Tips for growing dyed hair? Help!

[Sarbear]

Hello!

Sooo, about a year ago I bleached my hair after a breakup and while I don't regret it, I've had more issues with breakage than I did before. Is there any tips that could help me out with continuing it's growth? Thanks all!

[Sarahlabyrinth]

If you want to continue bleaching, do the roots only, not the whole of the hair each time, and pamper it and baby it along using warm oil treatments and deep conditioning masks. That should help it. You can also use oils and leave-ins to help keep it moisturised.

[meteor]

Bleached hair tends to do well with penetrating oils (e.g. coconut oil pre-wash), as well as moisturizing and strengthening routines, like LOC, with lots of proteins, oils, silicones, 18-MEA, ceramides, panthenol... I'd go for heavier conditioners & treatments marketed "for damaged or chemically processed hair" and try not to strip hair too much with frequent clarifying. Since you are noticing breakage, you may need hydrolyzed proteins. Some strengthening treatments popular here are Aphogee 2-Step, Joico K-Pak Reconstruct, etc and treatments like Olaplex. Bleached hair tends to lose some slip and it loses moisture more easily (since it's more porous) and it tends to get more prone to tangling, so I'd be particularly mindful of mechanical damage (e.g. use wide-tooth seamless comb instead of a dense brush, sleep on silk/satin pillowcases/scarves/bonnets), try to avoid UV damage (cover hair with hats and bun hair when out in the sun for a long period of time) and avoid any additional chemical damage or heat damage (especially flat-irons and curling irons), of course.

You may want to check out the Bottle Blonde Grows Long thread: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=21256

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

From my personal experience with bleach, I had to cut all the bleached hair out.
No matter how much pampering I did, the breakage was HORRIBLE. As I grew, it broke off.
I tried almost everything, trimming was the only thing that helped me.
It kind of sucked because I love coloring but I had to give it up, I see you and I both have F/M hair. If your hair can handle it, continue.
But I would really watch it and make sure that your hair can grow while you continue to bleach.
Maybe also look into olaplex.

[Aredhel]

I second what everyone's recommended about keeping your hair hydrated, well-oiled and well-conditioned. Those things are what's saving my bleached ends right now and protecting them from too much breakage, otherwise I would probably have to chop all the bleached parts off.

[pili]

I did the same as Rebeccalaurenxx. I had to cut is off.

[Anje]

Bleached hair often needs a bit of a balancing act with oil, moisture (think conditioner), and protein. You'll need to mess around with it a bit, but moisture will help keep it flexible and soft, protein will make it strong and not limp or stretchy. Probably you'll have to just pay attention to how it feels and deep treat accordingly.

Lots of people feel it's worth it to do a corrective dye to match their length to their roots, so they don't feel the need to upkeep the color or else have to live with being two-toned, but that's completely up to you and what you want.

[Arciela]

I tried bleaching my hair and doing roots only, did it professionally and such, barely left it on and while it looks nice in the end I lost too much hair each time I did the roots, between that, the upkeep and the overall damage I just said forget it and started growing it out in May. So far it is tangly but I found something that works and has allowed me to grow to classic so far.

I cowash with suave coconut, use yes to carrots on the length along with kpak restore conditioner now and then (once every couple of weeks or so) and then I use deva curl conditioner as a leave in. With that my hair seems to grow and it really soft...no more damage really. :flower:

[_fred_]

Hi Sarbear :blossom

I'm growing bleached hair right now, bleaching only the roots (as some have already suggested upthread). In case it's useful, here's what I do: soak hair and scalp in coconut oil overnight before bleaching - all the hair, not just the sections to be bleached. I then put a bit more when I wake up, just to make sure everything's covered. I section my hair, to make sure I only get the roots. I don't stress about a tiny amount of overlap. When I wash out the bleach, I rinse the bleach out, then condition, then shampoo, then condition again - repeating this if I think there's any bleach left in here. I follow that up with a leave-in oil straight after the shower. I put in a leave-in conditioner when it's still damp, or when it's almost dry.

I generally apply a direct dye the day after, which is always mixed with a rich coney conditioner (such as Aussie 3 minute Miracle). I tend to alternate between moisture rich and protein rich conditioners, and between ones with silicones and ones without.

In general, I've been trying protective hairstyles, avoiding heat styling, being gentle with the hair brush, using a satin pillowcase, and wearing my hair up outside, especially when it's windy, and when I'm doing things. It seems to be working so far! I S&D every so often, and I generally find a few ends that need snipping, but not many. Which I'm pleased with.

As you say you're having issues with breakage, I'd recommend getting into a pattern of S&D, if you don't already. Snip off the breaks cleanly with good scissors, and hopefully the ends will be happy to keep on their journey without spilling again. Also, I don't know if you heat style or how you wear your hair, but it's worth laying off the heat if you do straighten, and vary the ways you style your hair if/when you have it up, so you're not constantly putting pressure on the same places.

Best of luck!

[lapushka]

Bleached hair tends to do well with penetrating oils (e.g. coconut oil pre-wash), as well as moisturizing and strengthening routines, like LOC, with lots of proteins, oils, silicones, 18-MEA, ceramides, panthenol... I'd go for heavier conditioners & treatments marketed "for damaged or chemically processed hair" and try not to strip hair too much with frequent clarifying. Since you are noticing breakage, you may need hydrolyzed proteins. Some strengthening treatments popular here are Aphogee 2-Step, Joico K-Pak Reconstruct, etc and treatments like Olaplex. Bleached hair tends to lose some slip and it loses moisture more easily (since it's more porous) and it tends to get more prone to tangling, so I'd be particularly mindful of mechanical damage (e.g. use wide-tooth seamless comb instead of a dense brush, sleep on silk/satin pillowcases/scarves/bonnets), try to avoid UV damage (cover hair with hats and bun hair when out in the sun for a long period of time) and avoid any additional chemical damage or heat damage (especially flat-irons and curling irons), of course.

I totally second this advice. Proteins, proteins, proteins (not overly so, but you do need them if your hair is bleached).

Are you planning to keep bleaching? If not there is the growing out dye thread around here.

[ghost pisces]

Leave your conditioner in for a really long time when you shower.

[ShahMat]

I agree with what they said before about oiling and conditioning hair deeply to keep hair moisturized.
A year and a half ago I had the tips of my hair bleached by a professional hairdresser who messed it up big time, so I ended up having a lot of breakage. I chopped half of the fried tips (about 4-5 cm) right away, but part of it is still there and I will get rid of it with time, since coconut oil (and a few S&D sessions) made it look and feel so much better. I also started using hendigo, but that may not be the case if you want to keep your light hair