sbhonda
November 22nd, 2011, 10:20 PM
Here's my little background. In July of 2010 I bleached my hair platinum blonde, which was a horrible mistake for me.
Ew.
http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x399/shelleyshair/68899_447977807982_518577982_5584688_1264323_n.jpg
My hair had always been quite strong and at least appeared healthy before that. When I bleached it, everything changed. My hair was about as porous and destroyed as it could possibly get without crumbling. It was stretchy and gummy when wet, and if I left it to air dry, it just wouldn't. Left down and untouched my hair would still be damp 24 hours after showering.
I kept cutting it shorter and shorter because I couldn't stand how the bleached hair felt, and finally this September, all the bleached hair was gone. The problem was, in the 14 months since I bleached, I had learned to take care of bleached hair. I forgot how to take care of my normal hair.
With my bleached hair, I used a heavy protein conditioner every time I showered and I needed to use lots of cones to make my hair feel remotely like hair. Protein and cones were my saviors. I straightened it because I didn't know what else to do. I didn't have waves anymore, I had a mass of frizz. It didn't really think I could make it any worse anyway. Now that my hair is back to a more natural state (all though most of it is still dyed at this point), it is strong, M/C, and probably on the low side of normal porosity. It's the opposite of what I got used to taking care of.
You can see how crispy the bleached part is and how it would not even hold permanent dye.
http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n619/sbhonda/photobucket-1380-1322025235568.jpg
So I started having problems. Your typical dry, crunchy ends. And in some places not just the ends. It felt rough and kind of like it was still bleached, but I knew it wasn't because it was strong and I couldn't find any split ends. I was bummed. Part of that I attributed to the horrendously hard and gross well water where I had been living over the summer. Ugh... I'm having flashbacks. I chelated, and there was some improvement, but not as much as I expected. So I tried a SMT and holy bejeezus it got worse. Then I thought about it. There was protein in the conditioner I used for the SMT. My hair does not want or need protein now. I thought back on all the products I had been using for the past year, and most of them were full of protein. I was using them for the bleached part of my hair, but the rest of my hair was getting it too, and it didn't want it. So I clarified again and ditched everything with protein. My hair already feels better.
So I have now realized that I had completely forgotten how to care for "healthy" hair and needed to really think about how my hair's needs have changed. Apparently protein is no good, and cones may not have any instant negative effects on my hair, but I don't need them.
My hair is strong and shiny now. I'm going natural with the color now too.
http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n619/sbhonda/DSCF3727.jpg
Have any of you experienced a change in your hair that you had trouble adapting to? Or that made you have to relearn or rethink how to care for you hair?
Ew.
http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x399/shelleyshair/68899_447977807982_518577982_5584688_1264323_n.jpg
My hair had always been quite strong and at least appeared healthy before that. When I bleached it, everything changed. My hair was about as porous and destroyed as it could possibly get without crumbling. It was stretchy and gummy when wet, and if I left it to air dry, it just wouldn't. Left down and untouched my hair would still be damp 24 hours after showering.
I kept cutting it shorter and shorter because I couldn't stand how the bleached hair felt, and finally this September, all the bleached hair was gone. The problem was, in the 14 months since I bleached, I had learned to take care of bleached hair. I forgot how to take care of my normal hair.
With my bleached hair, I used a heavy protein conditioner every time I showered and I needed to use lots of cones to make my hair feel remotely like hair. Protein and cones were my saviors. I straightened it because I didn't know what else to do. I didn't have waves anymore, I had a mass of frizz. It didn't really think I could make it any worse anyway. Now that my hair is back to a more natural state (all though most of it is still dyed at this point), it is strong, M/C, and probably on the low side of normal porosity. It's the opposite of what I got used to taking care of.
You can see how crispy the bleached part is and how it would not even hold permanent dye.
http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n619/sbhonda/photobucket-1380-1322025235568.jpg
So I started having problems. Your typical dry, crunchy ends. And in some places not just the ends. It felt rough and kind of like it was still bleached, but I knew it wasn't because it was strong and I couldn't find any split ends. I was bummed. Part of that I attributed to the horrendously hard and gross well water where I had been living over the summer. Ugh... I'm having flashbacks. I chelated, and there was some improvement, but not as much as I expected. So I tried a SMT and holy bejeezus it got worse. Then I thought about it. There was protein in the conditioner I used for the SMT. My hair does not want or need protein now. I thought back on all the products I had been using for the past year, and most of them were full of protein. I was using them for the bleached part of my hair, but the rest of my hair was getting it too, and it didn't want it. So I clarified again and ditched everything with protein. My hair already feels better.
So I have now realized that I had completely forgotten how to care for "healthy" hair and needed to really think about how my hair's needs have changed. Apparently protein is no good, and cones may not have any instant negative effects on my hair, but I don't need them.
My hair is strong and shiny now. I'm going natural with the color now too.
http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n619/sbhonda/DSCF3727.jpg
Have any of you experienced a change in your hair that you had trouble adapting to? Or that made you have to relearn or rethink how to care for you hair?