ARCHIVE · OLAPLEX IN ZOLTAN’S CHAIR · FROM 2015
Bond care is now built into Zoltan’s perms and straightening. Book at Maddox Street →
Bond building in perms, straightening and smoothing · from 2015
Logo: Olaplex, Inc.. Shown as a historical item; not Zoltan’s brand, and no endorsement implied.
Olaplex in my chair · from 2015
Olaplex
Summer 2015
When Olaplex arrived in the UK I was one of the first to put it to work. By July 2015 I was using it in my London chair, and I launched my own version of the service, Zolaplex, that same month. For a texture specialist it was a big deal: for the first time there was something that went into the hair during a chemical service and helped hold it together.
I helped launch Olaplex in the UK. I was one of the first to receive it and test it on my clients, before it was on sale here.
I had it before it was launched here. My own Olaplex page from 2015 said it plainly: I was one of the first hair specialists to receive Olaplex in the UK before its launch, to test it on my clients, and I then built it into most of my treatments.
What it actually does
PermsUP, straightening and bleach all work by breaking bonds inside the hair. Olaplex is designed to protect the bonds during the service; it doesn't put back bonds that are gone. Nothing makes damage disappear, but it means the hair comes out of a service stronger than it would have without it.
How I used it
- Before a perm or a straightening on weak hair: one or two Olaplex treatments at home in the week before, then Olaplex on the damaged areas before the service.
- Inside a perm: a small measure mixed into the permUP lotion and the neutraliser, so the bonds were being looked after while the curl was being made.
- Inside a straightening: in my Yuko anti-frizz treatment I mixed half a millilitre of Olaplex into every 20 ml of the softening cream. The repair menu →
- With smoothing: Olaplex first, smoothing second. Never the other way round — a smoothing treatment seals the hair, and Olaplex then can't get in for two to three weeks.
Keraplex: two treatments in one visit
By 2016 more and more people in the UK were asking about Keraplex. It’s a hybrid: a stand-alone Olaplex bond treatment first, then a keratinDOWN smoothing straight after. Strength on the inside, smoothness on the outside, in one appointment. In my chair the keratin half was my nano mist infusion keratin, and from 2017 KeraSwift.
- Time: Keraplex added about 45 minutes to a usual keratin appointment. My own version, Zolaplex, took about an hour and a quarter extra.
- How long it lasted: as long as the keratin did. Some hair needed another Olaplex before the next Keraplex.
- The order matters: Olaplex first, keratin second. Some keratins seal the hair so well that Olaplex can’t get in for a few weeks afterwards.
- What clients told me: that it made their keratin last longer.
My honest view: two visits beat one. When clients had the time, I’d do the keratin on one day and a stand-alone Olaplex on another, and the results were slightly better. Keraplex was for people who couldn’t come in twice.
Zolaplex, and the name
Zolaplex was my own name for the combination, and I launched it in July 2015. Before that I wanted to call it Olaplex Fusion, and Olaplex didn’t like it. Then Olaplex asked me to stop using Zolaplex too. Same treatment, no fancy name: today the bond care is simply part of the service.
K18
K18 came to me the same way: I was one of the first to receive it and test it before it launched here. Unlike Olaplex, I couldn’t really build it into a treatment at the time. More on the K18 page.
Today
Bond care isn't an extra in my chair any more — it's part of how a permUP or a straightening is done. My bond-protected perm is built on exactly what I learnt in 2015.
“clients were treated with canapés and Champagne, and a live DJ”