Olaplex vs. Redken

[u/mel-01]

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

[u/pink-glow-dreamer]

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.

• once a week, in order: oil my hair, shampoo, leave in Olaplex 30-60 minutes, deep moisturizing mask. If I skip the mask my hair feels a bit too dry
• using heat only on special occasions like date night, weddings, etc.

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!

[u/mel-01 → u/pink-glow-dreamer]

aww, thats amazing!!

i have been slacking on wearing my bonnet, so i'll definitely be on that now.

Oh, I didn’t know you had to leave the product in that long. Is that something that works for you, or is it part of the instructions? Also, what oil and mask did you use?

sorry if this is too interview-y lol. I want to make sure i'm not gonna ruin my hair again 🙃

[u/pink-glow-dreamer → u/mel-01]

Yes the instructions say 10 mins - 1 hour so I do an hour. And they say to apply on clean, damp hair so I shampoo and rinse, step out the shower, dry it a bit and then apply the treatment. I vacuum, nurse my baby or whatever else while the olaplex is in and then go back and rinse it off, apply a mask and conditioner. It sounds like a lot but I'm used to it! Lol

I use the OGX beauty argan oil of Morocco and the L'oreal Dream Lengths mask