Bonding is a crowded category now, and I do not think one brand has to do all of it. Once you have your base routine, other formulas can fill the gaps: a richer mask for the weeks after coloring, a lighter shampoo for the fine-haired days, or a serum for the ends.

Bumble and bumble's Bond-Building Hair Repair Shampoo is a direct cousin of the Redken wash, useful if you want to alternate. Oribe's Gold Lust Repair and Restore Conditioner is the richer-feeling pick for hair that has been colored or heat styled hard. Kérastase's Chronologiste Moisturizing Shampoo is made for repair and shine, a gentler, softer wash for days when you want to keep things simple.

UNOVE's Deep Damage Repair Hydrating Hair Mask is the one I would keep for a Sunday, left on in the shower while you do everything else. Living Proof's Triple Bond Complex Leave-in Treatment is a leave-in treatment that can stand in for the Redken leave-in if that ever feels like too much. Crown Affair's Overnight Repair Serum Treatment is the slow one, worked through dry, damaged ends before bed.

The test is simple. After drying, run your fingers through the ends. If they catch and snag, add a mask. If they feel coated and flat, back off to one product at a time.

Repair and shine are not the same job. A bond-building routine helps hair feel stronger and smoother, and then a gloss or light serum handles the last ten percent, which is how it catches the light.

Kérastase's Gloss Absolu High-Shine Anti-Frizz Mask is made for medium to thick hair, a conditioning mask with a glossy finish that I use once a week. Olaplex's No. 7 Shine Serum is a weightless oil and repair mist in one, and a good way to finish when you want a dry, polished look with almost no weight. Pureology's Color Fanatic Top Coat is a clear hair gloss, and it is the one I would pick if your color looks a bit flat after washing.

Living Proof's Perfect Hair Day 5-in-1 Styling Treatment is the softest of these, a multitasking styling treatment I use as prep before a blow-dry. L'Oréal Professionnel's Vitamino Color Spectrum Glass Shine Serum is a smoothing serum with a glassy finish, and Gisou's Honey Gloss Collagen Drops is a hair oil made for fine to medium hair, so you need only a drop or two.

What I would skip: layering three or four shine products on the same day. Glossy hair comes from smooth, well-conditioned hair first, and a heavy oil on top of a heavy mask tends to look greasy at the roots by lunch. Pick one gloss, apply it to the ends, and keep it away from your scalp.

Give any new routine three or four washes before you judge it. Hair does not change in one shower, and a bonding system works best when you use it the way it was designed.

Here is what I look for. Wet hair should feel less gummy when you comb it. Dry hair should feel smoother and hold its shape a little longer between washes. If it turns limp or waxy, drop the leave-in or mask down to every second wash. Keep heat tools on a lower setting, use a protectant when you can, and trim the ends on schedule, because no product can join a split back together. If your hair is breaking a lot or thinning, that is a conversation for a stylist or doctor, not another bottle. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together The Best Hair Serum and Nexxus Shampoo, the 1979 Brand From the Man Who Started Redken.