Some things don’t need to be reinvented. Sliced bread? Awesome. Paperclips? Never change. So it was a surprise when Olaplex announced it was reformulating its fan-favorite bond repair treatment, Olaplex No.3 Hair Perfector. It’s a paperclip. A dependable fix when things are a little frazzled and disorganized.
Olaplex No.3 Plus Complete Repair Treatment is the next evolution of No.3 and, the brand claims, it can do everything its predecessor is capable of, only better and faster. “No.3 was an icon, but technology is always evolving,” says chief science and research officer for Olaplex, Lavinia Popescu. The new technology—what the brand is calling a Damage Defense Cationic Complex—targets cuticle repair specifically.
That targeting of the cuticle is key to the new formula. The original No.3 featured their proprietary bond-building ingredient, bis-aminopropyl digylcol dimaleate, which binds directly to and repairs the three types of bonds within the hair shaft (hydrogen, ionic, and disulfide) after they’ve been frayed by heat, chemicals, water, or environmental damage.
The new formulation still features these ingredients, but adds (hence the “plus”) their new cationic technology that attaches like a magnet onto the cuticle of the hair—what is, essentially, the outer shell of a strand—and repairs it, as well. That way, you’re sealing in all that good healing you got from the bis-amino. “By combining these two technologies, we’re able to repair damage from the inside out and reduce future breakage,” says Popescu.
“We also received some feedback from consumers that when they used (the original formula), they felt like their hair was repaired but they wanted to have a bit more conditioning,” she adds. So in addition to the cuticle repair upgrade, the new product needed to target softness and manageability.
Not that the OG wasn’t conditioning. The original formula featured a combination of oils and lipids to hydrate and soften the hair like glycerin and jojoba seed oil. “The new formula has more modern types of conditioning ingredients,” says Cincinnati-based cosmetic chemist Kelly Dobos. She points to the addition of acrylamidopropyltrimonium chloride/acrylamide copolymer, a synthetic polymer that has improved long-lasting softening effects.
“There are also some changes to thickening and stabilizing ingredients that I think also contribute to a thicker, richer feel,” Dobos adds.”The original utilized hydroxyethyl ethylcellulose for thickening and stability and the new formula uses hydroxypropyl starch phosphate, which also offers thickening properties but with a less tacky and more luxurious feel.”
Several natural oils and botanical extracts—crambe abyssinica seed oil, avocado oil, and sunflower seed oil—have also been added to the new formula and may have some additional scalp moisturization and antioxidant benefits, says Dobos.
The brand has also managed to cut the usage time. The original formula was a pre-shampoo treatment that needed to be left on for 10 minutes before rinsing and washing. The new product, the brand claims, gets even better results in just three minutes. Popescu credits the speed to a new ingredient—glutamic acid—which aids penetration to the hair’s cortex. “We can basically restructure the hair from 360 degrees—first increasing the penetration and sealing basically instantaneously,” she says.
Dobos also believes the speed is helped along by those extra conditioning ingredients: “More conditioning agents deposit on the negatively-charged surface of the damaged hair. More polymeric, film-forming conditioners help align damaged hair cuticles quickly.” And there might be a little wish-fulfillment happening. “The addition of oils and butters begin lubricating the hair fiber on application and can enhance the perception of quicker repair even if the ‘bond building’ is a little slower,” Dobos adds. So you’re likely feeling instant smoothing and conditioning, and the real repair comes after a few uses.
