Damaged hair from bleach

[karla657]

 

Hi!! I dyed my hair from black to red almost two years ago now. I recently dyed my hair back to black and purple ends (the color has faded away now) but my hair is obviously so dry and damaged from the bleach and constantly dyeing it. Any recommendations would be so amazing! My hair is so stiff and dry from the damage and only looks nice when it’s styled and blow dried. However, when I’m wearing my natural hair it gets matted within 3 days…. Please help 

picture is my hair about three months ago and you can see how dry it is and also this is my hair blow dried 

[GG84]

@karla657 

Stylist here. You’re not going to like this. When your hair is stiff like you are describing, and kind of moves in one fluid piece - you need a very healthy cut. 
Alcohols are not bad for the hair, there are different types that serve different purposes. There are long and short chain alcohols, since this isn’t a science class, I’ll leave it at that. 

I would pick up Redken Extreme Bleach Recovery Lamellar Water, If it’s in the budget K18 Biomimetic Hairscience Mini Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask 0.5 oz/ 15 mL 

Redken All soft Heavy Cream 

[cianni]

@karla657 hi! I totally feel you - i bleached my very dark hair blonde years ago, and i still feel like im seeing some of the effects. i actually ended up dying my hair back to my original color to help mask some of the damage and dryness!

what was helpful for me was switching up some of my products, including introducing regular hair masks into my routine. i know alot of people rave about Olaplex 3, but i didnt personally find it helped my hair. there are tons of positive reviews, so it may be worth a try (just because it didnt not work for me doesnt mean it wont work for you!)

here are some of my HG products and tips for saving my damaged hair!

• avoid hair products that have alcohols in them - this will cause your hair to be even drier and more brittle!
• hydrating shampoos, especially ones for color treated hair (i like the JVN Undamage Strengthening Shampoo 10 oz/ 295 mL and JVN Nurture Hydrating Shampoo 10 oz/ 295 mL )
• hair oils applied at the ends. i have thinner hair, so i use the Moroccanoil Moroccanoil Treatment Light Hair Oil and the Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Glossy™ Nourishing Anti-Frizz Hair Oil 2 oz/ 60 mL . based on the photo, your hair looks way thicker than mine, so the regular Moroccanoil should work just fine!
• always use heat protectant on your hair! i usually air dry, but when i am using heat of any kind, i need to have my JVN Complete Blowout Styling Milk 3 oz / 90 mL 
• leave in conditioner (i use the OUAI Detangling and Frizz Fighting Leave In Conditioner because it helps brush out the knots and tangles, as well as provide extra conditioning and hydration)
• my hair knots and tangles really easily, and it can get to the point where i feel like im ripping my hair trying to get the knots out! i always sleep with a braid or protective style to prevent it from doing that overnight. silk scrunchies have helped too. i love the Slip Silk Bunny Scrunchies but ive even seen nice ones at Winners/Marshalls
• i only use hairspray by spraying it on a brush and brushing it through my hair. spraying directly to any part of my hair makes it very tangled and matted
• lastly, hair masks. these have absolutely saved me and my hair!! Olaplex No. 8 Bond Intense Moisture Hair Mask 3.3 oz/ 100 mL , Olaplex 4-in-1 Mask (this might only be available through a hair salon), SEPHORA COLLECTION Clean Hair Sleeping Mask - cant beat the price and love how it works! BondiBoost Rapid Repair Hair Mask (love BondiBoost!!). I'm currently in the process of trying the K18 Biomimetic Hairscience Mini Leave-In Molecular Repair Hair Mask 0.5 oz/ 15 mL , so i can update on how it fares!

it sounds like a lot, but i honestly cant even recognize my hair versus last year, it was in such rough shape. all game changers, and there are more affordable options as well in basically every category!