In 1790, Congress established the United States Patent System to grant inventors rights to their discoveries. Today, we celebrate National Inventor’s Day to honor creators for their discoveries from the past and present. On August 4, 2015, OLAPLEX was awarded a United States Patent for its methods for fixing hair and skin by rebuilding broken disulfide bonds. As we celebrate inventors, we look back on the ones who made OLAPLEX possible at the very beginning.
In 2014, Founder of OLAPLEX Dean Christal and chemist Dr. Craig Hawker founded the chemistry in a small Santa Barbara, California garage. When Dean initially approached Dr. Hawker, Hawker asked him what the holy grail of hair would be, to which we replied, “fixing hair damage.” Dr. Hawker is a chemistry professor at the University of California Santa Barbara with no background at all in hair. The union with Christal, a hair industry veteran, was one full of fresh ideas to revolutionize the hair industry forever, and they did.
Before OLAPLEX, the solutions for damaged hair were two options; cut the damage off (also known as the big chop) or leave it alone. OLAPLEX invented the ‘bond building’ category, and though many other companies are claiming to rebuild broken hair, OLAPLEX is the sole owner of the patent to do so. Launching with a line of three revolutionary products, OLAPLEX Nº.1 Bond Multiplier, Nº.2 Bond Perfector, and the take-home Nº.3 Hair Perfector.
Nº.1 and Nº.2 were invented for hair professionals only to use in the salon on their clients. By adding Nº.1 to lightener and color, hairdressers were able to and still can mitigate the damage the chemicals usually do to the hair. It’s ‘liquid gold,’ as many in the industry have dubbed it. Bonds must break to see a visible difference in the hair. Nº.2 is the second part of the salon system used after the chemical process or during a Stand-Alone Treatment ™ to rebuild any bonds Nº.1 missed during the process.
Many of you will be familiar with OLAPLEX Nº.3, the take-home treatment hairdressers worldwide prescribe to their clients to rebuild their hair at home. This was and is a game changer for both stylists and clients, especially for clients who desire a drastic color change, but have compromised hair. Initially, this meant a colorist could ask their clients to go home, treat their hair multiple times a week, and come back when their hair was stronger to perform the desired change. OLAPLEX was a game changer then, and still is!
Ideas and inventions are how we can live in a more finessed, functional, improved world that makes our lives easier. Please celebrate with us, pop on an OLAPLEX treatment and join us in gratitude for a healthier hair world.
