Could bleach have done this to my hair?

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My hair has always been fine. It's shoulder length and has always been on the thin side but not too bad.

Anyway, last April I had highlights put in for the first time in 20 years. Between April and November I went progressively lighter - so had my hair bleached 4 times in total.

Around October time I noticed my hair was just shit. It seemed to get really thin and brittle and very dry and frizzy... terribly frizzy... I tried all sorts - oils, treatments, everything. It got worse, if anything.

So now I use baby shampoo on it and just a little frizz ease and that's it. It slowly seems to be a little bit better although I cannot wear it own < looks thin > and can no longer use GHDs on it as it would just kill it.

So... stupid question maybe - but could 4 lots of bleach have done this in that time scale? I had blood tests as I was so worried and all my vitamin/iron/folate levels are very good... so it suddenly dawned on me that it could be the bleach.

Absolutely, I have fine hair (brown) and whenever I've gone even slightly lighter, the condition of my hair has really suffered.

It's probably the combination of highlights and straigtening - the two together are a disaster for fine hair imo. With highlighting in general you need to be really careful to put as much moisture back into the hair through regular treatments etc. as you can to mitigate damage too.

I have fine but very thick hair and have mine highlighted every 6 weeks or so. My hair's in great condition, but I do a treatment every week, use decent products (I use shampoo and conditioner for coloured hair, a detangling spray and an oil - my preferance is kerastase for most things) and get it trimmed every time it's coloured. I stopped using straigteners a few years back other than for special occasions/nights out because my hair was starting to break off around the front. Luckily I can get it pretty straight just by blowdrying.

Ah yes.. this makes sense. My hair was heavily highlighted < one time I just had straight peroxide I think > and I would straighten it around 5 days out of 7.

I use top of the range products, deep conditioning treatments etc and nothing helped at all really. In the end i had to go for baby shampoo, a little frizz ease and using a babyliss brush dryer thing... blasting it with my usual hairdryer was making it look terrible...thin and frizzy.

im still doing the above..wondering if i need to get some of it cut off? id really rather not. but wearing it down is almost a no no... i can sometimes if it is freshly washed, dried, and 'serum-ed' together..oh and if im not going out, so it wont blow everywhere.|

Personally I'd have it trimmed - what's the point of keeping it so badly damaged if you can't really wear it how you want it anyway?

I actually used to find baby shampoo v bad for my hair (as it's got things in it to prevent cradle cap etc), but if you've found premium shampoos have made it worse too, then I guess stick with it. It couldn't be the combination of product and straighteners, could it (I've never used straighteners but seem to recall some product could burn your hair when used with straighteners?)?

I agree that you could consider cutting it to help it regain some strength. Yes, I do think the bleach could easily have done this.

Good plan... I shall have it cut this week. It is shoulder length and I suppose I could bear to have 2 inches lopped off... Like you say, there is little point hanging on to hair that is just dead.

No, it's not the products I use. There is definitely no build up on my hair. I'd never normally use baby shampoo but it definitely seemed to help for some reason. Might chance my Kerastase again?

Agree its a combination of the bleach and straightening. If I straightened my hair 5 days a week it would be wrecked!

During all the treatments did you carry on using heat? Straighteners, hair drier, heat brush etc?
For these treatments to work you have to stop using heat,because you hair could also be heat damaged.

You say there's no build-up on your hair, but if you use Frizz Ease every time you wash your hair, that is definitely, definitely building up on your hair. I have very similar hair issues to you (fine, bleach highlights, ghd addiction) and have recently stopped using any products with silicones (which is the main thing in Frizz Ease) as although in the short term the silicone coats your hair and makes it shiny and glossy, it builds up on your hair, becoming stuff and brittle, and also makes a barrier preventing moisture being able to penetrate your hair, so it will get drier and drier. I recommend a good moisturising (but silicone-free) shampoo, check the ingredients - anything ending in 'cone' is a no-no - dimethicone is common. I use Aussie Moisture one. And a silicone free conditioner too, used at every wash. And invest £6 or so in Tesco on a jar of pure coconut oil from the food section, and apply a teasponful or so to your hair a least an hour before washing every time for a few weeks til the condition improves, then use it as a weekly deep conditioning treatment.

I guarantee this will help - that and finding an alternative to daily straightening. I find that combing my hair into a low bun with a neat parting, til almost dry / overnight, then encouraging the bottom bit to waves the top part stays straight and swishy where it's been flat against your head, as long as it's been well conditioned. Use a tiny drop of coconut oil on ends for definition.

Save products like Frizz Ease for nights out / special occasions, otherwise they will ruin your hair.

ihear - yes, throughout all the bleachings I used GHDs around 5 days out of 7 after blasting my hair with a hairdryer on high heat.

jump - I use frizz ease every single wash- so again, around 5 times a week. I was using it to 'glue' my hair if that makes sense? So it does away with the frizz a bit. I shall buy the Aussie shampoo tomorrow. I even stopped conditioning my hair. It just felt like I was conditioning next to nothing.

I haven't used my GHDs for a few months now- just had to stop as it was frying my hair and it looked almost bloody see through. I wear my hair in a low pony tail, sometime pulled to one side , or up in hair grips. This disguises the poor, frizzy condition. Once upon a time I'd need at least 14 hair grips... now i can put my hair up using 4 or 5

Hmm, coconut oil?