Says Senior Educator for Olaplex, Jordan Alexander: “Olaplex does not create any type of coating on the hair shaft. It creates both an ionic and covalent bridge between two single sulfur hydrogen bonds. As soon as Olaplex is washed away from the hair, the only portion that remains is this bridge. Silicones would be more comparable to a bandaid for the hair as they tend to coat. Olaplex works to restore the strength, structure and integrity of the hair by repairing these broken disulfide bonds which are part of the foundation of hair itself.” WHAT DOES OLAPLEX DO? Olaplex cross links broken disulfide bonds. All hair is made up of thousands of disulfide bonds. When any type of reduction is done such as chemical services including perms, color, lightener or relaxers, these bonds are broken and hair is reduced. Reduction can also include thermal styling such as flat irons, blow dryers and curling irons as well as mechanical styling such as brushing. Even shampoos with a high alkalinity can reduce hair. When reduction takes place, you have two possible reactions. A disulfide bond splits and forms two single sulfur hydrogen bonds. The first reaction that takes place is when a single sulfur hydrogen pairs with an oxygen molecule. This is a perfect pair with no reduction taking place. The second reaction is what Olaplex works to prevent. A single sulfur hydrogen bond will pair with three oxygen molecules. This creates SO3 or what is known as a sulfate group. Sulfate group will create cystic acid. Cystic acid will eat the protein out of the hair. Olaplex works by coupling with the single sulfur hydrogen bond faster than the three oxygen molecules can preventing this damage a vast majority of the time. This is how damage is prevented during the process. Olaplex does one thing and one thing only. It creates both an ionic and covalent bridge between two single sulfur hydrogen bonds to form disulfide bonds. As such, it is not chemically possible to reduce the hair via Olaplex alone. If hair is pushed too far, it will still break. If proper judgement is not used, damage can still occur. Olaplex is meant to be used as an insurance policy. It does not make hair invincible.