Keep reading to learn what causes bleach damaged hair, whether you can repair damaged hair, and the best hair treatment for damaged hair.
Index
+-What is Bleach Damaged Hair?
So, let’s talk about how hair bleaching works. Our hair gets its color from a pigment called melanin, which lives inside the hair shaft. The hair shaft is covered in a protective layer of protein scales called the cuticle. When you bleach your hair, the bleach opens up this cuticle in order to alter the melanin inside of the hair. In the process, however, the hair bleach strips hair of its natural protective fibers and oils.
While in theory the cuticle should close again and return to normal, hair bleach has a knack for disrupting those scales so they can no longer lay flat (which is why bleach damaged hair often has more volume than virgin hair – each strand literally takes up more space). Thus, moisture escapes from the inner parts of the hair shaft. Hair becomes dry, brittle, and prone to breakage. That’s bleach damaged hair in a nutshell!
How to Identify Bleach Damaged Hair
So how do you know if bleaching your hair has in fact given you bleached damaged hair? Here’s a few warning signs to look for:
1. Loss of Natural Shine
Typically, the cuticle of the hair lies flat, allowing light to reflect off of it and giving hair a healthy, shiny appearance. As we mentioned, bleach damaged hair has a disrupted hair cuticle, which makes it look duller.
2. Hair Tangles
Bleach damaged hair has rough cuticles that “stick” together, creating hair tangles.
3. Brittle and Dry
Since the protective cuticle is disrupted, bleach damaged hair allows its inner moisture to escape. This leaves hair brittle and dry.
4. Flyaways
Brittle and dry bleach damaged hair is more prone to breakage, which often shows up as flyaways and frizz.
5. Split Ends
Similarly, breakage can show up as ragged split ends.
That all sounds pretty bad, right? So if you’re wondering how to repair damaged hair, read on.
What’s the Difference Between Bleach Damaged Hair & Heat Damaged Hair?
If you’ve never bleached your hair, that doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. Heat damaged hair has a lot in common with bleach damaged hair. Like bleach, hot tools can dry out hair and permanently injure its protective cuticle layer. If you have heat damaged hair, many of our tips to repair bleach damaged hair will also apply to you!
Now that you know the ins and out of damaged hair, keep reading to learn whether you can repair damaged hair.
6 Common Hair Mistakes for Bleach Damaged Hair
Chances are you’ve picked up one of these bad hair habits along the way. The best hair treatment for damaged hair is actually prevention, so if you’re making any of these mistakes, be sure to course correct to avoid bleach damaged hair (and heat damaged hair, for that matter!) so you don’t have to repair damaged hair in the future.
1. Wrong Choice of Shampoo
The first thing to do is make sure that you’re using a shampoo formulated for blonde hair. Blonde hair, particularly bleached blonde hair, has special needs when it comes to cleansing.
That’s where Hair Growth & Repair Shampoo for Blondes comes in. This nourishing, gentle silver shampoo is specially formulated with creatine, Vitamin B5 and organic plant extracts from aloe vera, mango and blueberry to moisturise bleach damaged hair and protect it from further injury.
Plus, it has active violet pigments which neutralise unwanted brassiness. Hair Growth & Repair Shampoo for Blondes also has a pH that’s almost identical to human skin, which means that it won’t irritate your scalp.
2. Not Using a Conditioner
We hope this goes without saying, but skipping conditioner is a major no-no for all hair types, and especially for those with bleach damaged hair or heat damaged hair.
While any conditioner is better than no conditioner at all, it’s best to use one specifically formulated for flaxen hair like Hair Growth & Repair Conditioner for Blondes. This silver conditioner is formulated with organic ingredients like aloe vera, licorice root extract, apricot kernel oil and sweet almond oil that moisturise and protect your strands while treating the scalp to encourage healthy hair growth. Be proactive by conditioning your hair every time you wash it to avoid having to repair damaged hair later.
3. Not Using a Deep Treatment
Remember those protective cuticle scales we told you about? Those are made from protein. So if you have bleach damaged hair or heat damaged hair, it’s pretty much imperative that you use a deep conditioning treatment with protein as a primary ingredient to strengthen the protective coating on your hair.
Protein Reconstructor Hair Mask utilizes hydrolyzed vegetable and yeast proteins to rebuild key hair proteins, leaving bleach damaged hair stronger, shinier and less prone to breakage. For best results, use 1 to 3 times per month depending on your level of damage.
4. Using the Wrong Tools on Wet Hair
Did you know that hair is more delicate when it’s wet and thus more prone to breakage? This is especially true for bleach damaged hair, so it’s important to use the right kind of tool when detangling wet hair. A regular hair brush isn’t going to cut it!
Instead, we recommend using a Detangle Wet Brush, which has soft silicone bristles that gently tease apart snarls sans breakage. Plus, its ergonomic design makes detangling your hair a breeze.
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