Celebrities like Drew Barrymore love Olaplex for its ability to transform damaged hair. (Getty Images)
Act fast! This Black Friday sale on Olaplex (one of the top hair-care lines) is among the best deals I've seen and it won't be around for long. You've probably heard about Olaplex — the magical, mystical treatments that launched in 2014 to great fanfare.
Since then, it's been highly praised (or, at least reportedly used) by a wide range of celebrities with gorgeous, thick, covetable locks: from Billie Eilish and Jennifer Lopez to Dakota Johnson, Kim Kardashian and even Drew Barrymore, who raved about the brand's Hair Perfector No 3 in a 2018 Instagram post saying, "Within 3 weeks Olaplex saves me!... My hair is remarkably and clearly better. It’s curling and actually bouncing and looking like hair rather than coughed-up bird feathers."
Today, Olaplex is heavily discounted at Amazon's Black Friday sale.
Olaplex's shampoo has tens of thousands of five-star reviews on Amazon and is reportedly the hair-cleansing choice of multiple celebrities, including J.Lo.
This spray (No. 0) is the first step in a two part system with the Hair Perfector (No. 3). Listen, this math doesn't make sense to me either, but according to 14,000 5-star reviewers, this is a "miracle product." One said: "This is the best product to use if you have damaged hair especially if you use color. It has helped my hair grow longer and stronger."
As anyone who's ever gone platinum can tell you, the struggle with yellow-y brassiness is real. This purple toning shampoo helps neutralize those garish gold shades, leaving silver and blonde hair shiny, bright and cool.
Drew is far from the only one in awe of Olaplex. In the past decade, the line has become so popular it's racked up more than 2 billion (yes, billion with a "b") TikTok views, a devoted celebrity fan base, the trust of professional stylists and even a bit of controversy.
According to Drew's original Instagram post, celebrity colorist Tracey Cunningham first turned her on to the wonders of Olaplex. "I think so many celebrities love Olaplex because they see immediate results after using the products,” Cunningham told Page Six last year. “Using a bond-building hair-care line like Olaplex is really appealing to celebrities who need products that can repair visible damage and keep their hair looking healthy.” Cunningham says the popularity of Olaplex is due to its high-quality, targeted ingredients (including a molecule called bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate) which work to quickly repair dry, damaged hair — making it an excellent choice for stars whose near-constant dyeing for roles and extensive heat-styling for red carpets can leave their strands more than a bit fried.
Olaplex's most famous product — Hair Perfector No 3 — uses bond building, which is simply the concept of rebuilding the disulfide "bonds" (essentially the glue) that holds together our hair's keratin proteins. The integrity of these bonds dictates our hair's strength, luster and curl — if they're damaged by bleach, heated tools and chemical processes like straightening treatments, your mane looks, well... not great.
Olaplex's secret, proprietary formula is meant to rebuild these bonds. And, while these claims have not been formally verified by scientists, anecdotally, thousands of stylists and consumers report that the treatments make hair appear thicker, shinier and healthier. The overwhelming response from professionals and consumers alike is that Olaplex hair treatments really REALLY work — and they rarely ever go on sale.
According to nearly 100,000 5-star Amazon reviews, Olaplex's Hair Perfector does in fact work — and it works fast.
"This stuff is an absolute game changer!" says one happy customer. "After losing my hair due to brain surgery and the chemotherapy-type medications I have to take every day, I couldn’t get my hair to grow, and what little hair grew was thin and unhealthy. My self-esteem was wrecked by not having the long healthy hair I once had. About two years ago, my hairstylist suggested that I try Olaplex. I figured I didn’t have anything to lose, so why not give it a shot? Without a doubt, that was one of the smartest decisions of my life! My hair is now well past my shoulders, thick and very healthy."
"Get it!!" raves another. "This stuff is a miracle worker... After one use, my hair is soft, not dry and not tangled. Buy it! You won’t regret it."
Many reviewers noted that they liked how the product treated fried hair and protected strands from further damage. "You can use it after damage AND BEFORE damage," explains one. "The sooner you start using it the better; hopefully, like me, you will see immediate and lasting results whenever you decide to use it."
"Insane how well this works," says a non-beauty-product-obsessed fan. "I don’t think I’ve ever written a hair-care product review. I’m not heavily into beauty products, but this stuff is magical."
While reports on this product are overwhelmingly positive, some reviewers say Olaplex's Hair Perfector actually made their hair drier. In 2022, a handful of TikTokers said the products further damaged their hair, but these claims have largely been debunked. In 2022, a New York Times investigation found that "None of the chemists The New York Times interviewed could find ingredients in Olaplex formulas that might cause the breakage some reviewers have described."
Most experts I've spoken to about Olaplex say, for best results, it's a good idea to use several products from the line — including the maintenance shampoo and in-tandem spray. Lucky for us, they're all currently on sale.
If you have Amazon Prime, you'll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $35 or more.)
The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
