An Olaplex Shampoo and Conditioner review from a haircare addict

I have salon-quality hair in the comfort of my own home and I'm completely obsessed.

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Alexandra Hourigan

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If you've been to a hair salon or dyed your hair in the last three years, you've definitely heard of the wonder product called Olaplex. It's a treatment used during and after hair colouring that actually repairs your hair from the inside out. No, it's not a conditioning treatment, but a repair solution that takes your sad, dry and damaged hair and nourishes it back to health. It's a cult product for one reason – it works.

However, when the brand announced it was launching the Olaplex Bond Maintenance No.4 Shampoo and Bond Maintenance No.5 Conditioner to use alongside your at-home treatment, everyone lost it. Me included.

I'm a haircare addict and a proud one in fact. I'll happily drop a pretty penny on a product if it promises to make my hair grow, look shiny or feel healthy. After using the Olaplex at-home treatment I already had a pretty high opinion of the product but whether the shampoo and conditioner could fill in the shoes of its big-sister product, I needed to know.

The review

I won't lie, when the product landed on my desk, I was shocked and not in a good way. These bottles are tiny. They look like they are travel size and they cost $49.95 a bottle. Yes, you read that right.

I automatically felt like I'd been ripped off because I had paid a significant amount for not a whole lot of product.

Regardless, I continued on with my normal haircare routine of applying the No. 3 at-home treatment and left it in for a few hours.

source: @laurabellhair

I then jumped into the shower to wash out the solution and began using the shampoo. What I hadn't realised is that you don't need to use much product. The formula is incredibly potent and a little goes a long way.

This definitely made me feel a lot better about the size of the bottles as I expected to blow through them in a matter of weeks.

I also have very long and very thick hair, which we can thank my Italian genes for, so washing my hair is normally counted as a workout for me. However, the shampoo lathered incredibly quickly, held strong and I successfully recreated the Emma Stone shower scene from Easy A.

Washing it out was just as simple as the application and it's safe to say I was beginning to become embarrassingly excited.

The conditioner is a thicker consistency so you need a little more oomph into the squeeze to get the product out. Not a deal breaker but also not fabulous.

But no joke, this conditioner feels like velvet, honey and liquid gold mixed into one. It feels hydrating as soon as it's applied on the hair and spreads easily. Following the instructions, I left the product in for five minutes and then washed it out just as easily as the shampoo.

I allowed my hair to air-dry to see how it affected dry hair and the frizz that normally accompanies that experience had practically disappeared. My hair felt soft like I'd just received a salon-quality wash and styling my hair had never been easier.

The final verdict:

Pros

  • While this product isn't going to repair your hair completely in one wash, it did feel better after a single use of the product.
  • After using the product for a couple weeks, the quality of my hair improved dramatically to a level that you could see and feel.
  • My hair became less frizzy and was significantly hydrated.
  • Really gives it a good clean so it feels light and adds a good amount of volume to your hair.
  • The time it takes to shampoo and condition my hair has pretty much halved from the easy application and wash-out process.

Cons

  • Regardless of how much product you want to use, $49.95 per bottle is still a big price tag for shampoo and conditioner.
  • Did feel like I needed a little more conditioner than the shampoo but that's just because of my thick hair.
  • Normally, my hair needs to be washed once a week but I did feel like my hair got a little oilier quicker using this but only by one or two days at the most.

So would I buy it again?

This pains my wallet to say this but yes, I would. I haven't used a product that left my hair soft and silky like the Olaplex shampoo and conditioner does.

After committing to using the Olaplex Bond Maintenance No.4 Shampoo and Bond Maintenance No.5 Conditioner for the last couple of weeks, I'm hooked. I'm now in a committed relationship with this product and my Kevin Murphy bottles are still salty about it.

Where you can buy it

Buy Olaplex products

You can also buy Olaplex online from a number of retailers. Check out the list below for our favourite retailers that stock Olaplex:

Top sites to buy Olaplex online

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Writer

Alex Hourigan is Finder's social content creator and manages everything to do with FinderStyle. You'll find her written and video work featured on sites such as MTV Australia and Elite Daily. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Marketing from Macquarie University. See full bio

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