Damaged hair can feel inevitable, especially if you’re prone to changing your hair colour or texture via chemical treatments and heat-styling.
But even if you don’t bleach your hair or reach for a curling iron often, your tresses can still become dry, damaged, weak, and prone to breakage. So, what gives?
Well, it turns out, weak hair can also be caused by an imbalanced diet, incorrect hair-washing techniques, as well as the cumulative effects of stress. However, there are ways you can replenish your hair’s hydration levels, strengthen your strands’ inner core, and begin to rebuild the cuticle – all of which are key elements to bolster weak hair and stop breakage in its tracks.
Keep reading to find out how you can do so, whether you seek an at-home solution or are looking for a preventative measure at your next salon appointment.
How to strengthen weak hair and halt breakage
To target these concerns in the comfort of your own bathroom, luxury haircare brand Oribe has created its Hair Alchemy range, a three-step system that aims to inject resilience back into the weakest and most brittle of hair.
Combining ancient superfoods with phytotechnology, the shampoo, conditioner, and treatment serum work synergistically to repair damaged tresses and prevent dreaded breakage even before it starts.
All three nourishing formulas contain a curative blend of chia seed, plant-based protein, and bio-fermented bamboo leaf, which penetrate your hair’s cortex to build strength from within. As it does this, it forms a protective scaffold around each strand to reinforce its strength and structure, thereby preventing further breakage caused by styling and an onslaught of external aggressors.
The curative blend is bolstered by a number of other nourishing and restorative complexes and extracts:
- Multi-Action Hyaluronic Acid Complex: It delivers a surge of moisture to rehydrate from within and increase elasticity.
- Daisy and Honeysuckle Extracts: This floral blend helps to strengthen your hair from the roots as it fortifies brittle ends, boosting overall hair health and encouraging hair growth.
- Green Tea and Plant Polysaccharides: These antioxidants repel pollution particles to protect your hair from environmental stressors.
- Oribe Signature Complex: A blend of watermelon, lychee, and edelweiss flower shields your hair from oxidative stress, photoageing (ageing caused by the sun), as well as the degradation of natural keratin. It also protects your locks from the drying, damaging, and colour-depleting effects of environmental elements.
By improving tensile strength, which is the amount of stress and stretch that can be applied to your hair before it snaps, these ingredients transform weak, brittle hair into strong, resilient, healthier-looking tresses.
Oribe Hair Alchemy Resilience Shampoo
Strengthening fragile hair starts with your cleansing step. This ultra-nourishing shampoo gently cleanses your hair without drying or stripping it of moisture. As it washes away grime and buildup, it reinforces and strengthens the hair to prevent breakage.
Oribe Hair Alchemy Resilience Conditioner
After shampooing, give your hair an immediate dose of strength, softness, and vitality with this indulgent conditioning hair therapy. Massage it in and let it sit for a least one minute to allow the formula to work its magic, and then rinse. It cocoons your strands in deep hydration as it nourishes fragile hair to soften as well as reduce frizz and flyaways.
Oribe Hair Alchemy Fortifying Treatment Serum
To further reinforce your hair post-shower, reach for this sheer, fast-absorbing serum. It creates a protective veil around your hair fibres to promote strength and elasticity while preventing breakage. All you have to do is work a dime-sized amount of serum into damp or dry hair and add more product if needed. You can also use it as an overnight treatment.
Curious to find out how well and how quickly the Oribe Hair Alchemy range is able to repair and fortify dry, damaged hair? Us too, which is why we invited our editorial director, Kristen Juliet, to try out the trio for five days. Here’s what she has to say.
Editor’s review of Oribe Hair Alchemy range
“After I bleached my hair more than a year ago, my hair has not recovered from the damaging procedure. My ends have been extremely dry and my hair has also lost its shine. It also gets very tangled so it’s hard to comb through it.
I try to condition my hair every day and while it helps to detangle my hair, it still looks very dull. I have received comments on social media from strangers telling me that I need to do something about my hair and it makes me rather self-conscious about it.”
“What I first noticed about the range is that the packaging is sleek and the products look really good in my bathroom. The scent of each product is also very pleasant.
The Hair Alchemy Resilience Shampoo cleaned my hair effectively and left no residue after rinsing. My hair felt softer and smoother, balanced but not greasy.
I then followed up with Oribe’s Hair Alchemy Resilience Conditioner, which moisturised my hair without weighing it down. Finally, I applied the Hair Alchemy Fortifying Treatment Serum. It was very hydrating, and my hair felt stronger and more resilient.”
“I was surprised that my hair felt lighter and significantly smoother right after my first use. After using it for a few days, my hair is now more manageable and smoother to touch. It also breaks less easily now when I comb it.
This is certainly one of the best hair care ranges I’ve tried and I’ll continue using it. The Oribe Hair Alchemy range is an all-rounder that offers superior results along with a sensorial experience that’s very enjoyable.”
The Oribe Hair Alchemy Resilience Shampoo (S$72), Resilience Conditioner (S$76), and Fortifying Treatment Serum (S$90) are only available at Shunji Matsuo Ngee Ann City flagship outlet and shunjimatsuo.com.
Experience a restorative treatment at your next salon appointment
If you’d like to experience a revolutionary salon treatment, Oribe also offers its Renewal Remedies range – custom-blended concoctions that are designed to restore your hair’s health, perfecting and protecting it from root to tip. After each salon session, your hair will be transformed into lustrous, glossy tresses.
The Renewal Remedies range features three Amplifiers, which further address a spectrum of hair concerns.
Strengthening Amplifier
If you have damaged or weak hair, your hairstylist is likely to recommend the Strengthening Amplifier. It’s formulated with a protective blend of 12 amino acids and a patented fortifying complex to give the inner structure of your hair a strengthening boost.
The formula improves your strands’ elasticity and prevents breakage once and for all.
Smoothing Amplifier
For those with frizzy or curly hair, the Smoothing Amplifier works best to seal in moisture and reduce frizz. The formula combines a specialised cross-linked polymer and hydrating marine complex to form a protective barrier on your hair fibre to lock out humidity and its effects.
You’ll regain sleek, smooth, and soft hair that stays that way, even in high humidity.
Color Retention Amplifier
Colour-treated hair requires extra care, which is why the Color Retention Amplifier is designed with colour-lock technology and a natural luminosity-enhancing antioxidant. Together, they help extend the life of your hair colour while shielding your tresses from oxidative stress.
The Amplifier even increases the vibrancy of your hair colour, so you can enjoy your bold, glorious hues for much longer.
To give Oribe’s Renewal Remedies Amplifiers a whirl, we invited a model down to one of Shunji Matsuo’s salons for a consultation and treatment session. Here’s how it went!
Review of Oribe’s Renewal Remedies Amplifiers
“As someone with coloured hair, my hair is a huge part of my everyday look. Sometimes I intend to style it a certain way, but the end result turns out very differently, which can be disappointing or even frustrating at times.
When I arrived at Shunji Matsuo, I was greeted by the friendly staff. After examining my hair, my appointed hairstylist Ziqi told me that I had frizzy hair – something I never knew up until that point. From there, she suggested the Smoothing Amplifier that would help address that as well as the Color Retention Amplifier, which would help refresh and extend my hair colour.
“My session began with a hair wash, and my hairstylist used the Oribe range, which smelled really nice and pleasant. She was also excellent at massaging my scalp – it relaxed me right away.
She mixed both Amplifiers together and combed them through my hair before brushing it on. Then, she wrapped a sort of bag over my hair and steamed it for 15 minutes, which supposedly helps to open up the hair follicles, allowing the treatment to penetrate better into each strand.”
“This was repeated about two more times, and she applied the other Amplifier at the ends of my hair before another round of steaming.
To end the treatment, she washed my hair with colder water to seal my hair follicles. And finally, my hair was blown dry.”
“My hair definitely looked fuller and felt softer after the session. My strands don’t appear as thin as before and I could really see that it just looked healthier overall.
My damaged strands appeared healthier and less frizzy, and my hair felt stronger. I can safely say that this is the most effective hair treatment I’ve tried.
Ziqi was very sure and confident in what she was doing, which made me trust her more. I know some hairstylists aren’t like this. She told me clearly what she would be doing and I was informed throughout the process.
The team at Shunji Matsuo are true professionals and they know how to best advise you according to your unique features and hair condition. They’re also friendly and welcoming, which enhances the overall experience. I would love to go back to fulfil my hair needs again!”
Experience the Oribe Hair Alchemy range + Haircut at S$65 (U.P. S$120) at Shunji Matsuo’s Ngee Ann City Flagship outlet, and top up S$150 for Oribe’s Renewal Remedies Hair treatment (U.P. S$238).
This article is brought to you by Shunji Matsuo.
