I've heard so much about different brands of these kind of products and most companies are using a silicone like effect to coat the outside of the hair and not actually repair internal structure!!
While at Salon international this weekend I spent quite a fair amount of time speaking to the different brands and all say about 'not bumping up the peroxide' well if that's the only good thing about their product, it's not got an actual selling point of its own.
I'd rather buy a product that work's not just because they are bad mouthing other brands to get selling.
As I have mentioned many times over many forums. As for Olaplex,
it doesn't matter what company you hear from. Ingredient decks are unable to show bias. Here is some food for thought from Dr. Eric Pressly "The analogy that I gave when speaking to a bunch of future scientists about Olaplex recently regarding this issue was: Imagine you invent a car, then your competitor has a rock and says that it does the same thing and they push it down a hill and it rolls too. It’s painfully clear the rock is not a car but how do you frame that argument." Several knock offs actually share the same ingredient deck with 3 or 4 more knockoffs private labeled from most likely the same manufacturer. If their chemistry was revolutionary, why would it be under multiple names? If it actually worked, why wouldn't Cosmoprof have brought it on when they had every opportunity prior to launching Olaplex? Marketing and science are two entirely separate things and it's important to recognize that as stylists both for yourself and your clients.
As far as "timing" goes: If you are having any issues with lift or processing time, this can be solved by using less Olaplex. The biggest thing to keep in mind is the fact that lighteners have differing levels of lift. Some being 9+ and others being only 5 levels means Olaplex should be adjusted based on the product you are using.
Adding Olaplex to your lightener is highly important and should be done if possible instead of doing just a treatment after. By adding Olaplex to your lightener, you are able to mitigate damage during the process. Using No.2 after finds more of the disulfide bonds and cross links them back together. By not adding No.1 to your lightener, lightener will in turn do more damage which means the treatment would have to find even more disulfide bonds and cross link them back together.
Olaplex itself will not effect tonality in anyway whatsoever. If you feel you are not getting enough lift and not getting past that "orangey" tone, process longer or cut the amount of Olaplex used in half. This has been used extensively with every single lightener on the market and we want everyone to achieve beautiful results. If 1/8oz is not working for 30-60g with on-scalp application / balayage, cut down to 1/16oz.
As for those working with 40vol as the highest, you have a few different options. The first being that you may process for an additional period of time. If working under time constraints, you may use heat checking every 3-5 minutes as you normally would. Your other option would be to cut the amount of Olaplex down until you find what works based on your personal preferences.
I have experienced every single issue mentioned above myself personally. The most important thing is learning that things can and should be changed based on the products that you are using. When we got the product, there were no directions. I have personally been responsible for having to highlight clients multiple times by adding too much. I've also pushed hair too far as well. This is a learning process for everyone and I ask that you just experiment and find what works!
As a stylist, I would never buy something from a company who lies to make a profit, and that there is so much proof, you can find on many forums, that it does not hold up and actually damages worse than bleach itself. Protect your clients hair and your reputation as a stylist and find the facts before being sold by someone who if paid to promote. Olaplex has never advertised. The results speak for themselves. I am here simply to help shut down misinformation and provide the actual chemistry so as to help stylists not end up with some of the horror stories I have to hear from "knock off" use on a daily basis.
