Olaplex 3 and hair loss?

[Vaesther]

Has anyone experience excessive shedding of hair after Olaplex 3 treatment??

I thought it was a coincidence the 1st time, but it happened after the 2nd and 3rd tx.

I used it weekly x 3, and the hair loss after the 3rd treatment is noticeable.

I will not use it again (and only used about 2/3 of 1 bottle).

No hair scalp itch or redness, to suggest an allergic reaction. 

[Jay267]

Has anyone seen this  article on a page called '  tyla '  yet?

I can't put an outside link in here, but I'm sure it will come up if you google it:

Olaplex Users Warned Over Link To Infertility And Harm To Foetuses

[jadecat027]

Allure magazine also posted that same article about infertility. It showed up when I searched "FDA Olaplex complaint" which I am seriously thinking about filing.

[hairloss]

I just read an article about it. It is an inactive ingredient used for fragrance. It is in many products but will now be banned in the EU. I for one am sick of being a guinea pig/lab rat so companies can make money. All the diseases products cause... it's terrible. 

[Jay267]

Yes! Well I just saw a documentary on HBO called 'Not so Pretty' about the cosmetics industry! I recommend everyone to watch this! And here in terms of 'fragrance' in America it's not just 'fragrance' but many ingredients are going under that umbrella and companies don't list all of them specifically and many, many are actually toxic to humans, including cancer causing things and carcinogens.

In Europe 1.300 ingredients are forbidden to use because they're toxic and harmful and in America its only 12 or something like that! 

[annnaannnnna]

I used Olaplex for the first time ever on December 1st, 2021, and I put off writing this review for such a long time because I got so depressed over the massive amount of hair I lost over these past 3 months but I do want to say that this product, Olaplex No.3 has DESTROYED my hair. I feel like after almost 3 full months I feel like my hair is almost back to normal. Although I probably lost 50% of my hair entirely, I see the hair growth and less breakage altogether. I am finally back to my hair to close to how it was and I feel a lot less stressed out over this awful situation that many people are in right now and I was also. Thankfully I noticed it quickly but it is horrifying to see how much damage a one-time use of a product it was. 

I have always had healthy hair, never fully dyed and I have kept up with it getting trims and using quality products and this is the first time I have ever had anything like this happen to me. I know I followed the directions correctly and after ONE TIME USE I dried my hair, brushed it like I normally do, and tons and I mean TONS of hair fell out from the roots and my floor was covered. I have never shed this much hair in my life. This horrifying experience went on for weeks, I cried about it for days on end and it was even worse on the days I had to shower. Anytime I looked down at my jacket, on my bed, in my car, there were strands of my hair everywhere, I could not run my fingers through my hair without pulling multiple strands out. I would shower and feel chunks of hair coming out. It was insane. I used it one time keep in mind and I noticed this right away that this has never been the issue with my hair. I went to look up Olaplex and hair loss and I stumbled upon this thread, Reddit, and tik toks with many people having the exact same issue. I did go to my doctor just in the case that it was something regarding my health and it wasn't, my blood work came back perfect no imbalances or lack of anything. I cannot stress the anger and emotional stress I went through because I decided to use a product that I thought I could trust ONCE. I will never in my life use this again and I will make sure to let everyone know how awful this is. 

The way I was able to return my hair to normal or almost fully normal was to have a wash day only once a week, I started using Neutrogena clarifying shampoo a couple of times and then stopped on my 4th time. I used the Aveeno moisturizing conditioner after the shampoo only on my roots. I also used jojoba oil twice a month. I would invest in its a 10 leave-in conditioner to get rid of it being so brassy and dry because of olaplex + clarifying shampoo. The only other thing I did was get hair, skin, and nails vitamins and I took those every day although I had little hope for them I do believe they made a difference. Hopefully, this helps anyone else out because I went through many sources and tried A LOT of stuff to see what worked and what didn't and those seemed to give the best results. I did have to get 4-5 inches cut off because my hair would tangle so bad because of how dry it was and I was not able to detangle without chunks coming out trying to do it. 

If someone was to say well there is Kertaine in it maybe you have a bad reaction, etc. etc. I strongly advise Olaplex to have a warning on it then that it's not suitable for all types of hair or maybe have the hair types it's for. There needs to be some type of caution label on that product because there is ABSOLUTELY no way that 600 other people and I on this thread have experienced this coincidently or that we had a reaction?

I am currently filing a complaint with the FDA along with multiple other people. 

[nat123321]

My experience is basically identical to yours! Just filled out an FDA complaint as well. Do you have an update on how your hair is growing back? I am very worried because mine is also falling out from the root and I am scared of permanent damage. 

[hairloss]

My experience is very similar to yours. I used olaplex the end of October 2022/early November 2022 and lost over half of my hair in the span of 3 weeks. While I am no longer losing hair ( due to clarifying shampoo) I am not seeing any growth in the spots on my head. I have dime to quarter size bald spots on my head. I have to wear wigs or hats if I leave the house. I am happy to hear that yours grew back. My hair broke off as well as fell out with root attached. This has been a nightmare I wish I could wake up from. 

[annaactually]

Wow omg I could not imagine that, I am so sorry. I promise you thankful this is temporary and your hair will start growing back! Olaplex is a scary product 

[sammomabear]

I have lost about 5 inches of hair that I spent years growing out! My hair was completely fine when I was just using #6 . Once I added in #0 and #3 my hair started falling out like crazy, a few days ago I noticed the right side of my hair way shorter then the left then a few days later the left side was also the same! My hair is jacked bad And upset for what I spent on these products. Never again I’m done with olaplex I have a hair appointment tomorrow hoping my stylist can recommend something else! 

[annaactually]

I am so sorry I know exactly how you are feeling. Get a horse haired brush also that will help w the pulling out part which also happens. There is hope though do not worry, I'm almost at the 5 month mark and it's def a lotttt better. Good thing you stopped using it when you did !

[jadecat027]

Imo, everyone on this thread should file a complaint with the FDA on Olaplex and the damage it has caused.

How to report a cosmetic related complaint:

w w w dotfdadotgov/cosmetics/cosmetics-compliance-enforcement/how-report-cosmetic-related-complaint

Link to FDA online reporting form:

w w w dotaccessdatadotfdadotgov/scripts/MedWatch/index.cfm

[Jay267]

Same thing happened to me in November after using olaplex no 3 twice! Because I couldn't believe it was really happening from olaplex I used it a second time a week later. NEVER AGAIN.

I will def try the thing against brassy hair! My hair is super brassy since a while but I didn't even make a connection that it's from the damage from the olaplex... I thought it was from the sun bleaching my hair a bit 😱

What hair, nail vitamins did you use? 

[annaactually]

Just the natures bounty ones! Those seemed to help I was going to try the prenatal ones lol Bc many people said that helped a lot but I'm scared of any other things it might cause if I took those 

[lo9143]

A lot of people who joined this thread around the same time as me have stopped posting. Does anyone have any updates? 

I have notused olaplex since the 1st few days of December… so it’s been about 2 months, as soon as I stopped using it my massive hair loss during showered decreased almost instantly but I still continued to lose alot of hair throughout the day and still more than usual during showers. I have been using the clarifying shampoo and moisture mask and my hair texture finally resembles something closer to normal. I also have a ton of baby hairs growing in especially on my temples and the bald spot the olaplex caused me, but my problem is my hair is still shedding more than normal. It is definitely less than before but not back to normal … like I said it has been about 2 months olaplex free. It sounds to me like alot of people hair loss stopped around the 2 mark line, is that true? Has anyones lasted longer than that but still stopped eventually, how long did it take?

i am currently issuing clarifying shampoo for my first wash, followed by a moisture shampoo and moisture condtioner, a moisture hair mask once a week. Hair envy hair oil as a scalp treatment, I am also taking Olly hair vitamins, double dose of collagen daily, vitamin d, multivitamin, and magnesium and zinc. Like I said I think all this is helping with hair growth but not with the hair fall I am still experiencing. My boyfriend is trying to tell me I am just hyper sensitive to hair loss now and this probably normal for me I just never noticed before this whole ordeal, but I don’t know, I do feel like it’s still an excessive amount. This is so hard 

[jamieh11]

I am still currently experiencing excess shedding as well. Mine has not stopped or slowed down since I put Olaplex in my hair back in November 21’ around Thanksgiving. I have lost so much hair, I am wishing for an end but it never seems to come.

I have noticed extreme thinning around my entire scalp, my ponytail is about half the size it used to be. I never experienced any bald spots, but I can see through my scalp now. I had to cut about 6 inches, because of how thin it was at the bottom.

I am also experiencing dandruff and oily scalp, I have never struggled with this in my life until the moment I put Olaplex in my hair. I am currently using Head and Shoulders to try to help my oily and dandruff scalp. It seems like my scalp has been unbalanced since using Olaplex.  

I had a scalp biopsy done in 2 different spots on my scalp, I get those results on Tuesday of next week. I will update you then.

[lo9143]

Did you ever get the results of your biopsy 

[jamieh11]

Hi there,

I am so sorry for not responding earlier… I have been dealing with a lot recently and with the hair loss on top of it has made it a rough few months.

I did get my results from my scalp biopsy, I was diagnosed with telegen effluvium. I spoke to multiple dermatologist and they firmly believe that my TE could have been triggered by Olaplex. If you do some research about “scalp contact dermatitis”, it is a possible trigger of TE. 

Right below I am posting some information about scalp contact dermatitis from a couple of different websites, I will also link the websites so you can check them out yourself.

“Contact dermatitis of the scalp is common and might be caused by many chemicals including metals, ingredients of shampoos and conditioners, dyes, or other hair treatments.” (https://www.karger.com/Article/Fulltext/453530)

“Allergic contact dermatitis of the scalp should be included among the possible causes of telogen effluvium. The pathogenesis of telogen effluvium caused by contact dermatitis is unknown but may be related to cytokine release during the inflammatory process.” (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/fullarticle/478194) 

In my case, since I used Olaplex back in November… my hair turned into an insane amount of oil and dandruff. I am still trying to get rid of the dandruff to this day. With scalp contact dermatitis, a shampoo can cause inflammation of the scalp… which causes oily hair, dandruff, itchiness, etc. I firmly believe that Olaplex triggered telegen effluvium on my hair follicles.

[lo9143]

Thank you for this information! My dermatologist finally agreed to do a scalp biopsy at my appointment on April if my shedding hasn’t stopped by then. Did they say you could do anything to help or do you just have to let the TE run it’s course? I definitely think olaplex cause inflammation in my scalp … I have lots of baby hairs growing now and they all seem about the length of stopping olaplex I just wish the shedding would stop

[jamieh11]

I’m so glad your dermatologist finally approved it!! Good luck on your scalp biopsy, I hope all goes well!❤️

With telegen effluvium, there is not much you can do besides let it run it’s course. I also have not seen any baby hairs yet, I’m not sure if my hair is growing back or will grow back sadly… 😞

I wish the shedding would just stop as well. We just need to hang in there, we will get through this!

[Hkhairloss]

Hi!

My head is still burning and itching, I am so sad. Loosing hair every day.

What treatment are you giong to follow?

[jamieh11]

Hi there!

My scalp was doing the same thing back in November. I was experiencing an oily scalp, itching scalp, burning scalp, and even dandruff. I went through a lot of different shampoos to try to fix what Olaplex did to me… however, in my opinion and from my experience, the best treatment is time.

I used clarifying shampoo like the other women on this forum suggested, but it did not work for me. It did not even remove the oil. After about 3 months, my hair started slowly getting back to normal on its own. To this day, I only have a mild case of dandruff. I am currently using Head and Shoulders. 

I suggest using a mild shampoo and let your scalp heal itself. Try not to irritate more than it already has been! I am still experiencing shedding, however my scalp does not look like a complete oil pit 5 hours after washing it. It also does not itch anymore as well. 🙂