“One of the goals is its ease of use and performance that appeals to anybody who is not using any hair repairing products,” quotes Eric Pressly about Epres, the haircare brand he has founded that is creating an internet buzz and with good reason. One lightweight spritz of the Bond Repair Treatment ($80) saturates hair with the repairing properties of a heavier conditioning cream and get this—it lends the hair gloss and smoothness in just 10 minutes and continues doing so until your next shampoo session.
Born from the bathroom of his Santa Monica home after his wife humorously wanted him to “stop playing Zelda“, Pressly’s goal with Epres was to one-up the bond-building products in the market which includes Olaplex—the brand of which he was one of the inventors. And all he had to do was to keep things simple.
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“We formulated Epres in a way to ensure our technology works on all hair types,” says Pressly which speaks of the innovative way he has engineered it. Instead of creating a brand and diffusing them into different categories, he created just two products consisting of a Professional Bond Repair set made for hairstylists and the aforementioned Bond Repair Treatment that can be purchased by the public (the former is specifically developed to be mixed into bleach, colour or re-texturising formulas). Both target a universal problem no matter one’s hair type or texture—broken bonds that are caused by the use of hair dye, hot tools, or both at the same time.
More specifically, Epres’s products were created to address the breakage of disulfide bonds which are responsible for how strong the hair is as it holds keratin together. Compared to hydrogen bonds that maintain the hair’s moisture level and salt bonds that contribute to elasticity, disulfide bonds are trickier to repair (hydrogen bonds can be reset by water and salt bonds repair with the use of a pH-respecting product) as you might either be complacent about your hair’s health or excessively treating it.
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For the former, Pressly cites that people often abuse their hair with the conception that it can be repaired in the long run and as for the latter, you might be over-conditioning it which leads to brittleness because of build-up. Therein lies the reason why the Epres Bond Repair Treatment is a real game changer. You never have to overthink its application as all you need to do is spritz, allow it to dry, and sit back as the formula penetrates into the shaft where it starts the repairing of disulfide bonds.
Here, Pressly takes us through the biggest cause of hair damage, an ingredient to avoid for hair health, and more importantly, how his product can streamline your post-shower haircare routine down to just seconds.
How do you think Singapore’s hot and humid weather affects our hair?
Heat tools do a lot of damage and more so when the hair is not fully dry but using them in humid weather can be extra damaging and the results most likely will not last as long.
Does heat, sun, and the use of chemical services all lead to the same type of hair damage?
All damage leads to the breaking of disulfides which are the bonds holding the keratin together in the hair. Thus, repairing disulfide bonds can help repair damage regardless of how it occurred.
You can make guesses on where your damage comes from if you are a heavy bleach or hot tools user but you probably have damage from everything if you do it all.
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How does the Epres Bond Repair Treatment work? Does it penetrate the hair or does the formula coat the shaft instead?
The treatment works by repairing disulfide bonds as long as the formula is on the hair for the liquid molecules within it to penetrate deep into the shaft. Some of the formula simply rinses off upon contact with her but a proper washing is needed to get it all out.
What products do you think the Epres Bond Repair Treatment can replace? For example, a leave-in conditioner, heat-styling serum, etc.
The primary products the Bond Repair Treatment can replace would be your existing repair treatment as it will be better performing, easier to use and possibly fits better into your lifestyle. Soon after introducing it into your regime, you can drop masks or serums but I would not recommend you to stop using a hair conditioner.
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The brand mentions that the product is acid-free but what kind of acids are commonly used in hair products and why are they bad?
There are many acids used in hair care products including but not limited to citric, succinic and malic acid. The problem with these acids when used for professional salon services such as colouring and bleaching is that they are primarily basic.
Too much of it causes the hair’s pH level to drop and slows the chemical process of a bond-building product. Making our products acid-free eliminates the risk of such complications in the salon.
Are there circumstances with one’s hair health that the Bond Repair Treatment can’t fix?
Most people will have a mixture of damage that we can or cannot fix but everybody will feel an improvement in their hair health with the use of the product. The part we cannot fix right now is fully oxidized sulfides.
Lastly, what do you think is the next biggest trend when it comes to hair health and how will Epres come in?
I think people will continue to embrace their natural hair and Epres can help them have the best version of it.