Wondering if that beauty trend or product you’ve spotted is worth it? At The Style Life, we’re ready to be your (human) guinea pig* and test it out so that you don’t have to and in today’s column we’re testing L’Oréal Elvive’s Bond Repair range.
(*No guinea pigs were harmed in the writing of Is It Worth It? investigative process). From the bizarre (remember the Face Bra?) to the best budget makeup and best spray leave-in conditioners, there’s almost nothing our team won’t try out in the name of beauty. This week, could our guinea pig Laura have found a winning challenger to the award-winning Olaplex crown?
Once upon a time, the world of hair repair was dominated by one brand: Olaplex. This salon-approved treatment includes a patented technology that rebuilds broken bonds in the strands of hair damaged by regular colouring, heat styling or environmental factors.
While arguably still the market leader and hairdressers’ favourite, nowadays lots of other hair care brands have come out with their own bond-building technology, and one of the latest to hit the shelves is L’Oréal Elvive’s Bond Repair range.
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What’s in the L’Oréal Elvive’s Bond Repair range?
The Bond Repair line-up consists of a pre-shampoo treatment (sound familiar…?), shampoo, conditioner and leave-in serum. The key ingredient here is a citric acid complex, which recreates bonds deep within the hair’s cortex, with tests revealing up to 98% less breakage and 90% more shine after using the range.
How does the L’Oréal Elvive’s Bond Repair treatment work?
Like Olaplex, the L’Oréal treatment should be generously applied to damp hair before washing then left on for a minimum of five minutes before rinsing out. The serum should be smoothed through the mid-lengths and ends after washing and before blow-drying.
And, well, we’re not going to explain to you how to use a shampoo and conditioner.
How much is the L’Oréal Elvive’s Bond Repair range?
The Bond Repair shampoo and conditioner cost £11.99 each, while the pre-treatment and serum cost £14.99 each. There are also bundles of two, three or all four products available, with considerable savings to be had (for example, LookFantastic are currently selling the shampoo and conditioner together for £11.99).
Does the L’Oréal Elvive’s Bond Repair range work?
Some products, absolutely, and some…well, it’s hard to tell, says our contributing beauty editor Laura Mulley. Here’s her full review…
Laura says:
“My hair is long, fine and constantly being bleached, so it’s regularly in need of deep repairing treatments. I do occasionally use the original Olaplex treatment (usually when prompted by a hairdresser) but, truth be told, while I KNOW it is doing my hair some good, I can’t say I notice much of a tangible result from it. So I was interested to see how L’Oréal’s offering fared.
“In the name of thorough research, I first tried using just the Pre-Shampoo Treatment (£14.99) – arguably the range’s hero product and most obvious Olaplex dupe – with my usual shampoo, conditioner and leave-in product. Application was fairly fuss-free – I just clipped my hair up and left it on while I made a coffee, emptied the dishwasher, fed the cats etc. Then I washed, conditioned and dried my hair as normal.
“In all honesty, I can’t really say that I noticed much change to my hair afterwards. Sure, I believe that it had done my strands some good on the inside, but there wasn’t particularly any extra shine, softness or swishiness that I could detect.
“Next wash day, I used all four products – and the results were markedly different. My hair felt thicker, stronger, lighter at the roots and more ‘done’, like I’d just had a really great blow dry. What was even more remarkable was how well my hair lasted; normally by day two after washing my hair is looking greasy by midday, but after using this L’Oréal foursome my hair stayed looking fresh for a good three days – something that honestly never happens.
“So would I buy this range again? The shampoo (£11.99) and conditioner (£11.99) absolutely, as my hair hasn’t looked or felt this good for ages (and anything that stretches out wash day is a plus in my eyes), but I would probably skip the treatment and serum and stick with my current favourites.”
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