Trends in the beauty industry are born practically every day and forgotten just as quickly. One day it’s contouring; the next day it’s strobing. From ombre to babylights to balayage, the rapidity with which the latest sensation replaces an old one leaves me feeling a little breathless and to be honest, often out of my depth. I love my beauty fix just as much as the next girl but a little bit of consistency would be nice and so much more helpful when it comes to making that all-important decision of what new service/product to try.

Hence, the recent announcement that Olaplex was launching in Pakistan had me intrigued. While a relatively new service, this ‘revolutionary’ hair care system has taken the international beauty industry by storm. Launched more than a year ago, it managed to catch the fickle fancy of the myriad stylists, bloggers and general beauty addicts who make up this industry and is still keeping them hooked.

Olaplex is available at a select few salons in Lahore and Karachi, one of them being stylist Ali Teiseen’s salon in Gulberg, Lahore. During an introduction to the service, hair expert Ali Raza took the time to explain the chemistry behind it. We’ll spare you the lab lesson and put it down as simply as possible: Hair is made up of the protein keratin, which is arranged in the form of bundles. The bundles of keratin are held together by disulphide bonds, making the hair strong and healthy. Excessive colouring and chemical treatments, as well as prolonged exposure to heat treatments, weakens the disulphide bonds and breaks down the links between the keratin molecules, causing hair to look rough and damaged.

Why are Jennifer Lopez, Gywneth Paltrow and Kim Kardashian’s hair stylists exulting over the product? "Because finally, here is something that actually helps to reestablish the broken bonds, albeit artificially. For hairstylist, this is god-sent, because it means that we can experiment with colour, push the boundaries of styling and go light without the fear of damaging the client’s hair," says Raza.

Olaplex is recommended both as a stand-alone service to repair and strengthen damaged hair and as a tool that can be added to the process of colouring or bleaching to minimize breakage. In the case of the latter, Olaplex is especially beneficial for those clients who consistently lighten their hair and have had to put an end to their blonde ambitions because of excessive hair loss.

"By adding Olaplex to the colour mix, I have the freedom to work even on damaged hair and I can dare to go as many as three to four shades lighter than normal because I know the added component is working on making the hair stronger, instead of weakening it, as in the case of a regular colour job," says Raza.

The downside (because obviously, nothing in the world can be this perfect) is the cost in terms of time and money. Salon time will be increased by a minimum of 60 minutes, because Olaplex will slow down the colouring process. It will also add a minimum of PKR 5,000 to the total price-tag. But it will also mean that you’ll be saying bye-bye to those raggedy ends and stressed-out locks, replacing them with hair that feels visibly softer.

Olaplex can also be used as a stand-alone treatment, which is what I tried out. The hair is first shampooed and towel-tried and the product is then applied to the hair strand by strand. It only needs about 30 to 40 minutes if it is used on its own and a thorough rinse to wash it out. Following a blow-dry, I could see that my hair looked healthier and fuller than before and it smelled good enough to eat.

Consistency is key for optimum results. Raza recommends coming in for an Olaplex treatment every 6-8 weeks for at least 4 visits if using Olaplex as a separate treatment. When added to your colouring session, the results are almost instant (better results/no breakage) but it is recommended that you use the take-home version of the product every 8-10 days. This will help seal the artificially-created bond and maintain the hair’s healthy new texture.

Is the treatment worth investing in? I would give it a thumbs up, maybe not for everyone given that it is expensive but definitely for those who suffer from extensive chemical damage but don’t want to give up on lightening their hair. Moreover, it’s a product and requires serious technical expertise, so be sure you use it with a stylist you trust. In the hands of an expert, it can open up a whole new world of hair experiments and allow you to achieve that shade of light you always dreamed of.

In Pakistan, a special activity was organized at hair expert Ali Teiseen’s salon in Lahore, where select journalists were given an introduction to the product and a live demonstration of the OLAPLEX standalone treatment, by hair expert Ali Raza. Ali explained that OLAPLEX links broken bonds of the hair into one which is why hair doesn’t break no matter how harsh the treatment being done might be.