Damaged Hair from Bleach? Here’s What to Use

 

When it comes to achieving that perfect balayage or platinum blonde hair, there’s only one hair product that can do the job: bleach. While it’s safe to use in the hands in the professional for getting your hair summer-ready and bringing vibrancy and dimension to your hair, bleach does need to be used carefully!

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It can leave your hair feeling damaged and prone to split ends - here’s our guide to how to repair damaged hair from bleach to keep your hair feeling silky and healthy. 

What Does Bleach Do to Hair?

Bleach is an essential in any hair dressers arsenal for adding highlights, doing a balayage, or lightening hair to dye it a bright, fun colour. It does this by oxidising the melanin in our hair - this is the same type of molecule that impacts the colour of our skin and eyes. 

Dark brown and black hair is more difficult to bleach to lighter blond shades without seriously damaging the structure of your hair due to the more concentrated amount of melanin in darker hair. However, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible to lighten dark hair! It can just take more steps to get the light colour you’re looking for.  

The original protein re-linking treatment, Olaplex No. 3 is a must-have for nursing damaged hair back to life. 

 

Understanding what bleach does to hair starts with understanding how your hair is structured. The outer part of hair is covered in tiny scales called cuticles - yes, kind of like the cuticle of your nail!

Healthy hair cuticles lie flat and closely to each other, creating hair that feels smooth and looks shiny. They also have another important purpose of keeping moisture in hair, which is another contributor to how healthy and smooth your hair can feel.

When bleach penetrates through hair, it can disrupt how these cuticles lay down flat. To put it technically, bleach can break protein bonds. Hair is made of the same protein that our nails are made out of - keratin. Bleach can weaken and damage this protein, leaving that tell-tale feeling and look of damaged hair.

This ultra-nourishing hair mask from Philip Kingsley uses the power of natural castor oil to replenish moisture levels in damaged and dry hair. 

What Does Damaged Hair from Bleach Look Like?

Hair that’s damaged from bleach has a few tell-tale signs (other than colour change, of course)! The signs of bleach-damaged hair include:

  • Split ends
  • Excessive frizziness
  • Lack of shine
  • Loss in curl pattern
  • Change in texture 
  • Hair breakage

If any of these sound familiar to you, it might be time to consider adding a few of these hair-fortifying steps to your skincare routine. If these sound familiar to you yet you haven’t bleached your hair, it’s likely that your hair has sustained heat damage!

They can appear as very similar results on hair due to the same sort of damage they leave - a weakened cuticle that can’t hold onto moisture that feels rough and easy to break. 

Repair your hair with this set from Olaplex - it has the Olaplex No. 0 Bond Builder and No. 3 Hair Perfector, perfect for restoring bleach-damaged hair. 

Best Hair Products for Damaged Hair

When it comes to damaged hair, how to repair it starts with two important steps - boosting moisture and helping to repair broken protein bonds.

When it comes to the best hair products for damaged hair, treatment masks and deep conditioners are invaluable to helping your hair feel smooth and healthy again. Usually, these hair care products use the power of natural plant oils to help moisturise and smooth down your hair cuticle for hair that feels soft and manageable again.

A deep conditioning mask once a week is important to adding a healthy shine back to over-processed hair, preventing split ends and roughness.

Conditioning mask from French hair care brand Phyto strengthens hair with a blend of hydrolysed proteins and deeply conditioning plant lipids for silky smooth hair. 

 

Another of the best hair products for damaged hair is a protein rebuilding treatment. Olaplex No. 3 is the most famous and effective of these treatments because it’s just so good at bringing strength back to damaged hair from bleach. 

You’ll notice a difference before and after Olaplex thanks to an ingredient that helps to relink broken protein bonds in your hair - this helps your hair keep its strength after a damaging bleaching session for healthier hair in the long run. Using an Olaplex take home treatment kit on a different day to your conditioning mask is perfect for strengthening your hair!

Another product to add to your hair care routine is a hair oil. These are usually smoothed through damp hair after washing to nourish and replenish. Hair oils have a two in one effect of helping to style hair by reducing frizziness, but they also have the benefit of helping to lock moisture into your hair as well!

This styling oil from Olaplex works hard to keep frizziness at bay, smooth away damaged and rebuild hair. 

How to Repair Damaged Hair: Key Tips

Damaged hair from bleach needs two important things to get back to it’s usual shine: moisture and protein repair. Hair oils and deep conditioners are the best hair products for damaged hair when it comes to boosting moisture for smoother, silkier feeling hair.

Repairing broken proteins with an Olaplex at home treatment kit also works wonders to rebuild your hair’s strength from within, bringing bleach damaged hair back to lift.

Now that you know how to repair damaged hair, we hope you’ll get your beauty affairs in order with our expert beauty tips and range of luxury beauty products.

If you’re still trying to create a skin care routine, try our skin analysis! You’ll get a unique routine just for you to help you reach your skin goals. 

Skin Analysis Quiz

Products Mentioned:

 

  • Olaplex Hair Perfector No. 3
  • Olaplex Intensive Bond Building Set
  • Philip Kingsley Elasticizer Extreme Treatment
  • Olaplex Intensive Bond Building Set
  • Phyto Phytokératine Ultra Repairing Mask
  • Olaplex No. 7 Bonding Hair Oil

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    Alexis Adrienne

    Alexis Adrienne

    Alexis Adrienne is a passionate beauty writer with over 10 years of experience. She’s incredibly keen on all things skincare, makeup and cosmetics, with a fingertip on the pulse of the latest global beauty trends at all times.

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