General hair care question

[Dung Beetle]

I hope I'm putting this in the right place (and phrasing it correctly, I will try).

When it comes to applying stuff to your hair (shampoo, conditioner, oil, what-have-you)...is it possible to permanently improve the condition of the hair, or is whatever you put in it only affecting the condition of your hair until the next shampoo? In other words, can you heal or strengthen damaged hair, or is the only solution to cut it off and care for it so that it won't become damaged again?

[SwanFeathers]

Hair can not be healed or repaired. Anyone who says otherwise is selling you something. The only way to deal with damage is cut it off.
However, using the right products the right way for your hair/lifestyle will prevent a great deal of damage so you dont have to cut it off.

[Dung Beetle]

I was afraid of that!

So there is no rehabilitation, only "do better going forward".

[meteor]

^ Agreed.

You can permanently or semi-permanently alter certain things about hair, like color or texture, but I certainly wouldn't call it "recovery".

For example, you can henna/indigo hair or add direct dyes or use polyelectrolyte complex found in some anti-split-ends products for temporary coverage (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6111412_Semi-permanent_split_end_mending_with_a_polyelectrolyte _complex), but it's not like that's "healing" hair, which is dead organic matter.

You can also use certain things that can under certain circumstances take a while to wash out - anyone who has massively overoiled hair or overdone with some heavy protein treatments or silicones knows that it can take multiple clarifying washes sometimes, but they do wash out.

[lapushka]

When it comes to applying stuff to your hair (shampoo, conditioner, oil, what-have-you)...is it possible to permanently improve the condition of the hair, or is whatever you put in it only affecting the condition of your hair until the next shampoo? In other words, can you heal or strengthen damaged hair, or is the only solution to cut it off and care for it so that it won't become damaged again?

Damage can be "masked" by for example silicone-laden products, but not gotten rid of, so those products that claim to "repair" 100x the damage in one go... no way. They are fabulous damage "maskers" though, so they have their distinct purpose!!!

Slowly microtrimming, and masking the damage as much as possible in the mean time has been my MO for a while when my hair had a lot of damage. And trust me... I've been through my share of damage.

Perms, heat, white dots all up the strand which I grew out from shoulder to hip to then cut off (to BSL). Finally. Masking the damage worked, though... very well!

[Ylva]

Olaplex will genuinely repair the hair by fixing broken disulfide bonds, but there's much more to hair health than that. Shampoos and conditioners will only alter it temporarily indeed. Of course, some of it could be considered "semi-permanent" in a way, like keeping the hair moisturized.

[zmirina]

Imagine that hair is a piece of paper. if you spill water on it or crinkle it, it will be damaged. You can put it under a book or iron to make it smoother again, but it will never be as perfect as it was before. Whatever is at the roots is new growth, and it's like a new piece of paper, but it will be damaged because you live life and stuff

[lapushka]

Imagine that hair is a piece of paper. if you spill water on it or crinkle it, it will be damaged. You can put it under a book or iron to make it smoother again, but it will never be as perfect as it was before. Whatever is at the roots is new growth, and it's like a new piece of paper, but it will be damaged because you live life and stuff

That is a very good way to describe it! :D

[dove4]

Shampoo, conditioner, and oil do not have permanent healing effects on hair.

Henna can make your hair permanently shinier, thicker, and stronger, but it also makes your hair orange or red. And it is truly permanent, meaning you have to grow your hair out once you are tired of the color. You can't remove the color.

[MusicalSpoons]

You mention strengthening, which is possible but again not usually in a permanent way.
Protein is usually good for that, because it helps to fill in some of the damaged cuticle http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.com/2015/10/protein-101-lots-of-basic-information.html
Henna does permanently strengthen hair, as the dye molecule binds to keratin in the hair - but this also means the colour is permanent, and you cannot have henna in any other colour than orangey-red, and you cannot have the strengthening effect without the colour. (You can get henna mixed with other herbs to tweak the colour, but less henna colour = less strengthening :shrug:) I only mention henna for the sake of accuracy, not as a recommendation because it is very permanent and not something to be done without the proper research and strand testing to be sure of the reaulting colour.

[ExpectoPatronum]

Imagine that hair is a piece of paper. if you spill water on it or crinkle it, it will be damaged. You can put it under a book or iron to make it smoother again, but it will never be as perfect as it was before. Whatever is at the roots is new growth, and it's like a new piece of paper, but it will be damaged because you live life and stuff

This is a good analogy. You can mask damage but you can't repair it.

[BleachedBerry]

Splits need to be cut, they can be "glued" together with product temporarily, witch may prevent them from splitting further but they are still split they will not permanently fuse back together.
Damage to the cuticle is inevitable. Washing, brushing, touching, wind blowing, rubbing on clothes, as well as heat styling. This type of damage is what conditioner targets being moisture or protein, filling in whatever the hair is lacking. Your regular shower rinse out conditioners will typically last until the next wash but may wear off sooner. Deeper conditioners that take more time to adhere to the hair, while still temporary can last longer, possibly through a few washes.

Olaplaex is a product that claims to prevent and repair internal damage, resulting in stronger hair but it will not affect the outer layer of the hair being the part that is seen so this will still need to be addressed.

[Dark40]

I hope I'm putting this in the right place (and phrasing it correctly, I will try).

When it comes to applying stuff to your hair (shampoo, conditioner, oil, what-have-you)...is it possible to permanently improve the condition of the hair, or is whatever you put in it only affecting the condition of your hair until the next shampoo? In other words, can you heal or strengthen damaged hair, or is the only solution to cut it off and care for it so that it won't become damaged again?

I agree with lapushka about using the silicones and the microtrimming. I've done that to get rid of the damage I suffered many years ago, and you can use light protein conditioners and deep moisturizing conditioners to prevent damage from happening. I've had my share of damage also.