I have ruined my very long hair by beaching it

[HorribleDryHair]

I had a manic episode and during which I dyed my almost black very dark brown hair blue. In order to do this I had to "lift" it about 8 shades (I think). I couldn't afford to go to the hairdresser who said it would it be about £400, others outright refused to do it at all, so I did it at all at home. I got my hair to platinum blonde so the dye took and it is the color I wanted it to be, but it keeps breaking. My hair is getting shorter! It was waist-length but now is chest-length and I haven't cut it. Unfortunately it grows slowly - I can see it's only grown an inch or so in 3 months. So I need to salvage what is left. I do hair masks and have an anti-tangle brush. Is there anything else I can do. If I dye it back to the original colour would that help? I don't want to lose all my hair 😭 should I get it trimmed?? Due to past sexual trauma I absolutely do not want short hair. I have not had short hair since I was a child. It has always been at least shoulder length. I won't get it cut shorter than that. Someone mentioned Olaplex (at home not salon) but I tried the leave in mask / conditioner once and it didn't seem to make a difference. I bought the shampoo (number 4?) but I didn't rate it. So I haven't another bottle as it was so dear. I normally use L'Oreal or Pantene level of expensive shampoos. But I would be willing to spend a bit more if anyone can recommend something that would stop it being so brittle. It also knots really easily. So to avoid having to brush it I just wear it in a bun all the time. Should I wear a satin bonnet? My hair is very thick but the actual hairs are very fine according to my hairdresser. Thank you for reading x

I second PPs who recomended Olaplex! miracle products which turned my frizzy dried straws into such soft hairs I couldn't believe it.

Now I am stockpiling whenever this is on sale! Which Olaplex 3 is on now at amazon open box for £10!

I agree with pps saying don’t dye it again, and just trim and wait, trim and wait until it grows out stronger.

I know this won’t help your hair specifically but are you having help for the manic episodes? I would prioritise that too so that you’re looking after all of you.

Yes, trim as much as you can bear, keep in a loose plait, and warm coconut oil daily on the ends of your hair. It will get better, but will need lots of love and attention.

As someone with long hair I can totally understand that you don’t want to cut it. I don’t know anything about Olaplex but lots of people here seem to recommend it. If you want to colour your hair again I would only advise using a true semi permanent which will tone the blonde and last approximately 8 washes. If it says it lasts 28 washes for example then this is a Demi permanent and will contain peroxide, likewise If you need to mix two bottles together with a hair dye then avoid this as it will contain peroxide. Many hair dyes are marketed that they don’t damage hair but this is nonsense if they contain peroxide or ammonia. It’s probably fine if your hair isn’t damaged but yours is so I would avoid like the plague. If you really want to re dye you could try Daniel Field online he sells non damaging hair dye called Water Colour. I’ve used this myself but stopped as it didn’t cover my resistant grey. I understand that you can use his brown colours directly on bleached hair without it going green but I would strongly recommend you have a free online consultation with one of his hairdressers or himself to get advice on this. If it were my hair I would get as much cut off as I could bare regularly so it’s not all in one go and use the conditioning treatments people have recommended. I would also look at getting a very gentle shampoo and paying a little more for it than usual, and perhaps not over washing it either. Good luck xx

This is the link to Daniel Fields website
www.danielfield.com/
You can book a consultation online

Thanks so much for the recommendations 🥰 I will leave off dying it again for now.

Didn't occur to me to use a scrunchie to reduce tension but I will do this and get some silk pillow cases. Thank you for all the recommended products I will try them!

I had not been washing my hair daily to reduce breakage... I don't know if that makes a difference or not?!

I don't ever use a hairdryer or styling tongs etc but I shall avoid combing when wet!!

Jumping in to recommend this stuff as a cheaper and, ime, better alternative to olaplex.

I bleached my hair three times in a week about 6 weeks ago and it was pretty fecked. Have been using this stuff at least once a week since. You put it on before shampoo and conditioner - I've been leaving it in for 2-3 hours at a time and it's completely saved my hair.

Am never bleaching again!

@LazyMareofEastown

Jumping in to recommend ]] as a cheaper and, ime, better alternative to olaplex.

I bleached my hair three times in a week about 6 weeks ago and it was pretty fecked. Have been using this stuff at least once a week since. You put it on before shampoo and conditioner - I've been leaving it in for 2-3 hours at a time and it's completely saved my hair.

Am never bleaching again!

Thank you for the recommendation 😊 I have just bought some!

I looked at Olaplex 1&2 on Amazon but it is a TINY sachet! I don't know if it is enough for my hair 😕

Bleach London hair mask you can get ut in Sainsburys or Tesco. Also saturate hair in coconut or olive oil, leave overnight shampoo out next day helps

Also, you possibly already do this is you have long hair, but it can be beneficial not to use a towel to dry the hair, and definitely don't rub it dry. Some people use those microfibre wraps or even a cotton t shirt (I prefer the latter).

You need a cut, as short as you can manage.

Then olaplex number 3 once a week - sleep in it.
Silk pillow cases.
A decent leave in conditioner, everytime you wash your hair. Briogeo is good.
Two shampoo conditioner sets - one focused on moisture one on strength. Garnier banana and umberto gianni grow long are my recommendations.
Hair vitamins to promote growth.
The garnier banana hair mask, to be used before you wash your hair everytime you’re not doing olaplex.
Do not use any heat!

I was slightly different to you in that I already had healthy bleached hair, which I dyed blue. Then when I bleached it out it all snapped (hairdresser negligence unfortunately). Ultimately what I needed was a really good cut, which I’m still growing out. But this helped me save as much as I could.

Also revolution beauty have a version of olaplex. Haven’t tried it so can’t comment but generally rate their products so could be worth a go

Op I did something similar about 6 weeks ago.

I have just been masking it in coconut oil over night as often as I remember to do it.

It’s made the world of difference!

I’ve also stopped using shampoo, just conditioner

Very long completely bleached hair here, been bleaching for years and years. The main thing that maintains the strength of my hair is no heat, find heat free styles you like.

Product wise, it doesn’t get mentioned on here a lot but the number one anti breakage product I’ve found over the years is a protein treatment called aphogee. It is extremely high in protein and only meant to be used once every six weeks, it’s a salon treatment but you can buy it online for around £15 and will get a few uses from the bottle. There’s no comparison with anything you can find in boots/Superdrug, the downside is it stinks to high heaven and you have to read the instructions carefully - you put it on and sit under a hairdryer for around 30 minutes, it will set hard as it dries so absolutely no moving your hair - you then wash it out as normal once dried. But it really does stop your hair breaking.

Thank you for the further recommendations i really appreciate them. Never heard of doing a hair mask before washing i will do that. Got some satin/silkie pillowcases on Amazon today I also got a lot of coconut oil. Sorry about the hairdresser negligence @SometimesRavenSometimesParrot that is shocking

Truly thank you all so much for the recommendations 🥰🤍 i was in a right state before but feeling much more confident now. Also i found out about amazon open box which i had never heard of before! Xxx

Wasn’t the best thing that’s ever happened to me I’ll be honest!
I forgot to say as well, if you go have to go shorter than you’d like, would extensions be an option? I have 24 inch clip ins that I just wear to go out, so no one would really know my hair is quite short compared to before. Lulubella do good synthetic ones at a reasonable price. If you don’t fancy clip ons (or your hair is too brittle at the root) look at halo extensions.