Should I Cut? Hair Quality Issues.

[RavenBaby]

I have shoulder length dark blonde hair with about 2 inches of root (root colour brown). I'm upset because I got my ends trimmed late january and my ends were fine then, now I'm looking at my ends in the light lately and I see split ends and many breakage points (dots on the hair strand where if i pull it, the "bend end" breaks off") This is very frustrating for me as I'm desperate to grow long hair. In 2013 I got lowlights to tone down my blonde (late jan... It had 10% peroxide in the lowlights) and in 2012 and late 2011 I got my length bleached twice and a couple T bars. (last bleaching was september). I need advice because each time I ask for an ends trim I notice more breakage on my new shorter ends weeks later. What is the healthiest choice for my hair? Should I cut an inch off all over (even my layers) as many strands have these breakage dots near the ends? I hate the dry feeling of my ends but I want length so bad.. what should I do?

[Kherome]

First, I would quit with all the bleaching. Then, personally I would get an all over trim and be nice to my hair until the bleach damage grows out. Do you oil? Use cones?

[nobeltonya]

I second Kherome's suggestion. You can microtrim every few weeks until all of the damage is gone. That way, you're not losing a lot of length. Regularly oil, try a leave-in, and definitely stop bleaching.. Kherome, your hair looks awesome! :) :disco:

[ladylowtide]

If you have fragile hair, any amount of peroxide let alone bleach might be responsible for the problems you are having. Or it could be that the place you are going to is trimming your hair with dull scissors, which can create more splits, though I think this is quite unlikely as hair stylists are usually very fastidious about the condition of their shears.

I would probably cut at half the rate that you grow per month so that you can still see some progress but eventually get rid of your chemically processed hair.

[RavenBaby]

I can't stop the bleach completely because I need to make my blonde length match my roots (which are virgin hair), I'd say that I need 2 more set of full head lowlights on my length to make it match well, the salon I go to only does lowlights with 10% peroxide and I can't afford any other salon plus i want to make the lowlights last.

I don't oil, does it make a big difference?

By the way it's mostly bent ends and breakage dots that are the ends about to break and only a very small amount are actually split ends where the ends are split.. I wonder if that means anything D:

[kittengirl]

Personally I would let the virgin hair grow but not get more lowlights. I highlighted when my hair was shorter and had the exact problem you are having. Now my ends are quite strong and very very rarely break or split. You may have to put up with an annoying color for a bit in order to attain healthy length.

[Anje]

Just curious -- why bother matching your hair? The "Ombre" hair thing is in right now. You can rock that with minimal additional coloring.

Because oils don't do a whole lot for my hair, I'm less inclined than many to recommend them. I do suspect, though, that your hair is in need of moisture and quite possibly protein to help keep it healthy and minimize the breaking from here on out.

For protein, I'm not terribly experienced because my hair dislikes it a bit. In general, reconstructor treatments are useful. Joico K-PAK is often recommended by people whose hair needs protein, as is one of Aphogee's treatments. Another favorite around here is to mix a tablespoon of low-sodium soy sauce in a cup of water, pour it through freshly shampooed hair. Let it sit for a while, then rinse it out.

Immediately after a protein treatment, you're going to want to moisturize heavily. They typically make hair dry, even though they do strengthen hair that's lacking in protein. Furthermore, protein-treated hair tends to be more able to absorb moisture than untreated, in those people who need protein. For moisture, I'm a fan of our SMT recipe, but even letting your hair just soak in a moisturizing conditioner for 30+ minutes will do a lot. Repeat moisturization steps frequently and protein treatments occasionally as needed.

[SleepyTangles]

On me, oils do and did a lot for damage. I know nothing can repair damage, but the improvement is big nonetheless.
It slow down new damage, too.
A friend of mine is growing out bleached blonde hair and she can't stay away from her oil (a light oil, made mostly by caprylic triglycerides/coco caprylate, that are very "coney" to the touch). If she doesn't use it at every wash (after s&c), her hair feels very bad.

[TitaniaOfFairys]

Much less bleach damaged my hair very badly - not all of my hair, I had highlights only. I had some layers, and those were highlighted. The first time it was okay, then the second one (and it was 6 months later!), made the highlighted strands become like cotton wool. Expecially when wet, it was nothing like normal hair.
I wanted blond highlights once in my life, but I've never thought that only 2 times will make my hair so horrible.

A very strong protein treatment literally saved my hair. I colored the highlights back to brown, then I used Joico K-Pak deep penetrating reconstructor with every wash (I wash my hair every other day) and the highlighted strands became much more manageable. They were still damaged of course, but I was able to grow them out slowly, with monthly S&D and dusting. My hair grows quite fast, but it was a pain it the *** to grow out the layered strands with the highlights. I still have some damage on my ends, only 2-3 inches, but those are very brittle and tangles easily with the rest of my hair, which is virgin and healthy. But it can cause damage on the healthy strands too.

So I would suggest you protein treatment, S&D, then try to slowly grow them out.

[jacqueline101]

I agree quit the bleach and use a deposit only dye to touch up.

[lapushka]

If I were you, I'd have the length matched to the roots. Stop highlighting/lowlighting your hair. Matching the roots is far easier for your hair to grow out and: no bleach necessary. I strongly suspect this is all bleach damage you're seeing. You could even up the hair with a semi permanent even. Ask the salon for advice.

I agree with microtrimming until all the bleach is gone.

[spidermom]

I agree with rocking the ombre trend; stop bleaching or peroxiding. And get teeny-tiny trims on a regular basis to keep up with those ends - every 6 weeks if you go to a salon, more often if you can do it yourself.

[kidari]

It's been a while since bleached touched my hair. I completely forgot what it was like until I did ombre. It was fine at first and then several months down the road it really started to show. I don't know why it is but immediately after a chemical process your hair tends to look fine and relatively healthy but months and months down the road all the damage starts to rear it's ugly head. I only bleached the ends once but half a year later my untreated hair was so different than the bleached ends. I ended up just cutting off 4-5 inches and learned my lesson. I think bleached hair is more porous so it has a harder time holding onto moisture and color. This is why if you need to lift your base color first and then deposit the desired color after, you're often told to not wash your hair often to hold onto the color. Having porous hair, it just can't hold onto the color and it bleeds out with every wash. Back when I was a double-process blonde I remember the strict upkeep it took to keep my hair looking good and I cannot believe the lengths I went to for my hair. I recommend religious treatments both protein followed by moisture while trimming out the ends regularly every month. Using a serum after every wash on damp hair that contains both oils and cones should help the most.

[McFearless]

I agree with rocking the ombre trend; stop bleaching or peroxiding. And get teeny-tiny trims on a regular basis to keep up with those ends - every 6 weeks if you go to a salon, more often if you can do it yourself.
I agree with this. Different colored roots are really frustrating and awkward in the beginning, but it gets easier and easier as the hair gets longer. Hang in there!

[jojo]

Why not instead of re- bleaching not just get a temporary dye such as loving care (i think they are called ) or the surya cream ?( i personally love this dye, its washed out in a month, plus it really conditions my hair). I think doing this, adding a few SMT's, the odd protein treatment ( always follow with a moisturising one), daily oilings to the very ends and micro trimming say just 1/3rd of your growth every 6 weeks or so and before long you will have the healthy hair you crave and still gain length! Its takes time to get really long hair as you know, better to start healthier practices early on. Good luck, it won't take you as long as you think to get your hair in order and i do get your frustrations.

[EtherealDoll]

Don't get lowlights on your length if it's very damaged. Lowlights/highlights are much more damaging than normal permament dyes. But if your hair is already brittle you should just stay away from dyes altogether, even the ammonia-free ones. Use colour-deposit shampoos and balms/conditioners.

[FireFromWithin]

I agree with previous posters. If you are growing out your natural colour anyway it would be less damaging to get the length dyed to match the roots. That's what I did, a good stylist will be able to get a pretty good match. I'm the only one who ever notices the difference, nobody else can. Oil as much as you can stand it, if you aren't going anywhere I'd suggest just heavy oiling your hair and letting it sit for the day (then wash it out if you want to leave the house with your hair down).

[rowie]

At the current length you are in, I would definitely just baby your hair with lots of TLC. In fact, I'd probably wait until I reached BSL or even waist before deciding again if I want to cut out all the damage or just maintain at a certain length until all the damage has been micro trimmed before proceeding to longer lengths if you decide to grow longer than waist. Good luck :blossom:

[RavenBaby]

I went for lowlights as it's the only way I could keep my roots virgin (lowlights = foils) and I hate the ombre thing on me :( As for protein, will an egg do? D:

[truepeacenik]

Yes, an egg will do for protein. And yogurt!

[HylianGirl]

Why not dyeing only the bleached parts without touching the roots? Protect the roots with conditioner so the dye wont get to them. I've already grown out bleached hair, and that was before the ombre look was considered in fashion, but I still wore my hair like that for my graduation ball on high school. The bleached hair did not hold onto the brown hair dye very well though, but I was much more of a hair noob and didn't even consider doing protein treatments.

I second the egg + yogurt and microtrimming, I think it'll help a lot.