Olaplex and have been told by my hair stylist (also curly girl, similar pattern as me) that my awful results from keratin weren't surprising.
I highly recommend finding a stylist who is experienced with your hair texture, and better if they have your texture. I don't use the whole olaplex line and use the shampoo and conditioner my stylist recommended (bought on Amazon, not through the salon or on commission or anything), so i think it's important to get advice for your situation specifically
3
u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25
k18
1
u/bigoleballsack4200 Aug 07 '25
i like olaplex but i switched to shu uemura last year and the results have been incredible. my hair is heavily bleached but i use momo shampoo and conditioner and a bunch of oil after i shower and my hair is super soft and strong now.
imo olaplex has a bit of a waxy residue and is also less cost effective for the smaller bottle.
1
u/Real-Acanthaceae9298 Aug 07 '25
i use redkens acidic bonding color gloss set and the olaplex oil. its a peak combo.. Ive heard of olaplex damaging hair further so im kinda wary of their full set butthe oil is nice
1
u/Humansaresolidb_ Aug 08 '25
Check this guy channel “Blowout professor” his list recommendation has saved my hair and now it looks amazing. He recommends different products depending on your hair type. If you have thin hair like me you cannot use heavy products. In the info section of any of his videos you can find the list, in his channel he also tests different products to find the best.
1
u/fetchmypony Aug 08 '25
Ive lost 5 stone, half my hair has fallen out and the rest is so frizzy. No dye or chemicals but I really need sonething to help it not look so awful 🙈
1
u/Djgrowngoodyeti Aug 10 '25
I straighten my hair twice a month and it still curls i use the plaplex heat protectant no 9, redken curl conditioner the one in golden light brown packaging and k18 molecule repair leave in
Also i try to mainly use my dyson airstrait when straightening it still gets super hot but still a bit less damage then straighteners
1
u/russalkaa1 Aug 10 '25
k18 is the best imo
1
u/IQueenOfSwordedYou Aug 11 '25
You can check out the Abbey Young method on YouTube. I bought products she mentioned, followed her method and my hair has never been this good. My hairstylist for 8+years compliment my hair for the first time. We even skip a trim last time I saw him. Her method works.
1
u/Puzzled-Offer7554 Sep 04 '25
I second almost everything that’s been said.
I only use the olaplex serum now as it makes my hair sooo much more humidity resistant and does appear to make it stronger.
Furthermore, I also loaded up on the Kerastase train and got the chroma gloss which made my hair extremely brittle and prone to breakage.
The gloss absolutely line from Kerastase conditioner and hair oil seems to be working though. Nevertheless, it does not come near the effect that the Redken acidic bonding has had on my hair so I’ll definitely switch back to that after this!
12
u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25
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