No lab coat or beakers necessary, you can take your haircare to scientific heights from the comfort of your own bathroom.
With brands like Olaplex and Living Proof innovating the space, bond-repairing treatments have become more accessible for use at home, so you can maximise the regenerating, strengthening and shine-enhancing benefits between salon appointments.
What are bond building hair treatments?
John Alfred at Hershesons (@johnalfredhair) explains, “This is a treatment which can be done in salon or at home, it’s designed to repair and maintain the protein bonds of the hair”.
He adds, “This can be used in conjunction with a colour service; but remember the key benefit from using a bond repair product is strengthening rather than moisturising so, when using protein bond repair combine with a moisturising treatment in your routine to balance out and avoid over-proteinisation.”
Whether damage is caused from excessive bleaching, dyeing, heat styling or simply brushing, these hair treatments work on a molecular level to repair the makeup of the hair’s strands. The hair shaft is comprised of three layers - cuticle (outer layer), cortex and medulla (at the centre) - which can be comprised by chemical, thermal, mechanical, and environmental factors causing the bonds to break and the structure of your locks to be compromised. Incorporate these pre-wash, mid-wash or post-wash treatments into your routine to rebuild, repair and reverse hair breakage.
How do bond-repairing products work? Are the at-home products effective?
The hairstylist reveals that “They work by protecting against future breakage, but they can also link the protein bonds in damaged hair. The at-home products are effective but won’t compare to the in-salon treatments and I would recommend they are used to top up on the treatment which has been done in the salon.
Who should be using bond-repairing products?
“Anyone who is having chemical treatments on their hair whether that is colour or our permanent blow dry treatments, and works great for anyone who is regularly using heat on their hair too!”
These treatments can be applied on all hair types and textures, from straight to curly, and coloured to dehydrated.
Shop the best bond repairing haircare to revitalise your locks below
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Olaplex
Price: £14-£168
The story of Olaplex is what beauty dreams are made of. On the hunt for hair products that “would make hair great”, founder Dean Christal and his two-man chemist team created the patented formula that we know and love today. This was back in 2014 and since, it has become the best-selling hair brand at both Space NK and John Lewis, beloved for its ability to fortify the strands and leave hair shinier and healthier - no mean feat.
Beginning in salons, the at-home range is a less potent but still powerhouse collection of shampoos, conditioner, and pre and post wash treatments that are made up of the brand’s trademarked Bond Building Technology that combats damage caused by chemical, thermal, mechanical, environmental and physiological reasons. It finds the broken bonds, repairs them and as such tames frizz and strengthens dry, coloured or overprocessed manes.
The range is helpfully numbered so you know what order to use them in and includes the No 0. Bond Builder to be used in tandem with the No. 3 Hair Perfector to prime and prep, the No. 4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo and No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner, and the No. 6 Bond Smoother and No. 7 Bonding Oil as the game-changing styling creations. No.8 is a mid-wash mask. Newer additions have seen No.4C and No.4P shampoos for clarifying and blonde toning respectively as well as leave-in serum, the No.9 Bond Protector.
Buy now, lookfantastic
Living Proof Triple Bond Complex
How’s this for a fact that those of us with damaged hair won’t be able to resist: Living Proof’s Triple Bond Complex has been scientifically proven to make hair eight times stronger after just one use.
To be applied on hair wash day after your traditional shampoo and conditioner treatment, this formula contains a first of its kind molecule created in the brand’s own labs to repair all three of the bonds that make up the individiual hair strands; hydrogen, ionic and covalent.
Whether it’s to combat excessive heat styling or years of harsh dyes, this works to not just reduce the signs of damage in appearance but actually repair split end and shield from future stressors.
Buy now £42.00, Living Proof
Aveda Botanical Repair
Price: £9.60-£65.60
The Botanical Repair is the bond-regenerating contingent of Aveda’s professional-level haircare collection. It is powered by plants to leave the hair stronger and healthier, while also being vegan and almost all naturally derived.
The offering is made up of a shampoo and conditioner and two types of masks - rich for thicker hair types and light for thin, fine locks - as well as an overnight serum that protects while you slumber and a post-wash leave-in treatment to shield against environmental aggressors throughout the day. Use together for best results.
The science-backed range was created to strengthen all three layers of the hair to leave it thicker and healthier, while also smoothing at the same time. Plus, the addictive aroma that you’ll catch a whiff off with every swish of your mane is always appreciated.
Buy now, lookfantastic
Coco & Eve Bond Building Pre-Shampoo Treatment
This treatment - as the name suggests - was created to be used in advance of your hair wash day to repair the hair bonds from the inside-out. So in demand was this product from Bali born and inspired haircare label Coco & Eve that there was a waistlist of over 20,000 people waiting to get their hands on the strengthening saviour before it had launched.
It uses a combination of the brand’s own Bond Building technology alongside an oil complex with coconut and avocado for a protein and vitamin-rich injection to the follicles and botanicals oils of pomegranate and apricot that create a barrier to prevent moisture loss.
In just one wash, you will feel the effects with silky, smooth and more manageable locks. Less breakage and the healthy sheen are more of the many benefits.
Buy now £23.00, Coco & Eve
Philip Kingsley Bond Builder Restructuring Treatment 150ml
Philip Kingsley’s Elasticizer may be its most praised mask but its the brand’s foray into bond building that has caught our attention. If you’re finding that your locks are dry, frayed, frizzy and fried, reinforcements are certainly necessary and this intensive treatment gets to work repairing the individual strands with noticeable results.
Turn back the clock on curling sessions, dye jobs and slicked back chignons with the Advanced Bond Rebuilding Technology contained within this 10 minute treatment that reconnects broken bonds and, alongside panthenol, gives hair a moisture hit.
Buy now £28.00, Cult Beauty
Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate Intensive Pre-Treatment 150ml
With a bottle that looks like it’s straight out of a lab, this is the potent treatment that your hair routine has been lacking to give stressed strands a new lease of life. The cocktail of the Redken Bonding Care Complex and citrus acid makes for an efficacious product that leaves your hair in a healthier condition - and really what more can you ask for in a treatment? With a lovely texture and pleasant subtle scent, it will become your go-to to transform overly processed hair.
Buy now £19.35, lookfantastic
K18 Leave-in Molecular Repair Hair Mask
This is the hero product in K18’s range and a holy grail among those in the know. The label uses sceintific evidence to craft its range where each product contains its trademarked K18Peptide. This ingredient is made up of amino acids that are able to penetrate into the hair shaft to repair at a molecular level - and it’s able to do so in just four minutes with this mask. Lustrous sheen? Here we come.
Buy now £25.00, Cult Beauty
Amika The Kure Intense Bond Repair Mask
The Brooklyn-born label’s diverse product line-up has been created so that all hair types and textures can get in on the bond-repairing action. Its ‘the kure’ range is dedicated exactly to that aim and uses a specialised bond cure technology that minimises breakages and shields against further damage. This component is placed alongside nourishing plant butters and vegan proteins so that your mane is being supported from every angle and enriched with vitamins and minerals so you’ll be able to flick your hair with confidence.
Buy now £20.00, Cult Beauty
The INKEY List PCA Bond Repair Hair Treatment 100ml
Dousing your locks in bond-repairing treatments need not cost the earth as is shown by The Inkey List and its no-fuss, no frills approach to the technology. This differs from the majority of the other products on this list and comes in a spray mist format that protects the hair bonds with every spritz. The label opts for Granrepair Powerbond technology designed to penetrate even futher into the hair fibre so that no part is left untouched by the reparative formula.
Buy now £12.99, Boots
Aldi Lacura Bonded
Over at Aldi, you can find dupes for some of the best beauty products around and at the budget supermarket’s signature low price tags. When it launched its own range of hair-bonding products, it was an instant hit and sold out near instantly. If you can get your hands on the collection of shampoo, conditioner, pre-wash treatment and dry shampoo, you will be able to maximise the hydrating formula that has been created to leave your locks healthy and glossy. The combination of vitamin E, hyaluronic acid and hydrogenated castor oil is best suited to combat damaged, dull and frizz-prone hair.
Buy now £2.99, Aldi
