Hair damage after balayage

[BringBiscuits]

In the past when I’ve added or changed hair colour it’s just been with foil highlights. Hairdresser suggested balayage this time as it’s much natural looking colour and a bit less maintenance needed. Looked lovely and I was happy with it until later when I felt the ends. They are so frizzy and damaged! My hair was finally in good condition before the colour and the longest it’s been in years so I didn’t really want much taking off the length but it feels awful! Is this normal or did my hairdresser do a bad job? I have a feeling she left it on longer than she initially intended as when she came to wash it off she suddenly seemed in a hurry! Is there anything I can do other than get a good inch or two cut off next time?

Olaplex

Olaplex number 3 through the ends.

Assuming you’ve had it lightened each time, then bleaching over the years will take its toll. Balayage is a different technique for applying the colour, but is still just bleaching sections

Second Olaplex.

Thanks haven’t heard of olaplex before now. My hair had been highlighted in the past but not for a year or more and had been in great condition for possible the first time in my life as I’ve been washing it less and not drying it with straighteners and hairdryer.

I’ve now started on Olaplex 0 and Olaplex 3 - amazing - if you have a wave to your hair it seems to work wonders too.

Disabrie22 what do the numbers mean?

Get yourself to a trichologist who does hair steaming treatments. You need a deep conditioning treatment with keratin under their steamer. From then on, you need moisturising treatments under the steamer. This will rescue your hair. I have rescued many patients' hair from bleach under my steamer with the right treatments.

Another Olaplex fan here! The numbers correlate to the hair routine:
0 - pre wash treatment (at home equivalent of 1)
1 - in salon only treatment
2 - in salon only treatment
3 - pre wash treatment (at home equivalent of 2)
4 - shampoo
5 - conditioner
6 - leave in treatment
7 - oil

Thanks for the help. Will look into it. Haven’t heard of a trichologist before either! I am clearly clueless.
Is there a way to colour but avoid the damage next time?

@BringBiscuits

Thanks for the help. Will look into it. Haven’t heard of a trichologist before either! I am clearly clueless. Is there a way to colour but avoid the damage next time?

Yes, to save damage nest time:

In the weeks prior to your colour appointment - get as much moisture into your hair as possible: lots of pre shampoo masks (Philip Kingsley Elasticizer is a good product), lots of moisturising masks and conditioners every time you shampoo - minimise heat styling etc - get your hair as moisturised as you can.

At your colour appt - ask your colourist to put olaplex no 3 into their colour mixture.

After colour appt - use a keratin treatment condiioner once or twice, then switch to moisturising conditioners. (Too much keratin can cause breakage, so not too many. Hence, switching thereafter to a moisturising one.) If possible, once you've applied your conditioner, wrap your head in a warm towel to help penetration of the conditioner before you rinse. Rinse your conditioner in cool,but not cold, water.

Good luck.

Olaplex will definitely help but it's important to remember that it is only a bond restorer and does not provide protein or moisture which bleached or damaged hair also needs. It's also possible to overuse Olaplex but I'm not sure how likely that is with the at home products.

I have a full head of bleached light blonde hair and I've recently had great success with pre wash oil treatments. I layer a moisturing oil straight onto dry hair and then cover with melted coconut oil which is supposed to help preserve and restore protein. I let that soak in for a few hours and then wash my hair and deep condition with normal deep conditioner. It has really noticeabley improved my hair and it feels soft and shiny which is totally at odds with how much I have bleached it!

Olaplex, for sure. Also, just use a hair mask as conditioner whenever you wash your hair. Some hair oil of your choice on damp hair after washing. If it persists in being all frizzed and damaged, I'd get an inch chopped off.

Olaplex no.3

My friend has very very fine hair which has had years of bleaching, she has been using this a couple of times a week and her hair looks great! She also uses an ogx oil at night and washes out in the morning.

Wow there’s so much I don’t know!! Will get some olaplex no. 3. Looks expensive online but so many recommendations on here I’ll have to give it a go!