Olaplex, the hair treatment to give your locks a new lease of life

The treatment

An Olaplex treatment at Medusa Hair, Edinburgh. It costs £15 at this salon (other salons vary) then add £30.50 for a blow dry with salon director Peter Mellon.

Why go?

If you’re planning on dying your hair (especially if you’re going lighter), but want to minimise the damage, Olaplex can be mixed with your colour at the salon. Or, try it if, like me, you just want shiny smooth locks for up to five washes. According to them, it can repair the bonds in the hair that have been broken during thermal, chemical and mechanical processes. Oh, and Kim Kardashian is a fan.

Our spy says

I had a Nanokeratin smoothing treatment back in August 2015 and its effects have almost entirely worn off, so I was desperate for something to remind me of last summer’s shiny hair. However, my coarse wig is the ultimate challenge for any hairdresser, and I wasn’t sure if Olaplex would be up to it. After all, the whole process only takes about 15 minutes (excluding the blow dry).

Once my hair was tipped into the sink at the backwash, my mane was saturated with a bottle’s worth of cool yellow liquid – the Step One: Bond Multiplier.

It’s left on for five minutes, then the next potion – Step Two: Bond Perfector – is added on top and gently brushed through. As this takes another ten minutes to work its magic, I was allowed to sit up and read a magazine. After it had been thoroughly shampooed out, there was a relaxing head massage, then I was taken to the front of Medusa for my blow dry with Peter.

He gets to work wielding the dryer, then, while adding a surfy wave with the straighteners, tells me that loads of their clients ask for Olaplex with their colour these days. I must’ve been living under a rock.

The residual colour, which is year old balayage, and not usually much to look at, is glowing, my hair feels baby soft and is obediently bouncy. I want to hug Peter, and kiss the empty Olaplex bottles, or maybe just take a selfie and Instagram it, à la Kim.

The results

I held off as long as I could before shampooing. Luckily, the Olaplex seemed to have made my hair temporarily less porous, so I managed a full week without it becoming particularly greasy. The effect faded around 20 per cent with each wash. However, if you want to prolong the results, you can buy Step 3 – the Hair Perfector, £35, in salon or online (www.olaplex.co.uk) to use once a week at home.