Hair care for bleached and dyed hair help?

[jojosuibne]

This is a topic that I have next to no knowledge about, since I don't dye my hair. My partner would like to try some new hair products to help care for his hair, and I want to get him some good stuff for Christmas. He dyes his hair regularly, and though it is not horrifically, irreparably damaged, he does think he needs to try some new stuff to keep maintaining it. The issue I'm running into is that not only do we have drastically different hair types, but I know absolutely nothing about caring for dyed hair, so I'm in need of some help! Apologies if this is in another thread, but I searched around and couldn't find anything that wasn't aimed at people wanting to return to virgin hair.

My partner has naturally pretty straight and thin hair. He is committed to bleaching and dying it as he loves using his hair for self-expression. He uses a chemical bleach and semi-permanent dyes with moisturizers (such as Iro-Iro). He does not bleach or dye his hair too regularly, and he lets the color fade for between 6-8 months before he redyes it. His skin and scalp are very oily and he suffers from acne, but his hair is obviously dry as a bone, so it needs moisture. He uses my hair products a lot to try and get some moisture into the hair, but they don't work very well for his hair type. I have no idea what products to buy for him. I know there's no magic conditioner to use when bleaching hair which will save all the moisture, but I want him to be able to keep doing wacky colors and maintain at least somewhat well-cared for hair. When he uses my products (which are very coney) he gets a lot of buildup so I think I want to avoid cones. Does anyone have any advice? I'm lost :confused:

[Aerya]

How dark is his natural hair and what bleach does he use? While products can help some, the best approach is always to damage the hair as little as possible to begin with.

What is his routine like? In regards to specific products, it tends to vary from person to person, but bleached hair generally needs both protein and moisture, although it's important to not overdo it with the protein. Products with silicones to seal in the moisture and making the hair appear more healthy are good as well (despite how trendy it is to avoid silicones these days). My ends are bleached, and what works for me is to use a leave in post-washing, and then a coney serum or oil on top to seal everything in. I believe there's a thread on it somewhere, call the LOC or LCO method? Some people also have success with the rinse out oil technique, where you put oil in the hair after shampooing it, then conditioner right on top of that again. And double conditioner is common here on LHC, which is just to use conditioner twice instead of once while washing, either conditioner-shampoo-conditioner, or twice after shampoo.

Another tips when starting with new hair care methods is to stick to one at the time, so that he will know which works. :)

[WednesdayAddams]

Get him the Aphogee 2-Step Treatment.

Also get him a hair dryer that has a cool setting. If he blows his hair dry.

[WednesdayAddams]

Oh, and I forgot this one. Olaplex Bonding Oil. AMAZING.

[Ylva]

Olaplex and K18 are great products for bleached hair.

However, it is imperative to note that Olaplex in particular does NOT replace your regular conditioner/mask.

[jojosuibne]

Thank you all for the recommendations! They have given me a great jumping-off point. Aerya, his hair is a light brown before bleaching, and he doesn't have to do it for long or often to maintain the shade he likes. I'm not sure what brand he uses for bleach, unfortunately. His routine is kind of all over the place, mostly because he's not sure where to start with taking care of it. He uses (per my instructions, lol) very minimal shampoo and usually a color-depositing conditioner to keep the dye job for longer.
I found a couple of videos on the Aphogee 2-step Treatment and it seems very promising! I will do some more research on products with protein. I also love my Olaplex so maybe it would work well for him too!

[Chasemi]

Bleached hair tends to get dry and brittle over time. I would suggest he applies oil (something that penetrates, like olive oil, but there's a list of oils that do and don't penetrate hair in the forum). Olive oil is a great place to start because it's not expensive and you probably own some. Good luck to you both!

[Greengable]

Coconut oil is also a must for this.

[angel-baby]

I bleached my hair blonde for 7 years (roots only after I got my length to the shade I wanted). During that time I was mostly able to avoid major chemical damage, but when it happened it happened all at once. My “bangs” and shortest “layers”? Chemical cut, lol.

But up to that point, I kept my hair pretty healthy! My hairdresser even complimented me on how good the overall condition was. I used Olaplex shampoo and conditioner, Olaplex 3 pre shampoo once a week, and alternated strengthening and hydrating masks each time I washed my hair. I would leave the masks on for 10 minutes in between shampoo and conditioner. At the time I was using Kerastase Regeneriste and Nutritive for the masks; now I’m using Amika Soul Food and The Kure. I also switched to K18 vs olaplex 3 because it’s easier.

This routine kept the length of my hair in pretty good condition, as long as I trimmed every 3 months and limited heat. It was the new growth that did my blonde days in.

[Dark40]

I would get him Queen Helene's Cholesterol Hair Conditioning Cream. That is an excellent deep moisturizing conditioner to give him some moisturizer.

[Simone_Fatale]

Only K18 helped me with my stretchy gummy bleached hair. There's nothing better I've tried.