How to Know if Your Hair Has Been Damaged by Bleach？
If you’ve just bleach and rinsed your hair, only to find that it feels like it’s breaking down or melting, this is definitely the worst condition your hair can be in. Its structure has deteriorated to the point that it can. It is not even possible to fix yourself together. Such hair looks and feels like straw when dry, which is the most obvious and obvious damage.
Less severe damage may not be as noticeable, but it can still affect the condition of the hair, so it’s important to be able to spot signs of damage and treat it before it becomes a bigger problem in the future.
Some of the main signs of lighter damage include:
- Edgy
- dilapidation
- dry
- The surface of the hair is rough
- Hair is more brittle when wet
- Loss of elasticity
- Loss of natural hair texture
Some of these questions may be completely natural for your own hair. Frizz and dryness are particularly common problems that many people face, so these are not necessarily cause for concern. However, as soon as you notice that these hair damage symptoms worsen after using whitening products such as bleach, it is a sign that your hair structure may have been weakened.
However, loss of natural hair texture or loss of elasticity is one of the most concrete signs of damage to hair structure. If your hair is wavy or curly and seems to lose a lot of curl after bleaching, this is due to damaged proteins in the hair and broken chemical bonds. Similarly, hair damaged in this way feels more fragile when wet and is more likely to break if pulled or exposed to other mechanical stresses, such as rough towel drying.
If left alone in this case, your hair will continue to degenerate with any subsequent chemical treatments and may suddenly and unexpectedly reach the level of serious damage when rinsing bleach or dye, which is why it is important to treat the damage as early as possible. However, even if you have already suffered serious damage, you can repair bleached hair and avoid cutting it.
How to Restore Bleached Damaged Hair？
The way you fix bleached hair depends primarily on the extent of the damage, as this will determine whether you can succeed with a gentler treatment regimen or need a stronger one. In all cases, though, treatment targets the root cause of the damage – broken chemical bonds and deteriorated proteins.
Minor Injury
Mild injury is any degree of damage that has not broken significantly and the hair still feels relatively smooth. Hair like this will be drier and frizzier, but it can be controlled with a combination of protein and conditioning therapies.
Protein therapy works by repairing damaged keratin with components such as ceramides and arginine and helping to restore broken bonds. Both of these effects greatly improve the strength and structure of the hair, as this is a direct treatment for damage caused by bleach. Conditioners such as leave-in conditioners, balms, or hair serum can reduce dryness and frizz, leaving hair smoother and shinier overall, resulting in hair feeling better and looking better.
To properly address the hair condition, a combination of these two products is required, but protein treatment is the most important priority product and should be used up to three times in the first week and then once a week to maintain the strength of the hair in the future.
If you feel dry and frizzy, you should immediately use a deep conditioning treatment to address the issue, and then apply a leave-in conditioner or hair serum as often as needed to address the problem. As your hair improves due to protein treatments, the need for such products may decrease, but you should use them as often as needed to prevent your hair from drying out because when your hair is at its best, your hair will be at its best. Hydrate properly.
Heavily Bleached Damaged Hair
Hair badly damaged by bleach can also respond to protein treatments, but this may not always be enough. Rapid application of a protein usually avoids its being cut off. Still, your natural texture and many of the softness, shine, and strength will be compromised until it grows, which isn’t ideal if you don’t have the option to recolor or drastically change your style.
In this case, you need to use a more potent product, such as a keratin treatment or a hair bonding repairer. These products can also be used to treat milder damage, but the process of using them correctly is more difficult and time-consuming than simple protein therapy, so this is a disadvantage. However, in many cases, proper use can restore bleached hair to its natural state, so it is well worth it.
As with more minor injuries, you need to start protein therapy several times a week immediately, and this frequency should continue for 2-3 weeks and then reduce to once a week. Adhesive rebuilders like Olaplex Hair Perfector should also be started as soon as possible, or you should use keratin treatment.
Any one of these products can do most of the repair work, allowing protein therapy to kick in.
Protein Therapy
The most important tool for any hair restoration task is the humble protein treatment. Not only are they relatively inexpensive, but they are also easy to use and only take a few minutes for you to spend.
Products such as Redken Extreme CAT can be used to repair damaged hair by simply applying generously after shampooing and leaving it on for 5 minutes, followed by a good conditioner or moisturizing treatment. If you have suffered mild or moderate damage, this is actually all the steps you need to take to improve your hair and prevent it from breaking or split-ending.
If you suffer more severe damage, you should still prioritize protein treatment, which by itself is not enough to significantly restore your hair. For this case, keratin treatment or adhesive restorer needs to be added.
