Help! Highlights have made my hair so, so frizzy

[Foundwantingalways]

Really hate what I look like. I've got fine shoulder - length hair, I'd say about 50% grey now but I have been having it salon dyed for years. I was dark brown and my hair looked healthy, but as the grey hair was becoming more of a problem and showing after a week or so my hairdresser recommended going lighter. She's put quite a few highlights through and frankly my hair looks a total mess now, it's gone very dry and frizzy looking. It doesn't feel dry, iykwim, but looks shrivelled! I am guessing that a lot of the grey is very coarse and so that's creating the frizzy broken hair look? I've tried blow drying straight, Moroccan oil, coconut oil before washing, but nothing, not even straighteners, can tame it. I look and feel awful. Any ideas as to what I can do?

[Foundwantingalways]

I just want to go back to brown, shiny healthy looking hair but aaargh the roots...!

[mintmagnummm]

Try tigi bedhead shampoo and conditioner either the recovery or resurrection ones. Go on allbeauty.com as they do the massive bottles in a twin pack for about £12

[SukiTheDog]

You won’t want to hear this but... how about going short and enveloping your grey? It can look amazing and very healthy. Or, failing that, going short and brown. Either way, repair of over highlighted hair over grey is damage limitation and you’ll hate it TIL the frizz is gone so, be brave, have the chop and go from there.

Like I said, you probably don’t want to hear that!

[Foundwantingalways]

Oh dear, no I can't embrace the grey! I don't even like the blonde! Tbh my personal life is a total shit storm at the moment and I just want to get some self esteem back and feel better about myself, and my hair looking like I've been through a hedge is just making me feel worse. My hairdresser is very keen that I stay lighter, but I just want it dyed back and deal with the roots when they show. Better the devil you know, right?

[YourWorstNightmare]

Was it only done recently? I find blonde highlights dry my hair at first but after a week or so, they go soft again with regular conditioning.

[Foundwantingalways]

Oh, yes it was done on Saturday, hopefully it will calm down? I had one set of highlights a month ago, and it was quite frizzy, but not as bad as this! I've just Googled sulphate free shampoo which I gather helps,so I'll pop out to buy that later. If I went back to brown, would it help the frizz, do you know? Even just disguise it a bit? I will have it cut too.

[doubleristretto]

You could try Olaplex? Have a look on YouTube, it can apparently perform miracles! I've used the stage 3 product at home, having bought it on Amazon but you can have stages 1 and 2 done in a salon for the full effect.

[citygirl1961]

My hair sounds the same as yours. Mine was very dark and glossy but too dark and the grey roots kept showing quickly, plus the dark hair was looking too severe now I am in my mid fifties, they do say to go a bit lighter as you get older. I don't know how old you are but highlights blend in better with the grey anyway.

But, like you, I found my hair going drier and frizzier as its so fine. I was tempted to go back to the dark brown at first but now its settling down. What I do is I don't have the highlights put in every time, my hairdresser often just does the roots and that is a mid brown colour and the highlights are now caramel more than blonde. I also use Wella Professionals shampoo and hair treatment and my hair isn't in too bad condition now.

[Foundwantingalways]

Thanks everyone. I'm only 38 so I'm really not keen on going grey fully just yet, even though my genes think otherwise! I'll just have to live with it for the next few weeks, then get a fair bit cut off and get some darker colour into it again. I'd rather deal with roots than frazzled hair.

[mousemoose]

Try conditioner-only washing (co-washing, Google it), I had to do that a few years ago as highlights do really parch my hair).