I may not be a professional stylist, but I am pretty sure that I know almost everything, if not everything, about damaged hair. I’ve learned through experience. I once had all four of the basic hair colors, brown, black, red, and blonde, in one twenty-four hour period (it’s a long story). A boy once told me that my hair felt like a dog that had Sprite spilled on it. I’ve made the long journey from Sprite dog hair back to hair that feels almost like a normal person’s, but you shouldn’t let the fear of damaged hair scare you away from experiencing the miracles of artificial hair color and heat tools. You can still do these things; just don’t be stupid like I was. In one day I went from true black to platinum blonde. Anyone who has ever bleached their hair knows that saying it hurts is an understatement. It took five rounds of bleach to get my hair white, each one more painful than the last, but I never cried. When I was done I knew it was a mistake, or as I told my parents who were unaware that I was going blonde, “it was a bad idea but it wasn’t a big deal.” In an attempt to get my hair back to normal, I dyed over my freshly bleached head the same night. That was the worst pain I have ever felt. I just rocked back and forth for twenty minutes, crying and holding my chemical burnt ears away from the dye on my head, waiting for my color to gestate.
Rule #1: Don’t do that! Doing multiple processes in one day isn’t usually a good idea especially one as damaging as bleaching. Not only did I sustain follicle damage, I had patches of hair on my head that wouldn’t even hold color for months and, as my sister put it, I looked like a calico kitty.
If you’ve already broken rule number one or have done something else catastrophic to your tresses, or even if you have minimal breaking and damage, there are things you can do to help.
Rule #2: Shampoos are meant to strip product buildup and dirt off your hair. It is their job to remove things. However, in removing the bad things it also takes away from the natural oils and nutrients in your hair that keep it healthy and moisturized. If you have damaged hair you need to cut back on the amount of times you wash your hair. If it’s severe like mine was, you shouldn’t be washing more that once a week. I know this sounds gross, but trust me your hair will not look greasy. Dry, brittle hair lacks the natural moisture that healthy hair has so it will not get oily. If anything it will only make it look more like normal hair.
Rule #3: What you wash with is also important. Most hair products you buy in a
regular store are made with alcohol and sulfates. Alcohol dries your hair out while sulfates strip it. Sulfates are used in dish and laundry detergents to gut grease and stains so clearly you don’t want them stripping the natural oils of your hair. It is difficult to find products without sulfates, even professional products, but if you can, buy it, use it, and keep it. It is a lot easier to find products without alcohol, especially if you go professional. Swimmers put rubbing alcohol in their ears to dry up the water when they get out of the pool, so you don’t want alcohol drying out your already parched hair. Professional products are of much higher quality and are typically not made with this drying agent. You can go to a beauty supply store (like Sally’s) or you can get them at your salon. Herbal Essences also makes a really good shampoo for color treated hair that contains no alcohol. They also make a really rich conditioner, which brings us to our next rule
Rule #4: You need to condition often, if not every day, with a rich conditioner. Conditioner moisturizes hair and smoothes the cuticle, which jagged, broken ends need. Remember also to avoid alcohol in your conditioner. Like I said, Herbal Essences makes a good rich one for color treated hair but you may also need a leave in to use outside of the shower, especially because when heat is used on damaged hair it flies everywhere. Use your leave-in to smooth stray hairs and fly aways as well.
Rule #5: One of the most beneficial things I’ve found, especially for hair that has almost made a full recovery, is a hot oil treatment. This one is also good for people with minimal damage. Vo5 makes a great one. It comes in a little packet that you heat up in hot water and then use in the shower. My stylist suggested it to me and it is the first thing that made my hair feel completely normal.
Rule #6: While you’re on the path to recovery, you need to avoid those vices that hurt you in the first place. I’m not saying you can never use heat or color your hair again, but you should take a break until your hair has a chance to heal. For now banish color until you have a human’s hair again and keep heat use to a minimum. I recommend never using a blow dryer in this stage because it will only cause your broken hair to frizz and using ceramic flat and curling irons sparingly.
Rule #7: I know this may be hard to hear, but you may, to a certain extent, need to cut your losses. If your hair is as bad as mine was, some of it is going to have to come off (which probably doesn’t seem that odd since its already falling out like crazy). If you are afraid to lose too much length, ask your stylist to point cut out as much of it as they can, but I really recommend just taking the plunge. You probably won’t have to lose as much hair as you think you will, and when it grows back you’ll have healthy normal hair that you can ruin again at your will. Also your stylist might be able to give you tips to help you get back to normal. I have a stylist who is great with damaged hair who I will happily recommend to anyone who asks. Mine is fabulous but here are some things you should look for in a stylist who handles your fragile locks:
• The health of your hair should be their first priority; they should not condone or recommend damaging treatments.
• If your hair is truly distressed, they should not use heat and they should recommend you not use heat as well.
• They should try to educate you on the health of your hair
• They should understand that they are the professional and no matter how hard you beg they should not encourage you to do anything to further damage your hair
Damaged hair is not a style death sentence. If you follow these rules you too can recover and live life with a normal person’s hair. Besides, having damaged hair isn’t all bad. The added texture allows you to put your hair anywhere you want it and creates added volume. So it probably wasn’t the best idea to do a quadruple process in one day, and I really shouldn’t have done my own corrective color but I’ve made it back. I have a normal person’s hair that I am now free to ruin.
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