No Fairy Tale Ending: Blonde Protect Bond Rebuilding Treatment

Several weeks ago, I was looking for something to make my unmanageable ends (and my bangs) behave. I've since found a solution that is actually working and you can read about Color Wow's Cocktails here. But before I tried Color Wow, I tried Blonde Protect at the urging of a long-time reader.



Blonde Protect is a "bonding treatment" that was created by the Color Oops team to help repair hair from extreme damage. When I looked at the ingredients, I couldn't detect anything that would actually re-build bonds in the hair. I'm not surprised that's the case, either. Since Olaplex launched in 2015, more than 80 companies have started selling "bond building systems" to salons. Not to mention the hundreds of topicals that are sold directly to clients and consumers. But just because you throw "bond building" on a package doesn't make it true. Some work, some don't. When in doubt, it's always a good idea to ask your stylist. However, my friend Erica swore this would make my hair happy again. She colors at home quite often and loved the results she had gotten.

See that texture on the left side of the bangs? That is what ALL of the ends of my hair looked like.

So after a week of hair that was frizzy, sticky and tangled by split ends that didn't make sense, I hopped in the car, drove less than two miles to my CVS (there is one that close to almost everyone in the U.S., I'm told) and grabbed a box of Blonde Protect. I applied it as described, covered my hair in plastic wrap, then a towel and then waited for about 2 hours, more than double the time suggested on the box. Not entirely on purpose mind you, I fell asleep during Harlots.

My hair shortly after the treatment, before I went to bed.

I rinsed and styled as usual and my hair was GLORIOUS. Angels were singing, I was doing a happy dance with the dogs while singing about the perfection that was my hair. My hair didn't look like someone chewed on the edges of my cut. My hair didn't look like cotton candy around my ears. My hair looked like smooth, healthy blonde hair with virtually no damage.  It wasn't swing-y, but I was certain there about to be significantly fewer bad hair days in my future. I went to sleep, anxious to take photos of my beautifully renewed hair the next morning.

Then I woke up the following morning and my FRIZZY, COTTON CANDY-TEXTURED, SPLIT END TANGLED hair was back. (*shakes angry fists at the gods*) It was like nothing ever happened. I never spent $11.99 at CVS. I never applied this and wrapped my head like a turkey and fell asleep to Harlots. I never had shiny hair that made my heart happy. Nope. Just more of the same weird ends and unpleasant texture. I was so mad, I didn't take any pictures. Trust me, it looked awful.

I asked a few stylist and professional friends and they all basically said the same thing about the "bond-building formula":

The glycerin kind of stuck things together and smoothed things out, but once that wore off, my texture was back. 

My results lasted for less than 24 hours. If I'm really honest, they lasted for about 15 hours.

The bottom line:
If you need a miracle for one day, this will give it to you. But, like any gift from a F(H)airy Godmother that seems too good to be true, after about 24 hours your hair will begin to revert to its original form and you'll no longer be the princess of Good Hair Town. Your carriage will become a pumpkin and your dress will likely return to rags. But if that one good night as the Fairest Princess of Good Hair Town means the world to you, then Blonde Protect will let you have it.

Try it yourself for around $11.00 According to the website, it's available at Ulta, Walgreens, CVS and Target to name a few.