12 years ago, I sat sobbing in Nicola Clarke's chair. I'd had a bleach disaster at another salon, and my hair was fried to a crisp. The renowned celebrity colourist gently lifted random strands, inspecting them with a furrowed brow, before disappearing into the back room of the salon.
When she eventually emerged, she was carrying an unmarked plastic bottle, filled with some sort of new hair wizardry to help repair damage to coloured hair. I left with specific instructions to apply the mysterious white liquid three times a week from root to tip for the next three months.
That product turned out to be the Olaplex No.3 Hair Perfector, a ground-breaking pre-shampoo repair treatment that launched a whole new category of ‘bond repair’ hair products and revived my frazzled strands. Ever since that fateful visit to Nicola, not a week has gone by that I haven't applied this treatment. That is, until January of this year, when something even better came along.
For the past month, I've been testing the new Olaplex No.3 Plus Complete Repair Treatment ahead of its official launch today (3 March, 2026). It's a reformulation of the original bond builder – Olaplex's No.3 Hair Perfector – and, from today, it will replace the original.
The premise is the same: Olaplex No.3 Plus is an at-home hair treatment that you apply to damp hair before shampoo to help strengthen the structure of your hair strands and prevent premature breakage.
How does Olaplex No.3 Plus work?
Hair is made up of keratin fibres, which are held together by disulphide bonds. “Disulfide bonds can be found in all hair types and look exactly the same, regardless of race or biological sex, so Olaplex technology repairs what is fundamental to human hair,” says celebrity hairstylist Halley Brisker, whose clients include supermodel Kaia Gerber.
Any time you change your hair colour or heat style your hair with a curling iron, you alter and potentially damage these bonds.
Olaplex No.3 Plus is powered by Olaplex's hero ingredient – a patented molecule called bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate (Bis-amino for short) – which works from inside hair strands to help repair existing damage, while also protecting against future harm by helping to rebuild broken bonds.
Bis-amino does this by binding to three types of bonds that make up a hair strand (disulfide, hydrogen and ionic) where they've been damaged by daily wear and tear, chemical processing and heat styling.
Unlike the original Olaplex No.3, the new No.3 Plus formula also doubles down on repair (hence the ‘Plus’ in the product's name) with what the brand calls a new Damage Defense Cationic Complex, which essentially targets cuticle repair to improve smoothness. Three key oils – crambe abyssinica seed, avocado and sunflower seed – reduce flyaways and a humectant derived from L-glutamic acid hydrates.
How do you use Olaplex No.3 Plus?
Step 1: Apply to damp hair
Wet your hair, towel-dry and apply a generous amount of Olaplex No.3 Plus from root to ends.
Step 2: Wait
Leave the treatment on for 3 minutes. You can leave it on for longer if you choose – it will continue to work as long as your hair remains moist.
Step 3: Rinse
Olaplex No.3 Plus is a pre-shampoo treatment, so after this time, rinse thoroughly, then shampoo and condition as usual.
How does Olaplex No.3 Plus differ from Olaplex No.3?
These are the key differences to note between the original Olaplex No.3 and the new Olaplex No.3 Plus:
| Olaplex No.3 Plus | Olaplex No.3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical results, according to Olaplex | 3 x stronger and softer hair. It reverses hair damage after one use and over time delivers 75% stronger internal hair structure. | Hair is 3 x stronger after one use and 90% smoother and more conditioned when used alongside the Olaplex No.4 Shampoo and No.5 Conditioner |
| The time it takes to work | 3 minutes. | 10 minutes. |
| The ingredients | Bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate bond repair molecule; a new Damage Defence Cationic Complex to target cuticle repair; crambe abyssinica seed oil, avocado oil and sunflower seed oil for improved smoothness and a humectant derived from L-glutamic acid to hydrate. | Bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate bond repair molecule, and hydrating ingredients including glycerin, aloe leaf juice, jojoba seed oil. |
| The texture | Creamy and feels like a hair mask. | Liquid, milky texture. |
| Price | £32 | £32 |
The best thing about the new Olaplex No.3 Plus
Anyone who bleaches their hair will be able to relate to the “Oh God, I'm destroying it” guilt. In my case, that guilt is on a whole other level because I have fine hair, too. Olaplex has changed all that – I have the salon-only products mixed in with my hair colour to prevent damage during the chemical process. Then I use No.3 at home to maintain that care.
Having compared the Olaplex No. 3 and No.3 Plus, I can confirm that both restore shine and touchable softness to my hair, especially in the weeks straight after a colour appointment. But I can't say I've noticed a huge difference in results of the No.3 Plus over the No.3 – only perhaps that my hair feels a little more hydrated using the No.3 Plus, and my flyaways aren't so fluffy, which is why I've ditched using a separate hair mask, too.
My only complaint with the original No. 3 Hair Perfector was the shivery dance I'd have to do for the 10 minutes between stepping into the shower to wet my hair and eventually rinsing out the Olaplex No.3. So for me, the best thing about the new Olaplex No.3 Plus is the speed of the results. It only needs to be left on the hair for 3 minutes, more than halving the application time. This makes it easier to fit into a quick morning routine – I tend to brush my teeth while it gets to work – rather than leaving it for an ‘everything shower’ day.
Also of note is the new creamy texture, which makes the whole process a little less drippy when you whip your hair into a claw clip as it gets to work. The fresh formula is easier to pull through the hair, too, and I found you don't need to use as much of it to coat every strand, which makes the No.3 Plus more economical for the same price. And who doesn't want more bang for their buck?
