It’s a truth universally acknowledged but never said louder than a whisper: It’s not possible to have strong, shiny and slick hair if you also bleach it. Not even Kim Kardashian can manage that. But, there are a handful of treatments out there that promise to give you what the genetic lottery could not.
The first to hit the mainstream was Olaplaex, which launched in 2015 to the applause of hair colourists and celebrities. Unlike previous salon treatments, it gave more than a cursory injection of hydration. It claimed it could repair your hair where bleach had damaged it and it could relink the bonds that cause damage, breakage and dullness. Hell, when it came on the market I was sold. Hook, line and sinker. I used it every time I coloured my curls and even invested in the at-home treatments. But, truth be told, I never really saw any effects.
Founder of Not Another Salon on Brick Lane and international colour oracle Sophia Hilton has tapped a new treatment that promises the same effects (if not more) that Olaplaex. It’s £30, takes under half an hour and is called INNOLuxe V2. ‘V2 works inside and out, it rebuilds the hair like never before, but equally important, the client’s going to really feel it’, says Sophia.
Similar to Olaplaex, it’s a stand-alone treatment that can be maintained with at-home products and used whether or not you’re colouring your hair. It also uses a similar science to repair and rejuvenate any type of hair - caucasian, afro, curly, straight, bleached to death or virgin. Think of it as scaffolding for your mane - it builds up a framework of organic sulphur from amino acid cysteine along with hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and extra low weight proteins to create links that bond your natural keratin together. Unlike a Brazilian Blowdry or any other sort of keratin treatment, it doesn’t require heat and works deeper than conditioning the surface of your hair by penetrating the very structure of the strands.
While Sophia admits blondes see more effect and that if your hair is truly bleached to death it will require multiple treatments, my dried up curly brown hair saw effect after the first wash. The salon treatment required my hair to be washed with two different doses of the product, but it was fast and manageable. Immediately, my hair was shinier, felt stronger and the definition of the curls was back. Their’s no looking back for me.
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.