How well did Olaplex No3 (that I got off Amazon) perform to transform my curly frizzy hair.

If you haven’t heard, Olaplex is a hair treatment that is offered in salons. It has become popular recently after being recommended by celebrities like Thingy Kardashian. Olaplex gives really impressive results, the before and after pictures on Instagram are most intriguing.

How Olaplex Works

Olaplex 1 and 2 can only be purchased by salons. Olaplex works to repair broken disulphide bonds in hair. This means that Olaplex repairs broken and damaged hair, so it’s not a conditioner, more a hair repairer. Your stylist will add Olaplex no1 to hair dye then apply Olaplex no2 after as a conditioning treatment. It will prevent the dye from damaging the hair and restore silkiness. 

You can have Olaplex no1 and no2 as a stand alone treatment without having hair dyed. Olaplex no3 is the at home treatment you can buy to repair ongoing hair damage.

I have tried a chemical hair straightener before (Global Keratin) and I didn’t like what it did to the texture of my hair-it sort of took the curl out of my hair but left the frizz. So I was cautious about putting any chemicals on my hair. I thought it best to dip my toe into Olaplex by trying No3 first. Also it means that I don’t have to go to a salon.

My Experience with Olaplex No3

I have wavy/curly hair and it’s pretty dry at the ends. I don’t style my hair ever so I’m not sure how it got so ratty. My Disulphide bonds could do with restructuring nevertheless. Someone told me that you can get a 100 ml bottle of Olaplex No3 from Amazon for £20 instead of the £32 it usually costs.

I’m quite conscious of Fake beauty products but the concensus in the Amazon reviews was “this is real”. When my bottle arrived, it certainly seemed real. The packaging was exactly as you’d expect- well printed and straight. There was a tell tale serial number on the base-

Instructions for using Olaplex No3

• Apply a generous amount to clean towel dried hair
• Leave on for a minimum of 10 minutes, the longer the better 
• Use at least once weekly to maintain results 

Before I tried the Olaplex my hair looked like this-

 

This is my natural airdried hair. 

The Olaplex treatment was easy to do myself. I just slathered on a thick layer, brushed through, tied it up and did jobs for about an hour. Then rinse- It takes a fair bit of rinsing out. Even wet I could tell the texture was different. The smell is a sort of hairdresser-y chemical smell, which I quite like because it reminds me of hairdressers.

After using Olaplex No3 I rough dried my hair, I was too impatient to see how it turned out to let it dry naturally-

 

This is rough dried- as in just whizzing the hairdryer about my head. Anyone with thick curly hair will tell you, rough drying doesn’t normally result in this sort of shine. It would normally take 30 minutes of blow drying sections with a metal brush. It felt impossibly soft. My hair held it’s shine through drizzle and a nights sleep. If you have curly hair moisture is your hair style enemy. You will see women with curly hair running and screaming from a light rain. Olaplex has cured my mortal fear of drizzle!

After the next wash I let it dry naturally 

I think my hair looks better without styling even. The curls were more cohesive and less frizzy. It’s not perfect though as you can see, there is still some dryness in the ends. The effects of Olaplex No3 lasted about 4 days. It was 2-3 washes with my normal shampoo before barnet returned to its natural woollen state.

Olaplex No3 All in All

I was impressed. Olaplex No3 transformed my hair; albeit rather temporarily, into extremely soft, easy to style, moisture resistant hair. For a few short days I had well behaved hair. I actually haven’t used the treatment again since my first experiment with it. Not because I didn’t like it, just because I’m saving the remainder of my Olaplex No3 for a special occasion.

I think that’s what Olaplex No3 is best for- special occasions. It’s too expensive to use every week, even with the budget Amazon price of £20. The bottle is pretty small- I reckon you could get 3 or 4 uses out of it. It really does work to repair and transform damaged hair though.

Olaplex No3 is a fantastic buy for improving the condition of dry damaged hair. It’s easy to use and really works. After trying it I’m totally up for booking in for Olaplex No1 and No2.

Available from Amazon UK
  
(please note that this post contains affiliate links, but I bought and paid for the product and my opinions are honest)