Shea Moisture Vs Olaplex Comparison 2024 | Which Is Better?

If you’re looking to compare Shea Moisture Vs Olaplex, you’re at the right place. We’re here to tell you all about the brands, their similarities, differences and ultimately which one you should go for. Read further to know more about these haircare brands below.

We get so busy these days that caring about our own bodies becomes less of a priority.

Hair needs regular maintenance otherwise it’s bound to get rough, dry and damaged. Your hair requires to be oiled, shampooed and also rebonded with hair masks.

It might seem like a lot to do but doesn’t take much of your time when you’re in a habit and the results are obviously spectacular. Providing hair with enough moisture, hydration and essential nutrients is extremely important.

Hence, when you choose your hair care brand, be mindful and choose only the best. Two of the best hair care and styling product brands are Shea Moisture and Olaplex especially for people with damaged hair. Their products contain a high amount of protein that helps in making the hair healthy and fuller.

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Let’s delve further into these two brands and compare them to find out what’s better than the other: Shea Moisture or Olaplex. I’ve personally tried and tested both brands for a good amount of time to come to a conclusion.

Shea Moisture Vs Olaplex

Who is Shea Moisture?

Shea Moisture is a Black-owned American brand which was established in 1991 and trades personal care products. The founding owners of the brand are from the Liberian diaspora, Nyema Tubman and Richelieu Dennis.

The inspiration for the company came from Dennis’s grandma (Sofi Tucker) who sold shea butter, African black soap and many homemade beauty products in one of the villages of Seirra Leone in 1912.

Shea Moisture was acquired by Uniliver in 2017 and Davina Bennett became the face of the brand the following year. She represented Shea Mosutre’s black castor oil product line which became famous because of her representation.

Shea Moisture has various products related to hair, body, kids and personal care. It caters to all genders and age groups as it claims ‘all-inclusive. It’s made with clean ingredients like flowers and fruit extracts that benefit the skin and have flawless results.

The best part about Shea Moisture is that they don’t formulate their products with any toxic ingredients that aren’t safe for the body. It doesn’t contain parabens, sulphate, phthalates, and also doesn’t contain petroleum.

Shea Moisture is cruelty-free as it claims that the products aren’t tested on animals. The brand also happens to produce the goods in a sustainable manner which makes them environment friendly.

Who is Olaplex?

Olaplex is one of the most known and biggest independent hair care brands. The brand has more than 100 patents all over the world.

It came into being by two chemists, Eric Presley and Craig Hawker as they understood how to repair damaged hair. This hair care brand has been widely growing ever since 2014 and began in California, USA in a garage.

Olaplex is currently available in more than 100 countries and its sale is boosted through professional salons, e-commerce trades as well as retail stores.

This brand changes its patent technology with time and keeps its products updated to focus on the best results.

Olaplex is known to repair broken bonds in hair that results from chemical, mechanical or thermal damages.

The active ingredient, bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate is what’s responsible for repairing the bonds in hair that is present in Olaplex products and treatments. Olaplex treatments contain protein

For example, Many people damage their hair chemically when going for a bleach treatment while dyeing their hair. Bleach dries out the moisture, turns brittle and also makes your hair frizzy. Olaplex can rebond damaged hair and make it smoother, softer and healthy.

Even Olaplex is a brand that doesn’t contain harmful toxins that can destroy or damage hair like sulphate, silicones, and phthalates.

Recent statistics suggest that the brand has grown from $148.2 million in 2019 to $282.3 million in 2020 to become the number #1 independent hair care brand.

Not to forget, Olaplex has great reviews by users all over the internet and is suggested to everyone who has remotely damaged their hair and are looking to make them healthier and better.

Comparing the Two Brands: Shea Moisture vs Olaplex

Shea Moisture and Olaplex are completely different brands that deal with hair care products. Both brands are effective in their own ways and even their application process is entirely different.

Let’s find out what are the similarities and differences between the brands to understand each of them better and decide further on which one to go for.

Similarities:

Shea Moisture and Olaplex are both famous for their care products. They’re known to benefit the hair and result in smooth, silky and healthier hair.
Both Olaplex and Shea Moisture do not use toxic ingredients like sulphate, silicones as well as phthalates.
Shea Moisture as well as Olaplex are vegan and free from animal testing

Results from Shea Moisture

Differences:

Shea Moisture is not completely a hair care brand. It also includes body, baby and personal care products. However, Olaplex only deals with hair care and repair products. There’s no line of body or personal care goods in Olaplex.
Olaplex is more like a treatment for damaged hair and you only use the shampoo and conditioner of that brand to maintain the treatment while Shea Moisture can be used anyhow. The latter can be used on hair regularly and comes in variants like shampoo, conditioner, oil, hair masks etc.
Shea moisture is curated with botanical ingredients like shea butter, aloe vera, coconut oil etc. while Olaplex’s active ingredient is a patented chemical compound i.e, Bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate.
Shea Moisture is way more affordable than Olaplex and is easily available in any drugstore. A set of shampoo and conditioner of Shea Moisture costs about $22.99 while Olaplex’s shampoo alone is for $30.00.
Shea Moisture’s was acquired in 2017 and its current parent company is Uniliver while Olaplex is an independent company and one of the largest in the hair care market.
Shea Moisture has curated products for all hair types regardless of its texture while Olaplex is only effective for damaged hair.
Shea Moisture is a much older brand that came in the 1990s as compared to Olaplex which has gotten great recognition in the recent 7-8 years.

Results from Olaplex

Quick Comparison Products from the Brands:

Shea Moisture and Olaplex Shampoo Set Comparison

*Features*	*Shea Moisture Shampoo*	*Olaplex Shampoo*
Hair type	All hair type	Chemically, thermally or mechanically damaged hair
Ingredients	Shea butter, silk protein, neem oil	bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate
Main product benefit	Anti-frizz, moisture and shine	Revitalises hair, repairs hair bonds and makes the hair healthy
Effectiveness on hair	Extremely effective	Extremely effective
Gentleness on hair	Extremely gentle	Gentle
Item form	Semi-liquid and milky	Thick liquid
Free from chemical ingredients	No sulphate, parabens, silicones, phthalates etc.	No sulphate, parabens, silicones, phthalates etc
Safe for color treated hair	Yes	Yes,
Quantity	384 ml/13 fl oz	250 ml/8.5 fl oz
Price	$9.97	$30.00

I tried using both products for a period of 3 months to find out the similarities and differences. Before testing the Olaplex shampoo, I even got Olaplex bond repair treatment as my hair was damaged by bleach.

Shea Moisture and Olaplex are two very different brands that have different motives on hair. The former can be used on a daily basis while the latter is a maintenance product for Olaplex treatment for hair bond breakage.

I found both products to be extremely effective and work well on my hair type. However, for daily usage, you cannot go for Olaplex until and unless you’ve opted for treatment.

Both the shampoos felt very gentle on my scalp but I found Shea Moisture’s fragrance to be better and heavenly. Olaplex has quite a synthetic smell that I didn’t like. Moreover, it’s way lesser in quantity for its price.

If you’re tight on budget, choosing Shea Moisture is the best as you get a decent quantity at an affordable price of $9.97. Olaplex did a better job in reducing my frizz but made my hair straight which I didn’t like.

Shea Moisture wasn’t that good in controlling frizz but worked superbly in bringing lustre and moisture in my hair. I found both the shampoos to be color-safe so don’t worry if you’ve dyed your hair.

Olaplex has a thick texture that needs a little bit more massaging to apply on hair while the semi-liquid creamy is easy to apply and wash off.

Conclusion

It’s extremely difficult to choose one product in this case as Shea Moisture and Olaplex are not of the same type. They’re both products that should be used in different scenarios and have extreme effectiveness.

If you’re looking for an affordable regular-use shampoo to improve your hair conditions, go for Shea Moisture as it has botanical ingredients that will benefit your hair, keep it healthy and leave it with a nice fragrance.

If you’ve damaged your hair in any way and are looking for solutions to repair it, think no more because you need an Olaplex treatment.

It contains a patented chemical compound that is known as a hair bond-builder. It repairs, moisturises and leaves your hair healthy in all ways.

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