The bond repair craze hasn’t slowed down—but one formula stands to me out from the rest: Epres’s Bond Repair Treatment. It’s appeared in countless viral TikTok videos in recent months, most notably as a staple in trichologist Abbey Yung’s routine (a hair care influencer with a cult following). Better yet, it’s 20% off this Prime Day, saving shoppers keen to try it $10 off.
Unlike creams or leave-in treatments, the Epres Bond Repair Treatment is a fine mist applied before shampooing. That’s where the formula sets itself apart. Rather than coating the hair, it relies on small bond-repairing molecules that penetrate the hair shaft. “Bond repair and conditioning are two different jobs, and they often get confused,” Dr. Eric Pressly, chemist and founder of Epres, explains. Dr. Pressly, of course, would know—he was the co-formulater behind Olaplex. “A conditioning or protein treatment or mask coats the strand, smoothing the look and feel of hair, but a coating eventually washes away and the broken bonds underneath are unchanged.”
I’ve been on a bit of a hair repair journey myself. A combination of high stress and frequent heat styling has left my lengths looking noticeably duller and less resilient than usual. That’s when I realized that what happens before shampooing can be just as important as the products you use in the shower or after a blow-dry. Scroll on to learn more about why this pick has become a staple in my routine.
Epres
As someone with naturally long and thick hair, I’ve put little stock in my routine—until about a month ago. As my now-lob continues to grow out from last year’s dramatic chin-length chop, I’ve started noticing more flyaways (a telltale sign of mechanical damage) even though I’m as gentle with my hair as possible. I assumed being diligent about heat protectant was enough, but as it turns out, there are plenty of other ways to damage your hair; in fact, mechanical damage is one of the most common causes of hair damage. As Shab Caspara, a New York City–based trichologist, explained in our damaged hair treatments guide, it can stem from everyday habits like brushing, hair ties, extensions, and friction in general.
Naturally, I fell down a TikTok rabbit hole in search of routines that could potentially help me in my pursuit for longer, stronger hair—which, of course, led me to trichologist and hair influencer Abbey Yung who keeps Epres’s Bond Repair Treatment as a constant in her extensive routine. Needless to say, Yung’s impressively long and beautiful lengths convinced me, and I became a disciple of her routine recommendations. Armed with a solid pre-shampoo routine, I’ve kept up with it for a month (including lots of hair-oiling).
Applying Epres’s treatment couldn’t be simpler. Just mix one vial of the concentrate with water (I filtered mine to avoid the minerals in New York City’s notoriously hard water), give it a good shake, and thoroughly mist it through dry hair. From there, I simply go about my evening—reading a book, making dinner, or streaming an episode or two on Netflix—before hopping in the shower. Even after the first use, the difference was noticeable. Once my hair was washed, blow-dried, and styled, it felt undeniably softer, looked smoother, and wasn’t weighed down in the slightest—kind of how my hair feels right after a good salon blowout (a texture I’m normally never able to recreate on my own).
You may not recognize the names of the four ingredients (that’s right, just four), but they actually play a key role in bond repair and come in highly concentrated form. The star of the formula, he explains, is the active ingredient diethylhexyl maleate—the molecule responsible for reconnecting the broken disulfide bonds that give healthy hair its strength and structure. “Those bonds are essentially the scaffolding inside each strand, and chemical services, heat styling and everyday environmental stress are what snaps them,” Dr. Pressly adds.
As a result, the molecule continues to work deep within the hair, “hunting down” broken bonds—a process which the brand calls Biodiffusion technology. “Traditional bond repair depends on getting active molecules deep into the strand, and most formulas can only do that while the hair is wet,” says Dr. Pressly. “Once it dries, those molecules settle wherever they happened to land, and are no longer providing widespread repair.”
Each kit comes with a fine-mist spray bottle and two vials of product—and, for me, one vial lasted about a month and a half. Once mixed with water (give it a good shake and thoroughly mist onto dry, unwashed hair), the brand recommends using the concoction within two months to ensure maximum efficacy. Whether you leave it on for 10 minutes or overnight while you sleep, the key is to apply it before your “everything” shower. And since the formula is so concentrated, you only need to use it once or twice a week.
Better still, the Bond Repair Treatment works on all hair types and textures. “Fine, coiled, bleached to platinum, it doesn’t matter. The architecture is universal, so the repair is, too.”
Epres
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理，仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。