Please help repair my hair :(

[Kittykat93]

I fucked up majorly. I bleached my own hair a couple of months ago for godknows what reason. It has literally frazzled my hair. I had worked years to get it looking so nice and long and now I've had to cut it to my shoulders and its still frazzled at the ends and breaking off. I'm no longer able to straighten and my hair is naturally dry, frizzy and wavy and it looks ridiculous natural.

How do I help my hair? I've been using every product available I can find, including the really expensive olaplex. I'm also only washing once a week.

I know that this isn't the end of the world trust me, but I already have really low self esteem and having this hair is making me even more miserable.

Aww bless ya.

I know how you feel. I did this to myself a few months ago, I had to take it back to brown (and had it cut) and it’s loads better.

Have you tried “palmers coconut protein hair mask”. Also, I got advised to try “Aussie 3 minute rescue” I didn’t try it, but heard it’s good.

What colour were you prior to bleaching?

Depends how damaged it is, you may have to it cut to save some of the length - I know how much hair means to you, it's taken me a good few months to have 3/4inches cut off due to damage.

Try sleeping with coconut oil in, really helps to nourish the hair.

Your hair will be high porosity now so it will benefit from products with hydrolysed proteins. Olaplex 1 and 2 should also help, you can buy a travel sized version of these. High porosity hair also benefits from applying a deep conditioner, leaving it in and adding heat, so a gel-cap that you heat in the microwave might help.

I would apply hair serum its lovely and will help nourish and help with any frizz.
I find the pantene 2 minute repair mask suprisingly amazing for such a good value product.

I’ve done similar before to the point where my hair was so damaged it had a chewing gum texture when it was wet. What helped me claw it back from the brink was - It’s a 10 miracle mask, Redken Extreme shampoo and conditioner, Kerastase Elixir Ultime and Viviscal supplements. Plus absolutely NO hair dying of any kind for at least 6 months! A silk pillowcase can also help..good luck OP it’s tedious but you will get back to good hair!!

A few years ago, my hair was a bit damaged and thin at the ends. I ended up getting it cut (let my hairdresser take as much off for it to be healthy) then wore clip in extensions for a year. My hair had literally never looked better after - it was thick and healthy. I would have never been able to achieve that condition without the extensions because they meant I didn’t heat style my own hair as much!

Moroccan Oil every day. It is life changing. Couldn't recommend it more. Hair feels normal again. A bottle lasts best part of a year.

I tried pure-plex from Superdrug the other day and it’s made a massive difference to my hair! I think it’s their version of olaplex and it was about £11 for the full treatment.

The thing is, olaplex and all the dupes are fine but you also need to separately use moisturising hair masks. Overuse of olaplex will dry your hair out

Superdrug argan pre shampoo mask and lee staffords hair apology mask.

Wow lots of suggestions already thank you so much! Didn't realise overusing olaplex could dry out my hair... Shite!!

I'll have a look into these products and try some out, thank you again everyone there's so many products out there on the market and for someone like me who has no clue about hair its quite overwhelming

I agree with coconut oil, I use a spray version every time my hairs been washed as advised by my hairdresser. My hair used to be extremely dry from bleaching, stripping and straightening all the time, and it's loads better now

I use the banana hair mask for my hair when it was damaged I think it's by Garnier and also any gloss drops with Aragon oil it looks so much better since I started x

Coconut oil is cheap and works well

Phillip Kingsley Elastisizer has really improved my hair used weekly and sometimes overnight. Could be similar to Olaplex though.

You probably need to go shorter until it improves.

I do olaplex once a week and elasticizer once a week on my bleached balayage, and ouai leave in spray after every wash.

I was going to suggest elasticizer and Redken extreme shampoo and conditioner.

Hi OP. I've been there myself, although a hairdresser (clearly not my current one!) melted my hair with bleach.

I used Joico K-Pak (I'm certain Olaplex will work just as well, if not better). Because this is a protein treatment, you need to combine it with intensive conditioning.

According to a super popular hairdresser, coconut oil is not as hydrating as people think, and it's far better to use argan oil treatments as this does actually hydrate your hair.

As well as that, do not do anything to your hair other than wash it when you have to, extremely gently. Comb with a wide-tooth comb and do not use any heat on it at all (no hairdryer or straighteners) until it's recovered. If you need to dry it, it can be good to use an old t shirt rather than a towel to dry it as it's more gentle.

Best of luck; I remember how gutted I was when that happened to me and it's rubbish.

Hair that broken & frazzled that it's breaking can't be saved I'm afraid.
You are best off just accepting that it needs the chop & getting it over & done with. No amount of coconut oil, olaplex or anything will repair it.

Sorry, not what you wanted to hear OP.

I have cut it to my shoulders, so a good 4 inches off. But it's still in bad condition so just looking for things that might help save it. Thank you all for the ongoing suggestions!

Could you maybe go to a Bob, or a lob?

Just to start again but still maintain some length.

I find in salon treatments to be much more effective than home treatments. Not just Olaplex, but also salon moisturising treatments too (they can customise it to your hair’s needs)

Use a deep conditioning treatment every time you wash your hair, leave a treatment on for as long as you can, overnight if you can, use a plastic cap to build up heat, rinse in cool water, don't rub dry, use a towel wrapped round to blot dry.

Are keratin treatments a no no? Just had a look in my bathroom cupboard and I have a hair conditioning mask but it's treseme keratin...

Definitely coconut oil as many others have suggests. The Kingsley Elastisizer is very good too but probably not as good as coconut oil. Aveda Damage Remedy products are amazing too, I'm very dark but also used to bleach my own hair, it totally transformed my hair and I would highly recommend. It's a bit pricey but if you're only washing your hair once I week (I do too, even less in lockdown ) then a standard size shampoo and conditioner will last about a year. Good luck, hope you find something to improve it soon.

I think you need to try things and see what works for you, it’s got to be a change that you keep doing until the bleach grows out as (I know from bitter experience ) you can’t regain the condition you can just seal the hair to make it feel better.

I have long hair to my bra strap, I would say half of it has been bleached and it’s so porous that if I don’t sleep with it in a silk scarf all the sweat from my heat goes into my hair and makes it crunchy, wavy and tangled. I have to wash it carefully and also use a mask every week