Redken PH Bonder Discontinued? What are the Alternatives?

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For those who have fallen in love with a given hair care product, finding out that it’s been discontinued can be borderline traumatic, especially if it’s a specialty product.

Part of the problem is finding a replacement. And another major part of the trauma is finding out why the product was discontinued in the first place.

The latter is definitely the case with Redken PH Bonder.

So, let’s take a more extensive look at what the issues really are and how this particular discontinuation evolved.

To wit: Is Redken PH Bonder discontinued?

The Discontinuation Question

At first glance, finding out why Redken PH Bonder was discontinued is easy.

Redken has a link that takes you to a page full of discontinued products. So, all you have to do is search for the product and you get the answers you deserve, right?

Not so fast.

This specific product, Redken PH Bonder, is nowhere to be obviously found on that page. And you quickly find yourself engaged in a downward doom scroll if you try to find it.

So what’s the solution? As is the case in many instances, at least part of the answer can be found on user forums.

With Redken PH bonder, you’ll quickly learn that this product was discontinued because Redken–aka Loreal–was sued by Olaplex for using one of Olaplex’s key ingredients and calling it something else.

If you know anything about lawyers and patent cases, you’re probably aware that they tend to go on for years, which is why lawyers who love billable hours find them so endearing.

The fact that Redken discontinued this product completely tells you that this was probably a one-sided lawsuit in which Redken had no choice but to cave and bury the product as completely as possible.

Especially since Olaplex mostly makes products that are based on the effectiveness of one key ingredient.

Redken PH Bonder vs Replacements

Not surprisingly, Redken PH Bonder worked.

It got universally strong reviews for repairing damaged hair, especially for those who sustained that damage from coloring or bleaching.

Some reviewers claimed that Redken works slightly differently than Olaplex in that it prevents the breaking of bonds within the hair strand, while Olaplex’s claim to fame is to restore broken bonds.

The problem with this difference is that Olaplex also includes prevention and restoration in its product literature, which turns at least part of this argument into semantics.

The argument is rendered further moot by the discontinuation factor, which means you’ll have to do some work to find the Redken product.

Some reviewers also mentioned the fact that the scent wasn’t that attractive. Not to mention that the results weren’t as transformational as they’d hoped.

The Olaplex Alternative

So what’s the upshot of all this?

Simple…

If you’re having trouble with damaged hair that needs to be restored, or if you find yourself on the way to that scenario, do some homework on Olaplex.

The product has been formulated by dermatologists. And while there are some drawbacks, the vast major of the reviews indicate that it does work.

It’s a bit more expensive though. But any product that provides an answer to the discontinuation problem is at least worth a try, and that’s definitely the case with Olaplex.

Up Next: Why Was Olay Hair Removal Discontinued?