Lots of people turn to bleach to create vibrant new color, but sometimes you can end up with frazzled strands. Although it's not possible to turn back time and undo the damage, you can help nourish your hair and have healthy new growth by following hair care tips to maintain a healthy look. Here are 5 tips for how to repair damaged bleached hair.
1. Hydrate gently
When hair is damaged it’s stripped of its water content, so your first step is to pack a load of hydration back into your strands. Use deeply moisturizing shampoos and conditioners, including leave-in treatments, masks, and hair oils. But make sure you pick gentle formulations that don’t have lots of chemical ingredients. For advice on how to repair damaged bleached hair with gentle products, read more.
2. Be extra careful when hair is wet
Hair is more vulnerable when it’s wet, so to avoid further damage to already stressed strands it’s a good idea to handle hair carefully after washing it. Instead of using a brush, use a wide-tooth comb or your fingers to detangle any knots. Instead of vigorous towel drying, carefully dab your hair dry. By reducing friction you’ll reduce damage.
3. Wrap it up
Hair is also vulnerable when it’s exposed to the sun’s harmful rays, especially when it’s bleached. So when you head outside on a sunny day cover your hair with a hat or headscarf. The same goes for swimming. The chemicals in pools can wreak havoc with bleached hair (we’ve all heard about those disasters when blond hair turns green), so tie your hair up high or wear a swimming hat.
4. Pile on the protein
Hair is made of protein, so applying a protein treatment will help strengthen your hair. If you have the budget for it, an intensive, professional keratin treatment at a salon will pack in the major protein. You might choose to follow up with a treatment a few months later. Just bear in mind that too much protein isn’t a good thing (it could do more damage than good), so ask your stylist for advice.
5. Get a trim
It's often the ends of hair that show the most damage, so ask your stylist to trim these off. If the damage goes beyond split ends, consider a restyle that allows the majority of the damage to be cut off – layered styles can work well. When you remove the majorly damaged areas the rest of your hair will be able to benefit from any treatments you apply – rather than the split ends sucking it all up.
With these 5 ways to help restore health to damaged bleached hair, you can look forward to having healthy hair again.
