Bleach made my dry, brittle hair soft!

[fluffer]

I know, I know...the title of my post will make most cringe. Just the word "bleach" makes me wince. To make a long story short...

My ends ALWAYS feels dry and coated -and sometimes brittle. I used an ash blonde toner last week (no peroxide, just temporary deposit only) and it made my hair darker and more brassy. I was so upset and frustrated with this ugly color, that, in a moment of weakness, I mixed bleach with some conditioner and applied it all over. I left it on for about 5 minutes. I rinsed it out, and my hair was so smooth -it felt like healthy hair for the first time in a looong time! It removed the dull brassy toner too. Also, it is more bouncey and shiney!?

The only time my hair consistantly feels like hair is when I travel to good "hair water" places.I have medium brown hair, and I lighten my canopy to blonde. I dont color the underside/length at all. I have COd for years. I rarely shampoo because it is WAY too drying on my dry hair.I only shampoo once every 9 days or so with a diluted shampoo. I clarify (VO5 kiwi lime)once every month or so -but it dries out my hair so badly that it takes a week to recover. Clarifying rarely makes my hair feel better. I cant use oils or protein, and rarely use silicones -they all make my hair dry and brittle. I usually only use Suave or VO5 to CO and also use them as the follow up conditioner.

The reason I had bleach in my cupboard is because someone I trust told me she gets less damage from lightening her hair with a certain brand of bleach than she did with a 30v developer. I never had the courage to use it until yesterday. I stopped bleaching my hair years ago. The salons overlapped it and my hair broke off. I banned bleach after this.

I know this is quite odd, and I may suffer future damage, but I am enjoying the rarity of soft shiney hair! (and seriously tempted to do this again when my hair gets naughty)

ETA -I dont want to resort to bleach every month or so in order to clarify. There has to be a better option!

[spidermom]

Haha, well, you may have just written the world's first testimonial as to the hair-healing powers of bleach.

What in the world does "bouncey hair" mean?

[fluffer]

Oops, "bouncy" I never downloaded the online spell-check.
:)

[spidermom]

By any spelling, what does it mean to have "bouncy hair"? I truly don't understand this.

Speaking of testimonials as to the benefits of bleach, since I posted earlier, I remember that I heard a hair stylist on a talk show discussing the benefits of bleach as a hair thickener -- because it roughs up the cuticle and makes each hair take up more space.

[freznow]

Have you considered honey, or cinnamon, which have noticeable peroxide values? Honey is amazing in many ways...

One thing that caught my attention: You say that your hair feels this way in 'good hair water' places. Have you considered making "Miracle water"? It's essentially water with vitamin c and citric acid. (You just need a little bit of vitamin C, but the amount of citric acid depends on your place's water.) I'd start first by getting a gallon jug, filling it with water, adding a squirt or two of lemon juice and half a cup of vinegar (unless you happen to have vitamin C or citric acid lying around). You wash using that water, which may be a bit of a change if your used to showering and rinsing like that, but it should be fairly easy. Even if you just use it as a final rinse, it might help. There was an old old post on the pre-crash LHC.

[Blueglass]

I'm glad your happy fluffer. I tried a perm once when I was a teen. At first, my hair felt soft, and very conditioned but about 3 month later I started to notice breakage and lack of shine. I was reading recently that the problem with any processing is it opens and swells your scales allowing
harmful cooper to get into your hairs core. While this may happen a little with unprocessed hair, it happens all the time with processed. I would suggest you look for a shower filter that will remove this mineral from your water. Usethe filtered water only and oil before swimming. Get a portable filter if you travel.

[Katurday]

I can pretty much relate to you. My hair has never looked healthier than when I treated it like...Well you know what.

When I had waist length virgin hair, it was frizzy, shineless, uncombable and prone to rats' nests in the back no matter how conditioned it got and how carefully I detangled.

Then started my routine of bleach, dye black, highlight, dye dark blue, dye, dye, permanent black, permanent black, semi, semi, (are you cringing yet, longhairs?)...

Its damaged, but its very shiny and appears healthier and softer than many of my friend's virgin strands. However, when I grow out this chemical mess, I will leave my natural be. Its actually naturally getting blacker as the years pass (genetic trait of mousy brown descending to black during adolescence) so I won't have to use the bottle black anymore.

Its never to late to start doing the right things...Right?

[Blueglass]

No matter what I always remember that if processed hair was really good, why would anyone buy hair extension from China, and India? They arn't useing these chemicals. Of course all of that makes me squeamish, what does that tell you? I know it's gets bleached once in that case. But basically the less chemicals the better.

[somethingwicked]

I guess the bleach made the conditioner penetrate the hair better since it roughs up the cuticle? It would be great if we could harness and reverse the harmful effects of processing and use them for the power of good! Did the bleach-conditioner cocktail do any lightening at all?

[shellblue1]

The crazy thing about when I used to bleach my hair was that it gave my hair more body and made it appear thicker, which was nice. However, I didn't have much shine and my hair was breaking and damaged. I guess the bleach just made my cuticle more porous so it appeared to have more volume.

[Katze]

I have to agree on the body thing...maybe that's what the OP meant by 'bouncy'?

After coming to LHC and adjusting to washing less, as well as not bleaching any more, I was really sad to find how flat and dull my hair seemed. When it was bleached, the individual strands were rough and stood out from my head, whereas, when the virgin growth started coming in, it seemed flat and lifeless by comparison.

Now my hair is about 2/3 'virgin' (I confess, I did some very subtle highlights myself last Fall, but most of my hair is now untouched) and it's the bleached bits that bother me. Weightless, see-through (I am a fineie), they just plain look bad.

While the OP might indeed be improving her hair's overall appearance with bleach, not to mention avoiding the dreaded two-tone look from growing out bleached hair, I am a living example that bleach, over time, will prevent hair from growing. At BSL, my hair is as long as it's ever been. It could never get that way with bleach or if I went to a salon. Bleach, at least for my fine hair, is a very bad thing.

If I could find a 'natural' way to go blonder, I would, but, having tried EVERYTHING over the course of 15+ years, I don't think it's in my genes despite being blonde as a kid. BF has almost the same hair color, but gets these lovely, platinum streaks in his hair when he goes in the sun. I don't, just like I don't really tan like him. So it is...

[fluffer]

Thanks for your input ladies!

I know the damage bleach can cause -A few years ago,my hair had severe breakage from bleached highlights. Which is why I am scared of it.

I only left the bleach/conditioner mix on my hair for a few minutes. It did remove the ugly brass toner (deposit only -no peroxide)that I put on the day before. It brightened over all, but it didnt really lighten because I only left it on for a few minutes.

Spidermom. You dont understand bouncy? Maybe your hair doesnt have this problem, so you cant relate. This is a good thing. LOL. Because I dont have good water, and I always have a coating, my dry hair just hangs there. By "bouncy" I mean that it has softness and movement.

freznow -great input. yep, I tried the miracle water. It didnt work for my hair. For some reason it made my hair drier? Maybe it was the C I used. Who knows. My hair doesnt like vinegar rinses either -this makes it more dry. I rarely have oily hair. Maybe nothing works because of my hair's tendency to have build up? I do like to use distilled water as a final rinse. This can be a cumbersome though.

Although I would never advocate using bleach -it definitely made my hair thicker. The build up is GONE too. The build up is my main problem. I just cant get it out -which leads to dry brittle hair. Clarifying makes it more dry and does little for the build up.

Katze, honey really lightens and brightens my hair. However, I dont use it often because it makes my hair dry. (everything makes my hair dry!LOL)