February is link love month at the Beauty Brains. All month we’re answering questions from other bloggers to introduce our readers to beauty blogs they may not have seen before. Today’s question comes from one of our new favorites, Michelle at Lab Muffin. Check out her site!
Michelle asks…Are there ANY hair products out there that can actually reconstruct/repair hair (as opposed to just protecting it from further damage)?
The Right Brain responds:
This is a great question because one of our favorite pet peeves are all the products that claim to repair hair but don’t. When you actually look at the science behind those products you find that they are almost always “regular” conditioners. That means they are very good at smoothing the cuticle and helping to prevent future damage but the do nothing to truly repair hair.
Does any hair repair product really work?
There is hope, however, because of new one technology that works differently. This technology is based on a polyelectrolyte complex, or PEC for short. This PEC complex consists of a negatively charged ion (PVM/MA copolymer) and a positively charged ion (Polyquaternium-28.) This combination of positive and negative charges creates a single complex with the unique ability to stick to damage hairs and to itself.
How does PEC technology repair hair?
What does all this mean? Well, instead of just coating the outside of hair like most conditioners do, the tiny PEC molecules are able to enter the split ends of hair. Because the complex can stick to the damaged hair protein and to other complex molecules, it creates little bridges across the open ends of the splits. As your hair dries, the water evaporates from the complex causing it to contract. The force of this contraction pulls the end of the split hairs back together again. Once the PECs are dry they bind the split end shut. Watch this video to see what happens when a drop of PEC complex is placed on a split end and dried with a blow dryer:
Which products contain PEC technology?
Nexxus, Joico, and Tresemme all make products containing the Polyelectrolyte Complex. If you’d like to try this new hair repair technology for yourself, please consider buying one of these through the links below. Your purchase helps support the Beauty Brains blog.
Joico K-Pak Reconstruct Split End Mender
Tresemme Split Remedy Conditioner
Image credit: Splitender.com
Reference: Ending the Cycle of Split Ends
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Dear Beauty Brain,
Thank you for this interesting article.
I had this question about proteins that are said to “repair” inside hair as they could be absorbed into the cortex to improve “strength and elasticity”.
So I would be interested to have your opinion about the specific qualities of proteins for the hair, comparing to moisturizing conditionners, to really “repair” hair ?
Thank you very much in advance for your answer,
Wow this looks amazing! Thanks for posting this!!! I do have a question though… Does this still work if the conditioner is rinsed off? Or should we be using this as a leave in on the ends of our hair in order to get the most effect?
Thanks!!
I was kind of wondering the same thing as bellacoco – how long does the product have to sit on the hair in order to work? Would a conditioner you rinse out be effective at all?
What about Neutrogena Split End Mender? I thought I remembered reading on this blog that it might be an option for repairing hair.
According to our understanding of the technology, the Nexxus and Tresemme products work as rinse off conditioners. The Joico product must be left in the hair. Neutrogena Split End Mender also uses this hair repair complex and it must be left in as well.
@Sonia: While proteins can be chemically modified to stick to hair and form a conditioning film, they do not really provide substantial repair.
Thank you for answering my question! I also get peeved when hair products claim to repair hair. Glad to hear that a product can finally do it!
I used Nexxus Pro-Mend split end treatments, (shampoo, conditioner and the leave-in treatment as well) for months and months and the result? I had to cut my split ends, they did not do anything at all for me.
The Polyquaternium-28 and PVM/MA Copolymer are almost at the end in the list of the ingredients, -I guess it matters- so it means, Nexxus approximately contains 1-3% of those ions. I do not reccomend Nexxus for someone who has split ends. And besides that it is full with chemicals/toxins.
No question a lot of products use “hair repair” as a catch phrase for marketing purposes. This does look promising though. So just to ensure I understand, it’s basically sticking the hair back together right? In comparison to a conditioner that would coat the hair, but do nothing to pull those split ends back together?
@Debbie: Yes, that’s essentially correct. The effect should last longer than a regular conditioner too.
What about Ceramides, don’t they work off a similar type of process? But inside the Cortex?
L’Oreal said it took them 8 years to develop a ceramide that would slowly build up on itself when used 2 times a month, that the affect would be like repairing the splits ends. True or not?
Love your site & highly recommend it to all my stylists on AskMags.com!
@Mags: Thank, as usual, for your kind words about our blog! Here’s the scoop on ceramides: they’re more protective than reparative. They are part of the natural “glue” that holds hair together so if you can replenish them you can help prevent split ends and other hair damage from occurring. But ceramides don’t generate the contractive force that the PEC complex does. That’s what you need to pull a split end back together.
This may be a dumb question, but I’m curious how it binds the split ends together but doesn’t bind other single hair strands together.
The PEC complex sticks to the most damaged part of hair which is inside the split. If a little sticks to the outside of hair it’s not enough to have a negative effect.
Thanks for this article. I read it and decided to try it. I tried two serums with PVM/MA:
Tresemme Split Remedy Split End Sealing Serum
Nexxus Pro-Mend Split End Binding Smoothing Shine Serum
I picked the serums over the other products because they had fewer ingredients, so they might have a higher concentration of PVM/MA; they were leave-in so I’d probably get the most benefit from the PVM/MA; and both had relatively mild scents and had fragrance as the last ingredient, without any of the known-allergen fragrances listed.
I tried the Nexxus one first, then a week later I saw how much cheaper the Tressemme one was so I tried it too. The two products performed almost identically. The main difference is the fragrance. Nexxus is flowery and Tresemme is citrusy.
Both serums are really impressive. My hair is long and curly, and it is cut to different lengths, so I have rough ends all over my head of hair, not just at the ends. So I used the serum all over my hair, starting about 3 inches from my scalp going down to the ends, and I used more of it on the ends.
When it dried, my hair felt smooth and silky, including the ends. The ends looked freshly-cut. Overall my hair looked shinier, smoother, and a little darker. it was less frizzy and my curls were smoother, more defined, and more bouncy. My friend asked me if I had just dyed it. They held together more than usual. The bushiness of my hair disappeared. It seems like it’s a volume-reducer, which is a good thing in my case. The effect seems to last past the next shampoo, though it works best if I apply the serum after each shampoo. I can refresh the curls in the morning by spritzing them with water and adding a little more of the serum. The very best results have been from using the serum, then a hair gel for more anti-frizz/pro-curl power, and letting it air dry.
I liked the Nexxus product a tiny bit more than the Tresemme, but the big problem with the Nexxus product is that it’s super-expensive for me if I use it on all of my hair. My hair is thick, as well as long and curly, and the serum costs $10-13.00 for 1.7 ounces. I can only get about 4 applications out of a bottle That’s about $3.00/application. But for the results, it actually is worth it. A lot of women spend way more than that for blow-outs etc.
Luckily the tressemme serum costs about $4.00 for 3.3 ounces at Safeway with my Safeway card, and it performed really well, almost the same as the Nexxus serum. I have to try them both a few more times to see if there really is any difference in performance.
Both serums are truly amazing products. The fragrance bothers me a little, but that’s because I’m allergic to almost all fragrances. For most people it wouldn’t be an issue at all. Overall these are the best anti-frizz pro-curl products I’ve ever used.
Hope you see this as the post on this technology is quite old! Insofar as the rinse-off conditioners, are the PEC’s heat activated? It seems to me I got a better result with the Tresemme Split Remedy Conditioner (rinse out) when I blow-dried my hair (not styling it – just using the blow dryer to get it dry) and then used the flatiron.
My hair did not seem to be as silky nor did the flatiron styling last as long when I air-dried my hair and then flatironed it, after using the conditioner.
@Twirly: Yes, the PECs are heat activated.
@thebeautybrains: THANK you! You know how it is….sometimes it’s difficult to figure out whether something you’re doing (or not doing, in this case) really is having an effect, or if you’re just imagining a difference. I am going to add this information to my review of the product on makeupalley.com.
Really appreciate your reply!
How long does the effect last?. Can we speak about reparation or its just a temporary repair?.
Thanks for the post Brains!
“nexxus pro-mend conditioner” & “tresemme split remedy conditioner” are you guys saying that only these products in the line actually work the way the polymer is supposed to? cos i checked the tresemme shampoo and it contains the polymer too.
if these polymers/complex are heat activated them will sitting with the rinse out conditioner under the dryer increase the results?
Chi9j: We’re saying that the polymer does NOT work from the shampoo even though it’s in the formula.
We know that heat makes the complex dry faster but not necessarily work better.
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