Bond repairing treatments have become increasingly popular over the last couple of years, and nearly every product line I come into contact with has released or is soon releasing, a bond repair treatment.
Do you know what the point of a bond repair treatment/mask/serum is?
In each hair strand, there are chemical bonds that provide the structure of the hair. These bonds can be broken by heat, color, physical strain on the hair (like ripping a brush through it when it’s soaking wet), styling, etc. It’s actually quite simple to break a hair bond.
Bond repair treatments are designed to penetrate the outer layer of the hair called the cortex, and help repair the broken bonds in the hair.
If your hair feels fragile, or damaged, is prone to frizz, lacks luster or shine, or if you regularly color your hair (especially those that use bleach), you probably have broken bonds in your hair shaft.
So the next logical step would be to use a bond repair treatment, right?
In some cases, yes. But you need to know that it can also backfire if you overdo it!
If you overuse bond repair treatments, you can cause your hair to become frizzy, dry/stiff feeling, prone to more breakage, and feeling thin.
“But Kate! These are the same problems I was trying to fix with my bond repair treatment! How can I know if I’m overdoing it?!” you, very reasonably, ask in despair.
If you overdo a bond repair treatment, you are soaking your hair in the same chemicals that are designed to work on the broken bonds over and over and over again. Too much of a good thing is simply too much. The hair, sometimes, cannot handle it.
So how can you tell if a bond repair treatment is doing the work, without overdoing it?
Ask your hairstylist for their professional opinion. As experts, they should be able to identify if your hair needs bond repair versus just needing moisture. If you decide that a bond repair treatment is right for you, use it as the directions state. Don’t overdo it! And have realistic expectations from it. Your hair may feel softer and healthier immediately, but a bond-repairing treatment may not deliver the same type of long-lasting softness as, say, a deeply hydrating mask does.
If you are looking for a dramatic increase in hair health, use a bond repair treatment as directed on the package, but also alternate a moisturizing hair mask into the routine. You should ideally find a moisturizing mask that does not have keratin or protein in it, as those two elements can lead to the same dry/frizzy/breaking hair when overdone as well.
If you are in doubt, you simply cannot go wrong with a simple moisturizing hair treatment or mask. It’s very, very, very hard to overdo it! You also cannot go wrong with a leave-in treatment. Those are both very safe bets that will be great for your hair no matter what!
Personally, I do a bond repair treatment about once every three weeks. There were times when I was using it more frequently, but honestly, I noticed frizz so I cut back. I also use a leave-in treatment daily and love to use a hydrating oil on my fragile ends after I heat style.
So, while bond repair treatments are exceptional for healing the inside of the hair, they need to be used correctly and should not be overused!
You can read more about bond repair products here! And read my review of K18 here!
