Damaged Hair? These 12 Treatments Will Leave It Strong and Shiny

If you colour or frequently heat-style your hair, then you'll know how quickly your hair can turn from soft and glossy to brittle and dry. Plus, on top of that, our hair can become damaged thanks to a combination of hard water, diet, UV exposure, pollution, harsh temperatures, stress, and hormonal imbalances. Coarse, thin hair which easily tangles, frizzes, and splits at the ends neither feels or looks good.

There's no denying that prevention is always better than cure, especially because the effects of damaged hair can be so long-lasting—an efficient daily and weekly hair routine is always recommended. However, to repair and replenish damaged hair, hairstylist Hadley Yates advises that using bonding hair products can massively help. Designed to work by rebuilding the broken bonds within hair's molecular structure, these potent treatments work hard and fast—and can be the answer to restoring smoothness, shine, softness, and health to damaged hair.

Scroll down for Yates' intel on how bonding hair products work, plus our roundup of the best bonding hair products for 2024.

best bonding hair products

(Image credit: @hannalhoumeau)

The Best Bonding Hair Products:

  1. K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask
  2. Olaplex No. 3 Hair Perfector
  3. Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate Leave-In Treatment
  4. Living Proof Triple Bond Complex
  5. Epres Bond Repair Treatment Starter Kit
  6. Philip Kingsley Bond Builder Restructuring Treatment
  7. Beauty Pie Super Healthy Hair Elastic Repair Treatment
  8. Davines Heart of Glass Bonding Glow Treatment
  9. Coco & Eve Bond Building Pre-Shampoo Treatment
  10. Aveda Botanical Repair Bond-Building Flash Treatment
  11. Amika The Kure Intense Bond Repair Mask
  12. Bumble and Bumble Bond Building Repair Hair Treatment

What are hair bonds and how do they break?

"Hair bonds are the chemical interactions between protein chains in our hair fibers—essentially, they are what gives our hair its structure, strength, shine, and elasticity," explains Yates. "Hydrogen bonds are delicate and can get damaged simply when they are wet, ionic bonds can be damaged from a change in pH (which can also be caused by health / hormonal problems) and the strongest (disulphide) bonds, get damaged when exposed to chemical processing and excessive heat."

At the very core of these bonds is the polypeptide chain, which Yates refers to as the 'building blocks of hair'. It's these chains which the best bonding hair products will target in order to have a long-lasting impact upon hair health.

How do bonding hair products work?

"Bonding hair products work at the cortex of the hair to strengthen weakened bonds and restore hair strength and shine," says Yates. "They do this by mimicking the natural chemical bonds, however this also means that they can wash out and don’t always have long lasting results."

Yates adds that one of the most important things to consider when choosing bonding hair products is a formula that works by actually rebuilding the structure of the polypeptide chain. "This means the damage is reversed at the very most inner layer and is long lasting."

When should you use a bonding hair product?

According to Yates, everyone can benefit from using bonding hair products; even if you don’t colour or heat style your hair, because things like hard and chlorine-filled tap water can damage hair bonds.

"You should use bond repair products as a treatment, not as daily use, so you can just choose to use them when you feel like your hair needs some help," Yates himself uses and recommends K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask (£70). "You use the treatment products for 4-6 washes in a row to get your hair to a level of health you’re happy with, then reduce down to once a week, once every two weeks or however often you feel like your hair needs it, depending on the level of hair damage and what your hair is exposed to each day," he explains. "K18 also have a daily shampoo and conditioner for use in between treatments which help to prevent damage occuring in the first place."

How long do bonding hair products take to work?

"It really depends on the level of damage to your hair; you can see results after just one use with some products, but if you have very damaged hair, you might need consecutive uses before you start to see results," says Yates. "You can also visit your local salon for a treatment, as often the professional products are greater in strength and can work faster. On my clients I do the K18 Repair Service that uses their professional-only hair mist, but there are lots of brands and options to choose from so I’d recommend asking your stylist."

The Best Bonding Hair Products:

1. K18 Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask

2. Olaplex No. 3 Hair Perfector

3. Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate Leave-In Treatment

4. Living Proof Triple Bond Complex

5. Epres Bond Repair Treatment Starter Kit

6. Philip Kingsley Bond Builder Restructuring Treatment

7. Beauty Pie Super Healthy Hair Elastic Repair Treatment

8. Davines Heart of Glass Bonding Glow Treatment

9. Coco & Eve Bond Building Pre-Shampoo Treatment

10. Aveda Botanical Repair Bond-Building Flash Treatment

11. Amika The Kure Intense Bond Repair Mask

12. Bumble and Bumble Bond Building Repair Hair Treatment

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Freelance Beauty Editor

Grace Day is a beauty editor and content creator. She has over 10 years of beauty-industry experience, spanning editorial, retail, and e-commerce, which gives her a unique understanding into how people shop for their beauty routines.While studying for a history degree (specialising in the history of beauty) and working as a beauty adviser in department stores, Grace started writing her own beauty blog in order to share the products she discovered while dealing with acne. After graduating, she moved to Beauty Bay as beauty editor and content manager. Grace is currently a beauty contributor to Who What Wear. She has also written for Hypebae and PopSugar and works as a brand consultant and copywriter.