How to Repair Your Hair After Bleaching

If you have just had a bleach job gone wrong, do not panic — there is still a way to repair your hair. Bleaching can change your hair’s whole chemical make-up. There are many new changes to your hair that will come with bleaching.

How Bleaching Works

Bleach is known to be used to lighten hair, but how exactly does it do this? When bleach is applied to your hair a chemical reaction occurs between the natural melanin in your hair and bleach. Melanin is responsible for the natural color of your hair. When bleach and melanin are combined, the bleach oxidizes the melanin molecule, resulting in lighter hair color. This process is an irreversible chemical reaction.

How Bleaching Affects Your Hair

Bleach can change the chemical make-up of your hair. As a result, after bleaching your hair will become weaker and sometimes the pattern of your hair may change. This is due to the hair’s natural fatty acids being broken down during the chemical reaction. The fatty acids in your natural hair are what make each hair strand strong. Bleaching once will not ruin your hair; however, overbleaching can cause a lot of damage to the hair shaft like hair thinning, hair loss, and damaged hair.

What to Do to Repair My Hair

You have just bleached your hair and now your hair feels weak and limp. There are many ways to repair your hair, but the most important is consistency. Bleached hair requires more maintenance because it changes your hair’s needs. You may need to buy new products or change your hair routine.

Protein Treatments

We first recommend after bleaching your hair to do a protein treatment. Protein treatments are a great way to restore strength in your hair strands. These treatments are filled with the nutrients and proteins needed to reconstruct your strands and increase the overall health of your hair. It is suggested to do a protein treatment at least once a month to keep your hair strong.

Deep Conditioning

Incorporate weekly deep conditioning sessions into your new routine. Deep conditioning helps to ensure your hair is being hydrated and moisturized. It allows moisture to deeply penetrate the shaft, unlike a regular conditioning session. Deep conditioning promotes growth, elasticity, shine, and improves the overall strength of your hair. Be sure to deep condition at least 1-2 times a week.

Choosing the Right Shampoo

The shampoo is the first step in your hair routine. It creates a clean base for when it is time to style your hair. Many shampoos can be too harsh and dry out your hair. When choosing a shampoo, look for sulfate-free and silicon-free shampoos. Plus, if you are a new blonde you will need purple shampoo to preserve the beautiful blonde you have.

Getting a Trim

When trying to grow your hair long, you would typically avoid cutting it to maintain length. That can become a huge mistake and prolong growing your hair long. Bleached hair is prone to split ends. Avoiding trims will allow the split ends to further rise up the hair strands creating more damage. Be sure to get trims every three months to maintain healthy strands, prevent frizz, and breakage.