25th May 2021
Every now and again, a product comes along that revolutionises the hairdressing industry.
My first memory of something coming along in my (hairdressing) lifetime was Liquid Hair from Wella System Professional. A real game changer that gave hairdressers the opportunity to push their technical boundaries.
Then of course there was the phenomenon that was (and still is) ghd that created a demand for straighteners that was both hairdresser and client driven.
Lately we have had Olaplex, and oh how every company jumped on the bandwagon to bring their own version of this revolution to the market. For an industry obsessed and driven by creativity, I was staggered at the lack of thought that went into calling everything plex something or something plex, it screamed of jumping on the bandwagon too quickly.
At this moment in time I’m keeping a close eye on reviews for L’Oreal Professionel’s new launch ‘Metal Detox’ to see just what salons think about it.
BUT, and it’s a BIG BIG but ….. there’s been a stirring in the industry for the last few months about a product that has (not so quietly) taken a hold of hairdressers like nothing I have seen for a while.
This isn’t a huge range of products for in salon and at home use, it is (at this moment in time) a very small 2 products, yes 2 products. A spray and a mask for in salon use and a mask for home use. Each product takes 4 minutes to do the job it is designed to do! Yes, that’s what I said, just 4 minutes for each product to reverse damage, that’s a clinically proven fact!
Almost all the hairdressers I know are talking about K18, about how much of a game changer it is and how hair has never felt better than when the products have been used, irrespective of condition prior to application.
There is something new , exciting and very different with K18 that I don’t see in any other brands at the moment and it’s been a while since I heard so much excited talk about a product from salons across the UK, literally I get asked about it every single day!
Let’s see what happens here, my gut feeling is that this new revolution is going to become as much a part of hairdressers daily lives as scissors, tint brushes, hairdryers etc are. The simplicity of K18 is one of the main reasons why salons are keen to get their hands on this innovative launch.
Here’s the official K18 word:
10 years of biosciences research — 1 breakthrough peptide
Our K18PeptideTM was patented after scanning and analyzing 1,242 decapeptides that cover the entire genome of human keratin proteins. After a decade of research, we discovered one unique sequence unlocking the science to bring strands damaged from chemical services and thermal/mechanical styling back to their original, youthful state — the K18Peptide.
Patented K18 is not just a temporary fix — it’s the first product to utilize biomimetics to reconnect keratin chains once broken by bleach, color, and chemical services, resulting in soft, smooth, strong hair with bounce that feels like new. The more damaged the hair, the more dramatic the results.
This is BIOMIMETIC HAIRSCIENCE — and it heals hair in just 4 minutes.
why do we need K18 and who is it for?
Damage. Everyone experiences damage to their hair in some way either by chemical services, thermal styling, mechanical styling, or even through our environments. Over time, this damage starts to break down our hair resulting in loss of shine, bounce, and that youthful state that we had prior to the damage occurring. Our K18 System works to give confidence to both stylists in-salon and consumers / clients at home through extensive use of our revolutionary peptide.
When we look at hair, it is comprised of 3 separate bonds that give hair its strength, structure, and integrity. Salt and hydrogen bonds are important however disulfide bonds would give hair its foundational support. When these disulfide bonds are broken via any of the routes mentioned above, this results in damage. This damage occurs not only inside hair but all throughout in the cuticle, cortex, and medulla. It doesn’t matter if your hair is natural, fine, curly, straight, or chemically treated, as damage all happens the same way on a molecular level, which brings us to K18.
For all hair types, for every generation.
how K18 works
When thinking of hair, the easiest comparison would be to many different ladders that have been twisted to create the keratin chain. These ladders stay in place as a result of disulfide bonds. They are held together and present in the cortex, medulla, and cuticle.
When these ladders are damaged, it’s not just the singular rungs of the ladder that break, it’s the entire ladder including the runners and any connections between these multiple ladders held together by electrostatic attraction.
Most products only focus on creating a temporary bridge between the rungs of a ladder (the ionic crosslink across the broken disulfide bonds). This washes away with any alkaline agent like water or shampoo without any mechanism to support the sides of the ladder (broken keratin chains). The hair then continues to stay weak and limp.
Through a period of 10 years of research (3 years in scanning and in silico design), the keratin proteome covering 1,242 decapeptides, we at K18 patented the first peptide that is most effective at connecting the broken keratin chains. This means that K18 is able to provide lasting results that repair and heal hair in four minutes.
The future of haircare was born in a single patented peptide
Any chemical process that involves an alkaline environment breaks the keratin chains that keep hair together and strong. K18 is the first product in history to reconnect the broken keratin chains. It does so by penetrating the cortex and reconforming the disulfide bonds across the sides of the ladder and so reconnecting the broken keratin chains. Hair is now repaired and restored to a near undamaged state of strength and elasticity.
Visit the official website here: K18
For details and to enquire about stocking K18, click here: Warehouse.5 who also happen to be the distributors for Eleven Australia, another brand causing a stir in the industry.
