Advice for my sister’s hair

[amiraaah]

My sister has bleached her hair twice and it’s now severely breaking. She also uses a flat iron occasionally. I advised her to trim her hair and she did more than once, she even chopped 10 cm off but the problem is still there her hair feels so dull and like wood. What is she supposed to do? Is there any treatment to make her hair a little better.
here are some pictures (it doesn’t show the real amount of breakage but i did my best)
https://i.postimg.cc/85F7YZMw/329-FEA11-FF1-B-4675-95-D0-895-D302-C0-F07.jpg (https://postimg.cc/1nQRncWN)

https://i.postimg.cc/Nfxjp3ZB/357-AB522-211-B-44-BD-AC65-23-B4135-C2608.jpg (https://postimg.cc/svvz2NVN)

[Jane99]

I am not the Hair Wizard but I believe bleached hair benefits from protein.

[lapushka]

If it feels, and only if it feels elastic-y and mushy protein will do wonders.

Other than that... good health care practices, like we practice here, but I don't know how well she will respond to that.

[knobbly]

This is not my forte but there is a thread on it for more-- Olaplex!!

[Mlarmour]

Your sister’s hair reminds me a little of the state my hair was in after 7 weeks in Thailand. It was dry and brittle. Coconut oil and regular masks (every wash to every other wash) helped a lot. I stopped using heat as well. I’ve heard great things about olaplex for damaged hair.

[ExpectoPatronum]

I think a good protein treatment followed by something moisturizing will help.

[Milynn]

I would be somewhat wary with protein. Usually bleached (fine) hair benefits majorly from it, but for my case when I had this problem I used way too much protein and caused another problem. My naturally coarse and dry hair could not stand extra protein even with the bleach damage. Instead moisture was the key, so at first I think it would be important to find out her hair type. If the strands are hard, dry, brittle and have no elasticity I would not add protein to that, it most likely will only make it worse.

[lapushka]

I would be somewhat wary with protein. Usually bleached (fine) hair benefits majorly from it, but for my case when I had this problem I used way too much protein and caused another problem. My naturally coarse and dry hair could not stand extra protein even with the bleach damage. Instead moisture was the key, so at first I think it would be important to find out her hair type. If the strands are hard, dry, brittle and have no elasticity I would not add protein to that, it most likely will only make it worse.

Definitely agree with going by feel, as I mentioned upthread. Don't just willy-nilly put protein on because you've used bleach!

[Jo Ann]

I found my hair responds well with moisture with a very occasional protein treatment (once every 4-6 weeks) after bleaching.

I'm with Lapushka and Milynn on this.

[Dark40]

When bleaching or coloring I always follow with a protein and moisturizing treatment every week. One week I'll use a light protein conditioner, and next week I will use a deep moisturizing conditioner.

I second Lapushka and Milynn.

[Eve-Jade-Day]

After bleaching the cr@p out of my hair, I do overnight masks/conditioning treatments with a shower cap on. Works wonders. She might have to get rid of some length so it doesn't keep splitting.

Ooof, I almost recommended cutting some off and the re-read the OP. Sorry she had to cut off so much length :/

I hope her hair is doing better and she isn't too stressed out about it.

Keep us posted! :o

[ynne]

She'll have to do regular maintance to make it feel better and lessen further damage. My hair acts similarly (to a much lesser degree, with no unusual breakage) due to its natural high porosity, so if it gets straw-like and feels very dry and rough to the touch, this in my experience helps:

• Pre-oil before washing so that it doesn't soak up too much water at once, which just damages the cuticles. It can soak up so much the inside of the hair expands and the cuticles get further lifted.
• Moisture! Lots of conditioner and oil to lock in the moisture after washing it.
• Deep conditioning masks regularly.
• Cold water to close it off as the last rinse.
• Limit brushing to avoid additional mechanical damage.

She really needs to stop with the heat, though.

I hope some of it helps. :)

[Amy-Lee]

Oh no! Breakage isn't fun. Almost 10 years ago, I did the same thing. I bleached back to back. At first, I did an egg mask. My broken and gummy strands turned crunchy. I couldn't even run my fingers through my hair. It was hard and matted. I then left a deep conditioner on my head for an hour. It helped soften my hair a little. My strands were still breaking though because the damage was beyond repair. I've never tried it, but maybe you can see if Olaplex will work for your sister. If not, maybe trim a little every month until all of the bleached hair is gone. That way she won't have to lose any length.