What do bond builders do? How to pick the right one for you.

Have you ever had a hairstylist tell you about a magic little product that will repair the bonds in your freshly lightened hair? What exactly are hair bonds? Some bond builders have been on the market for over 8 years so it can be intimidating to find one that works for you, or even to fully understand what they do for your hair. In today’s blog post, we’ll talk about the structure of hair, how bond builders affect the hair, and how to pick a great option for yourself.

Bond builders are various forms of hair products that claim to repair hair from the inside by reconnecting or preserving the protein bonds within the hair. Repairing the protein bonds is believed to add strength, improve elasticity, reduce frizz, and increase shine. Bonding products are typically suggested by hair stylists if you start to see signs of damage from excessive heat, UV exposure, or chemical processing. Some bond builders are even added to color or lightener during a service to help mitigate damage as it occurs during chemical hair services.

But what are hair bonds? Hair is essentially a protein called keratin, which is made of strings of amino acids held together by disulfide, hydrogen, and salt bonds. All three bonds contribute to the elasticity and strength of your hair. Disulfide bonds are covalent bonds that maintain the shape of your hair strand and determine the texture of your hair. These are the strongest bonds in the hair and take some sort of chemical treatment to break like perms, lightener, or relaxers. Hydrogen bonds are weaker bonds that also contribute to the moisture of the hair, and can be reset by the use of water and broken with excessive heat. Salt bonds are temporary ionic bonds that behave similarly to hydrogen bonds, but are electrically charged and therefore more sensitive to changes in pH. You may have heard of this sort of bond if you've ever used Ionic blow dryers. According to InStyle, ionic dryers emit negative ions to displace positively charged water molecules and shut down the cuticle layer (the outermost layer) of the hair. This technology dries hair faster and reduces frizz. Next we’ll take a look at what types of products are available for repairing hair bonds now that you know how they work.

There are many products available for bond repair, including shampoos, masks, and treatments. Several formulas on the market claim to repair the damage done to the hair by targeting those bonds and reconnecting them to increase strength. The products are designed to deeply penetrate the hair strand in order to reconnect bonds internally, and greatly fortify the hair, albeit temporarily. However, the few products that can fully claim permanent repair have private patents on their key ingredients so we don't fully know how they are repairing hair strands.

There are a lot of ingredients used in combination to nourish, repair, and maximize the product's interaction with bonds in the hair. Let's take a look at some categories these ingredients fall under according to the way they interact with hair, and some examples of commonly used ingredients.

First are ingredients that will lower or balance the pH, such as citric acid and sodium citrate. Lowering the pH will preserve the salt bonds of hair as too high of a pH (alkalinity) will disrupt the electrical charge of the bonds. Low pH will also close the cuticle layer to reduce porosity and protect the hair from pollutants. 

Next we have cationic surfactants, which are used as conditioning agents that use a positive charge to attract damaged hair that generally has a negative charge and form a salt bond. These show up in formulas as quaternary ammoniums or more commonly as anything containing chloride or grapefruit seed extract. These are considered bonding ingredients because they greatly magnetize and attract to damaged hair strands. Because they are not water-soluble, they resist being washed away.

Then we have modified silicones which greatly increase manageability and softness like regular silicones, but also bind to damaged hair that have a positive charge forming salt bonds or an amino group that the hair will readily absorb. These are most commonly seen in bonding formulas as bis-PCA dimethicone and Amodimethicone. 

Finally we have amino acids, peptides, and proteins; these are added to help protect and add strength, attaching to proteins in porous or damaged hair to repair elasticity, reduce frizz, and increase shine. Amino acids can often be seen as ingredients ending in -ine or -ide. Proteins appear as hydrolyzed vegetable proteins or keratin. Abbey Yung, a Youtube hair and skin care expert, points out in her bond building products video that although these products do help strengthen the hair, they do not permanently repair hair strands. She also mentions that although amino acids and peptides make up proteins, they do behave differently in the hair. There is less research in regards to the effects of amino acids and peptides, but we have found them to be beneficial for strengthening hair. Be careful with overuse of products with proteins as some hair types are prone to excessive build-up of proteins which can lead to brittleness, the opposite of what you want out of a hair repair product. This is called over-keratinization or protein overload.

There are currently three products on the market today that claim their products are actually repairing damage. These are the most well-known bond repair products available on the market; Olaplex, K18, and Living Proof’s Triple Bond Complex. All three products have private patents (or patent-pending in Living Proof’s case) on their key ingredients, so we don't have a full understanding of how they repair broken bonds. The key ingredients in each product are Olaplex’s Bis-Aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate, K18’s sh-Oligopeptide-78 (K18Peptide), and Living Proof’s unnamed “3D Fortifying technology”. Olaplex and K18’s formulas are formulated to allow the key ingredient to effectively penetrate the hair and repair damage. The Triple Bond Complex from Living Proof claims to construct a “3D fiber network” in the hair using the key ingredient along with lipids and peptides to repair damage, nourish, and prevent future damage. 

I use a few different bond builders on my own clients and find that it's not quite a one-size-fits all with hair repair. Clients have different issues with their hair depending on how prone they are to build up or how porous their hair is. It is important to recommend something that caters to your client’s specific needs talking about repairing actual damage to their hair. It's important to note that some of these products do not work immediately. When starting your client on a bond repair treatment, it's important to set their expectations appropriately. Here are some of my personal recommendations for bond builders and what type of hair they will benefit most. 

Drunk Elephant Cocomino Glossing Shampoo

While this is not exactly a bonding product, it is unique in that it is an astringent shampoo that contains coconut amino acids to strengthen the bonds between the hair strands and add greater shine and manageability. I would say this product is best for those with relatively low damage, to bond to the hair and add gorgeous silky shine and a layer of protection from heat and the environment, but I would alternate it with another shampoo (preferably detoxifying) in order to avoid protein overload.

Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate

This is a powerhouse of a hair system as it is targeting salt bonds in the hair by lowering the pH and adding shine, elasticity, strength, and manageability. They recommend using all the products for the 3-step system but I'm mostly recommending the Leave-In treatment as it provides thermal and UV protection, and it's packed full of these modified silicones, and pH lowering acids for a powerful punch of leave-in bond repair. Great for those who are looking for a cheaper alternative to the more common bond building treatments for consistent hair repair, or are finding that protein repair is not for you. Great for most hair types and specifically for moderately damaged, medium to coarse hair, or damaged hair also suffering from protein overload and you need a break from consistent protein use, but still want to avoid further damage or frizz.

Sometimes you will find this as Acidic Perfecting Concentrate but the company how now renamed the product to Acidic Bonding Concentrate and Redken has assured me it is the same formula.

Inkey List PCA Bond Repair Hair Treatment

This is a very straightforward bond repair product, just spritz into the hair post-wash to receive benefits. Claims to repair and prevent breakage from chemical services, as well as soften, shine, and thermally protect. This is the most affordable bond repair on the list, and claims to use its GranRepair Powerbond (thankfully, not a patented formula, it contains PCA, and some silicones and pH balancing ingredients). This is best for clients who have extremely thin or fine hair, or who find other bond treatments too heavy for them. It comes out in a gentle spritz and you can easily control how much you saturate the hair

K18 leave-in molecular repair hair mask

The current debate in the hair world is Olaplex or K18. Realistically both are going to provide more tangible hair repair compared to products targeting hydrogen or salt bonds, and are safe to use, but I have to say I am a lot more partial to k18 due to ease of application and substantial benefits to hair health. The understanding is that Olaplex’s patented protein specifically targets disulfide bonds to strengthen the hair strand. Whereas, it is believed that k18’s function is to repair the keratin chains in the hair for an overall increase in strength, and as a result all bonds are repaired in the process. Also, the k18 treatment is added to washed and towel-dried hair and only needs to sit for four minutes, applied every wash for 6 weeks, then every 3-4 washes following. That is an extremely simple and manageable addition to anyone's hair routine and I can guarantee more clients will stick to it, making it a stronger option for me. The only con for me is the high price point  for very little product.  A tip to make it last longer for you is to really emulsify the product in your hands before applying it as it softens into a smoother cream that spreads easier. This product is best for fragile and damaged hair as it is an intensive treatment that can actually repair damaged strands and greatly increase the strength of the hair.

Living Proof Triple Bond Complex

Since using this product on a specific client, I've noticed a noticeable difference in the softness and strength of her ends, and her length of time between cuts has grown considerably. She has fragile porous ends and I can see this is doing a great job of protecting and moisturizing. The only warning I have is that the directions say to use two pumps of the product, but on a few clients I've found that to be too much and it leaves a greasy cast on the hair. One pump was more than enough to saturate the hair well. This is best for fine hair or porous blondes who tend to use a good amount of heat or style it often, for an added layer of protection and hair repair.

Bond builders are extremely useful when it comes to hair health. There is still some gray area when discussing how effective treatments actually are with retroactive hair repair but I don't see any issue with including some of these ingredients into your hair care routine.

Are you familiar with bonding products? Do you or your stylist use one already? Would love to hear from you with any comments, questions, or concerns you have related to bonding products or anything hair related.