Hair ruined by bleach. What to do to salvage it?

[mrsworsalgummidge]

Without going into the whole story, my hair has been ruined by a salon. I'm gutted. It's like fuzzy straw.
Without cutting it all off, what can I do to try and salvage what I have, make sure it looks presentable and help it repair.

I'm gutted

You can only really rest it. Olaplex might help but only if it’s lacking in protein. Otherwise it might make it worse. Is it brittle (don’t olaplex) or weirdly stretchy (olaplex).

Amla oil masks and no lightening at all for a while. No heat styling.

That’s tough. There are lots of products that rebuild damaged hair and reduce splitting. While that is happening could you use a semi permanent dye?

I often see these hair bleach videos and feel terrible for the person having their hair done- the damage is very clear to see.

Olaplex made mine worse. This has been good for me https://www.boots.com/aussie-3-minute-miracle-reconstructor-vegan-deep-treatment-225ml-10315539

Olaplex doesn't actually contain protein. It builds the bonds inside the hair:

What I did when I had permanent bleach (or a very similar light colour) put on my hair (I asked for highlights) over lockdown was:-

1. my hair wasn’t that damaged as yours is.
2. saw another hair salon and got a dark colour (near my natural colour) put over it.
3. used masks and Redken CAT
4. it took about 2.5 years along with cutting and no highlights to grow and be cut out.
5. don’t use straighteners, reduce hairdryers or use on low settings.
6. when I did see a new hairdresser (one who helped me grow it out) I was honest about what happened but also that my hair was damaged and needed to be treated with care.

As @Aurasauras says, my colour after the disaster was a semi permanent one. Professional salon job though.

Unfortunately depending on the damage you may need to have some hair cut off if it is too damaged. I was fairly lucky and kept the length.

Did they use Olaplex by any chance? My hair was ruined after mine used it on my hair ( in the colour and also the shampoo and conditioner)

It took almost a year of deep conditioning and leaving it regrow for it to start looking better

I know what olaplex does but my point was that it will only help your hair if it’s stretchy. If it’s brittle and has too much protein then it can make your hair worse not better.

Amla oil will help. Don’t use purple masks or shampoo either

I don't think so but I'm not sure as they did all manner of stuff to try and repair an initial fuck up which just resulted in them fucking it up more.
What are the chances of me getting my money back? I'm not sure I've got the fight in me but I'm so very angry. I veer between being tearful and furious.

You can complain to the salon again but they may say you’ve already had treatments to try to rectify this.

There are solicitors out there who specialise in compensation cases if you’d like to go down that route.

The top layer of my hair snapped due to previous stylist using bleach for too long, it literally snapped all the way around after having gorgeous thick strong hair. Olaplex did nothing.

Philip Kingsley elasiticizer every week, sleeping in it initially, made such a difference. And a few cuts… now 9 months later I can let my hair dry naturally with no frizz, I’ve never been able to do that before

Redken Extreme and Aveda Damage Remedy made a big difference to mine when it was damaged by over bleaching. And you should absolutely get your money back.

When mine was fried by a hairdresser, she left it on too long without checking, too busy eating lunch and chatting.

It took me moisturising it with hair masks and leave in conditioner when dry. No heat styling and a change in hairdresser who chopped my hair to shoulder length and gave me no harsh bleaching.

Its back to its original condition now, but took nearly a year to fix.

I had a similar experience where the hairdresser fucked up. I used regular treatments of Olaplex and Elasticizer and babied the hair (massively limited heat, air dried as much as possible etc).
I also had regular cuts from my new hairdresser and haven’t used any dye or anything on it.

The good news is that it definitely improved in texture after a couple of months of being looked after and looked and felt a lot better.
However to be honest it never fully recovered and two years on I’m just waiting to have the last three inches of bleached hair cut out over the next few months.

About 18 months I went to a fancy new salon in my town and paid £200 for them to absolute frazzle my hair. It was grey (rather than ash blonde I asked for) and every hair was zig zaggy, brittle, split. They used Olaplex on it as I remember that being added to the bill.
Anyway, I had to go cold Turkey. I didn't get it coloured for over a year which was also a great money saver at a point where I could do with saving. The difference in my hair condition was amazing though as I'd been getting it highlighted for about 20+ years regularly!
I've just started colouring my hair at a salon again now but now just get it every few months (or will do).

Aphogee 2 Step protein treatment saved my fried bleached hair. Then I did all the things I could to baby my hair. No heat, satin pillowcase, kept hair up in a padded satin scrunchie or a satin bonnet. Put a satin scarf on the back of the sofa where my hair might rub. Only brushed it when wet and full of conditioner. Wash as infrequently as possible. Lots of conditioner. Leave in conditioner. Oiling the ends. Olaplex 3. K18. Redken ABC.

I now have healthy - looking, thick blonde hair to my shoulder blades.

You have to make growing your hair a hobby. Like someone else might make growing orchids a hobby.

Henna fixed my bleached hair better than olaplex but I didn't like the colour, you could try cassia which is sometimes called clear henna and has a glossing effect on the hair.