How do I fix my damaged hair

[Flossiebell]

Ok so I really need your advice.
I stupidly had my hair highlighted in October and then again (bleaching it lighter) in Dec. I regret doing it, and I think I was having a moment where I wanted a drastic change - to be fair I had a lot of crap going on with my now ex-boyfriend.
Anyways, I’ve since used 2 semi permanent colourants (casting creme gloss) one dark red, followed by a dark brown - both of which have now faded and I’m just going to go cold turkey and let it all grow out.
The problem is I have a head full of split ends, sometimes they look like ferns. Plus I have white dots all over.
My hair is always tangling which is really annoying and right now I’m thinking that the only option I have is to cut a load off - which I don’t really want to do. I’ve tried s&d but I struggle to see the splits as there are so many and I can only see them in certain light and if my hair is braided but then I can’t get to them. Plus I have layers plus breakage so they are at all different lengths. Arrrghhhh!
I’m so annoyed with myself, I really wish I hadn’t caused so much damage. How can I fix this without losing all my length? Does anyone have any suggestions? Any help would be much appreciated I really don’t want to have to cut it short to get rid of all splits and start over 😱
I’m about 2 inches off waist length, have fine, 2b/2c hair, currently use Pantene colour protect shampoo/conditioner and mineral oil.
Sorry for the long post, I had to get it all out of my system, thank you if you’ve read this far down

[FrayedFire]

Step 1, stop damaging, which you've done already, good. Step 2, you're gonna want to give your hair some nice treats as an apology, SMT is popular, you probably want something with protein but you can get your hair to look nice again without a big chop!

[Laurab]

I haven't tried this myself, but I know some people on here sweat by microtrimming.
Basically the idea is your hair grows about 1/2 an inch a month, so you trim off 1/4 inch a month, so you still gain length while you slowly trim off the damage. I imagine it takes quite some time, but for people who don't want to do a big chop it can be a good way to go.

Apart from that, just try being careful with it from here.
Avoiding dye and heat, deep conditioning, and being gentle with it overall should help.

[Flossiebell]

Step 1, stop damaging, which you've done already, good. Step 2, you're gonna want to give your hair some nice treats as an apology, SMT is popular, you probably want something with protein but you can get your hair to look nice again without a big chop!

Ok, I’ve never tried a SMT before and I don’t have anything to make one with. I can’t get anything to make it with due to the current corona lockdown :(. I’m hoping that leave in conditioner and serum may work?

[Flossiebell]

I haven't tried this myself, but I know some people on here sweat by microtrimming.
Basically the idea is your hair grows about 1/2 an inch a month, so you trim off 1/4 inch a month, so you still gain length while you slowly trim off the damage. I imagine it takes quite some time, but for people who don't want to do a big chop it can be a good way to go.

Apart from that, just try being careful with it from here.
Avoiding dye and heat, deep conditioning, and being gentle with it overall should help.

Thanks, I might give micro trimming a go if I’m feeling brave!

[AutobotsAttack]

You don’t have to beat yourself up about wanting highlights. If they provided you with a boost of confidence during that time, I’d say they contributed to overall mental well-being.

Hair, by nature is fragile to a certain degree. Even more so, if it’s been chemically processed. Doesn’t mean you have to now cut off excessive amounts of length. Unless you feel it’s now something you must do in order to feel better. But if you don’t, it’s best you start practicing regular moisture treatments. At LEAST once a week.

If SMT isn’t proving beneficial, there’s plenty more techniques and products to use. Most important technique I can offer is to section your hair, in about sections, completely cover the lower lengths of your hair with an actual deep conditioner of your choice, and deep condition with heat and a plastic cap for better absorption.

Also try some light to medium strength protein treatments. No I wouldn’t not suggest using anything egg or coconut based, as it’s easy to overload on protein with those two ingredients. Again, try using commercial product that’s targeted towards chemically processed or color treated hair.

Try to keep your hair up and protected. If braids aren’t doing it, try any of the many bun variations that are on here. Some are easier to learn than others. Also try to practice Lowe manipulation, and keeping your hands and any other utensils such as brushes and combs out of your head, unless absolutely necessary. And if you can try to sleep with your hair covered at night, or on a silk pillow case.

I myself have chemically processed hair, and yet I’ve managed to grow my hair a bit shy of finger tip length. So there’s nothing wrong with wanting to experiment, or wanting to have highlights if it means you’ll enjoy your hair more. You just have to find certain techniques and products that will help further preserve your hair, since it’s a bit more fragile now. Doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your length. Just means you have to do less and less to it by way of manipulation, and use products that help aid providing moisture and strength.

[Flossiebell]

You don’t have to beat yourself up about wanting highlights. If they provided you with a boost of confidence during that time, I’d say they contributed to overall mental well-being.

Hair, by nature is fragile to a certain degree. Even more so, if it’s been chemically processed. Doesn’t mean you have to now cut off excessive amounts of length. Unless you feel it’s now something you must do in order to feel better. But if you don’t, it’s best you start practicing regular moisture treatments. At LEAST once a week.

If SMT isn’t proving beneficial, there’s plenty more techniques and products to use. Most important technique I can offer is to section your hair, in about sections, completely cover the lower lengths of your hair with an actual deep conditioner of your choice, and deep condition with heat and a plastic cap for better absorption.

Also try some light to medium strength protein treatments. No I wouldn’t not suggest using anything egg or coconut based, as it’s easy to overload on protein with those two ingredients. Again, try using commercial product that’s targeted towards chemically processed or color treated hair.

Try to keep your hair up and protected. If braids aren’t doing it, try any of the many bun variations that are on here. Some are easier to learn than others. Also try to practice Lowe manipulation, and keeping your hands and any other utensils such as brushes and combs out of your head, unless absolutely necessary. And if you can try to sleep with your hair covered at night, or on a silk pillow case.

I myself have chemically processed hair, and yet I’ve managed to grow my hair a bit shy of finger tip length. So there’s nothing wrong with wanting to experiment, or wanting to have highlights if it means you’ll enjoy your hair more. You just have to find certain techniques and products that will help further preserve your hair, since it’s a bit more fragile now. Doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your length. Just means you have to do less and less to it by way of manipulation, and use products that help aid providing moisture and strength.

Wow, so there’s hope yet. I didn’t think beautiful long coloured hair was a possibility. In my head I thought it was game over. Thank you so much ��

[FrayedFire]

Ok, I’ve never tried a SMT before and I don’t have anything to make one with. I can’t get anything to make it with due to the current corona lockdown :(. I’m hoping that leave in conditioner and serum may work?

What do you have? You can totally just play around with different masks with whatever you have on hand. Coconut oil is often a good choice for chemically damaged hair (mine usually hates it, I tend to use other oils), conditioner will work but there's loads of deep treatments you can do.

[AutobotsAttack]

Wow, so there’s hope yet. I didn’t think beautiful long coloured hair was a possibility. In my head I thought it was game over. Thank you so much ��

Lucky for you there’s plenty of individuals here with beautiful long lengths that have been color treated :)

[AutobotsAttack]

Ok, I’ve never tried a SMT before and I don’t have anything to make one with. I can’t get anything to make it with due to the current corona lockdown :(. I’m hoping that leave in conditioner and serum may work?

There’s always online ordering as well.

[Jane99]

I would give caution to SMT if you are living in an area with low humidity and/or running the heat still as the humectants are dependent on having enough humidity in the air. The honey and aloe can suck the moisture out of hair if the air is too dry. This winter I’ve been rehabing my hair with oils on wet hair to seal in the moisture. There are tons of hair heath masks you can DIY with common kitchen ingredients..: but I understand if the current situation requires food preservation

[Dark40]

Step 1, Stop doing all of the damaging. Step 2, I would invest getting a very good deep treatments and products that has protein in it.

[SleepyTangles]

Welcome Flossiebell!
I think you are doing the right thing growing up your dye "cold turkey", in my experience you can't really dye the damaged part to match 100% your virgin color (and if you do, It will most surely fade to a different color).

When there's sensibile damage, my personal solution Is to trim. Not a lot, just small amounts each time. Like 1/2 cm or even less. Trimming a tiny bit off regularly always felt much better to me than a big chop.

I also used to go by Casting Creme Gloss ;). They really damaged my hair, but I also developed an allergy of some sort to the product. It's probably my least favorite way of dying.
Now I currently still play a lot with bleach and deposit dyes. You can't avoid damage, but you can prevent dryness, and preventing dryness often helps the hair not developing split ends. In this period I have plenty of moisture in my hair, so I prefer to use oils on the ends.

[lapushka]

Ok so I really need your advice.
I stupidly had my hair highlighted in October and then again (bleaching it lighter) in Dec. I regret doing it, and I think I was having a moment where I wanted a drastic change - to be fair I had a lot of crap going on with my now ex-boyfriend.
Anyways, I’ve since used 2 semi permanent colourants (casting creme gloss) one dark red, followed by a dark brown - both of which have now faded and I’m just going to go cold turkey and let it all grow out.
The problem is I have a head full of split ends, sometimes they look like ferns. Plus I have white dots all over.
My hair is always tangling which is really annoying and right now I’m thinking that the only option I have is to cut a load off - which I don’t really want to do. I’ve tried s&d but I struggle to see the splits as there are so many and I can only see them in certain light and if my hair is braided but then I can’t get to them. Plus I have layers plus breakage so they are at all different lengths. Arrrghhhh!
I’m so annoyed with myself, I really wish I hadn’t caused so much damage. How can I fix this without losing all my length? Does anyone have any suggestions? Any help would be much appreciated I really don’t want to have to cut it short to get rid of all splits and start over ��
I’m about 2 inches off waist length, have fine, 2b/2c hair, currently use Pantene colour protect shampoo/conditioner and mineral oil.
Sorry for the long post, I had to get it all out of my system, thank you if you’ve read this far down

I would join the microtrimming thread and cut in tiny increments every month. No need to cut a huge chunk off. I would maybe stay at around WL for a while until some of the worst damage is gone.

Also: plenty of conditioner. Protein might be good, but nothing exclusively protein like Aphogee (much too rough, IMO). There's this yoghurt mask from Shea Moisture that is a protein one and I hear it's pretty darn good (light blue packaging).

Good luck with everything. It's not easy when you're stuck in a cycle of damage.
But you can do it!

[spidermom]

You can't heal damage, you can only trim it away. It's amazing how much better hair can feel after even a very small trim. There is rarely a need to cut large amounts other than wanting shorter hair.

You've already received good advice. Garnier Fructis makes an affordable deep treatment hair mask. I've used the avocado one and will buy it again.

[ynne]

I’m about 2 inches off waist length, have fine, 2b/2c hair, currently use Pantene colour protect shampoo/conditioner and mineral oil.
I'd also limit shampoo on the damaged dry ends, if you didn't already. I think the coconut oil suggestion is good (though my hair doesn't like it), as a simple diy treatment, and until you can obtain better stuff, you can do overnight treatments with what you have available (that can be as simple as soaking your hair up in, say, olive oil, and wrapping it up for the night, so that the hair softens a bit).
Pre-oiling before washing might help protect your hair from drying too much when washing it.
Some people swear by it, but mineral oil seems to have mixed reception as it seals moisture too well (? which might lead to hair drying out more, but that's not a concern if you wash your hair often) & when looking for oils for myself, I've read that it builds up a lot for some? I'm not sure, but if your hair loves it, it shouldn't be an issue. :)

Finding a style that doesn't let it tangle might be helpful, so you don't cause more damage by trying to untangle it. But since the strands are already weakened, it may be better to change up the style often, to not put pressure on the same points.

As for S&D and not seeing it, try it against light/dark surface, or against lamp light. :)

[Jo Ann]

For what it's worth, about 2/3 of my hair is bleached--the back and the sides, behind the ears. I get my roots professionally bleached about every three or four months. I use semi-permanent dye on the bleached hair, changing the color about once/month. With that said:

I do deep moisture treatments, occasional protein treatments and occasionally a conditioner-only (CO) wash with conditioners I have on hand. That helps a lot, as well as a leave-in conditioner and coconut oil after I wash my hair. If my hair gets dry, I'm using up an argan oil serum to help keep it supple. YMMV

Microtrimming will help keep the split ends under control.

[Flipgirl24]

I've heard that Olaplex is great. They have an oil formula now too. But it is expensive.

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Lucky for you there’s plenty of individuals here with beautiful long lengths that have been color treated :)

Yep, mine - though now I am growing out the blonde dye.