Bond repair treatments – touted as the holy grail of healthy hair – have taken precedence in the beauty market owing to the holistic hair benefits they offer. After garnering well-deserved attention in 2023, bond-builders continue to rule the hair care sector well into 2024; no complaints there. From concentrated leave-in treatments to potent styling oils, we’ve rounded up the best bond builders you can get your hands on. But before you add to your cart, let us run you through all the bond-builder deets you need.
What Are Bond Builders and How Do They Work?
For the uninitiated, your hair is composed of chemical bonds that often lose viability due to the overuse of heated tools, chemical dyes, environmental aggressors, et cetera. Here’s where a bond-builder or bond-repair treatment comes in; these high-performance formulas are the building blocks of healthy hair, making your strands more permeable and strengthening weakened chemical bonds. As for the technical lowdown, your hair comprises three types of bonds – disulfide bonds, hydrogen bonds, and peptide bonds – all of which contribute to your overall hair health and elasticity. While some bond-builders may target just one of these bonds, lucky for you, newer, next-gen formulations often address all three. Head on below, for we’ve listed a few you should bag before you miss out.
Bond Builders That Are Worth Every Penny
A frontrunner in the hair care industry, Olaplex’s bond repair offerings have made their mark globally – and are loved (and religiously used) by the likes of Kim Kardashian and Drew Barrymore. The No.7 Bonding Oil is a high-concentrated, reparative formula that amplifies lustre, elasticity, and vibrancy while minimising flyaways and frizziness.
Meet this medley of Fiberhance, shea oil, quinoa extract, and Procutigen Bond that shield hair fibre, reverse colour-treated hair damage, repair split ends, and soften strands. Promising to undo hair damage in just one wash, generously apply this power-packed formula on damp strands before shampooing and rinse after leaving it on for five minutes.
A five-minute hair repair treatment, TRESemmé’s Bond Strength Shampoo reduces breakage by up to 98% and fortifies strands by up to 20x times. Owing to an efficacious protein bond plex technology, this formula strengthens your hair from the inside out, counteracting the adverse effects of bleaching, heat styling, and dyeing.
What if we told you that 95% of women reported healthier-looking hair after using this potent conditioner, which boasts 92% nature-derived ingredients? Aveda’s bestselling offering goes three layers deep within your hair shaft to repair and restore. Leave your hair feeling super-soft, smooth, and shiny after using this bond-builder that delivers on its promise.
Claiming 11x smoother hair and 82% less visible split ends, this supercharged formulation features citric acid and a 7% bonding care complex worth adding to your hair care arsenal. This hard-working product is powered by science and prescribed by the pros of the beauty industry, repairing damaged bonds after just six uses.
Ideal for those with colour-treated hair, Schwarzkopf’s Fibreplex is specially formulated for hair that requires lightening, lifting or colouring. This treatment shields the hair from damage during the colouring process, guaranteeing up to 94% less hair breakage, long-lasting colour protection, and the creation of new hair bonds. Mix the formula into your colouring system.
Hello, hair serum! Minimalist’s powerful pre-shampoo potion delivers the goodness of maleic acid, transglutaminase, and amino acids to repair weak and damaged hair bonds. Increasing hair tensile strength and improving the look and feel of your mane, this weightless formula leaves you with lofty, lustrous strands that are far from brittle.
Bid farewell to dry, damaged hair with the 6 Bond Plex Restore Styling Cream that protects against heat while curbing frizziness. The powerful amalgam of phytantriol and provitamin B5 keeps your hair healthy and optimally hydrated while conditioning agents do the job of making your strands super-silky and soft to the touch.
