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What are the best products for bleached hair?

What are the best hair products for bleached hair? How to repair it and fix the damage?

Going blonde or just going much lighter sounds appealing, but bleaching always traumatizes hair. After bleaching, you always need specially designed products for bleached hair and treatments for bleached hair restoring your mane’s health and shine. Opt for the right products to succeed.

What Does Bleach Do to Hair?

What actually happens during bleaching? Bleach opens the cuticle, and through the process of oxidation, the natural color pigment called melanin is washed out along with many other important elements (oils, fibers, etc.)

In case of using unprofessional methods or having no salon expert supervision, you may face unpleasant and even non-reversible consequences.

The Main Symptoms of Bleach-Damaged Hair

The main signs of bleach-damaged (a.k.a. bleach-fried) hair are:

– Hair tangles

– Loss of shine

– Split ends

– Dryness

– Brittleness

– Frizziness, flyaways

– Matted hair shaft

– Hair fall, hair breakage

– Change of hair porosity

– Brassy orange/yellow tones (a protein called keratin has a light-yellow tint)

So, does bleaching your hair damage it forever, or is it possible to renovate your hair and bring your strands back to life?

How Long It Takes to Repair Bleach Damaged Hair

Even if the damage is not extreme and you use the best hair products for bleached hair, the whole process will take not less than a month. You need to restore the balance of protein and moisture. The process of renovating involves picking the right reconstructing treatment as well as the right products (shampoos, conditioners, hair masks, hair oils, etc.)

If your hair is badly damaged, you will need regular trims/cuts. Extreme damage after bleaching is non-reversible! Trims will help you to manage hair breakage. Moreover, you need to do everything possible to make your hair grow faster to regrow your length.

What to Do Right After Bleaching?

You need to start rehydrating your hair after bleaching it. This is a must-do for bleach jobs that are a success and for extreme bleach damaged hair too. The latter needs an intensive protein treatment first. Most clients with fried bleached hair are recommended to alternate moisture- and protein-packed treatments for a couple of months.

Drugstore Products for Bleached Hair

What is the world’s most used hair product? Yes, shampoo. Let’s start from this must-have product. When choosing the best shampoo for bleached hair, you should pay attention to pro purple shampoos, good daily shampoos, and repairing shampoos.

A repairing shampoo seems to be the most logical solution for damaged bleached hair. It fixes the unwanted consequences of bad bleaching, as well as brings numerous benefits to your hair in general. Whether you’re dealing with split ends or excessive frizz as a result of environmental stressors, chemical treatments, or heat styling, this formula can help treat the damage. It works by re-linking broken hair bonds so your mane becomes stronger, more manageable, and healthier. A must-try for over bleached hair.

Purple shampoo is a common hair-care product for bleached blonde hair (for all blond types ranging from platinum and up to dark blonde). Its primary function is to remove brassiness from your hair and provide a light and fresh color. Using purple shampoo is about washing and at the same time keeping your tone right, and this is why it can be so beneficial after bleaching. However, it is recommended to use such shampoos only once a week as eliminating too much warmth usually results in a darker shade, which is not the desired result for most blondes.

Some tips regarding choosing a daily shampoo while restoring your hair would include choosing a gentle care product. Now that your strands have become porous and tend to break off if handled carelessly, cleansing should be very tender. Shampoos for sensitive care may contain sulfates, but the formula surrounds them with the components that neutralize their aggressiveness.

Hair conditioners also take place among the most popular treatments for damaged bleached hair. Trichologists and hairstylists recommend using them after each hair wash as they work with the cuticle, creating an invisible protective layer on the hair, which is sometimes enough to neutralize the effects of bleaching. If damage is really visible, you might want to pay attention to a more intensive conditioner. Such products are usually packed with soothing natural oils to hydrate and define strands.

What is the best hair reconstructor for bleached hair? Hairstylists and their clients who experienced post-bleaching hair damage advise the following products: ApHogee Intensive 2-minute Reconstructor, Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Hair Mask Reconstructor, Hair Lust Protein Reconstructor Mask, Malibu C Miracle Repair Wellness Reconstructor. The choice of the reconstructor depends on your goal.

The list of the best deep conditioners for bleached hair includes the following positions:

Shea Moisture Strengthen & Restore Leave-In Conditioner. It has the fame of the best leave in conditioner for bleached hair thanks to the mix of black castor oil, organic raw shea butter, and keratin that restores elasticity and repairs split ends. There are a lot of good reviews on this product from those who had burnt their hair.

Olaplex Hair Perfector No 3 Repairing Treatment. It’s a patented formula that benefits your hair a lot. It repairs the hair structure from the inside out, and it would be good for bleached hair even if there’s nothing to fix and the procedure went well. You will find this product in ALL lists of products for bleached hair!

Pantene Rescue Shots. It’s one of the most convenient solutions as all the dozes are already packed into sashes so you don’t have to measure the portion by yourself. This product is rich in pro-vitamin B5, natural glycerin, and lipids. It also functions as thermal protection because its formula also helps your hair resist environmental stress and heat-styling.

Best Hair Masks for Bleached Hair

Last but not least, pay attention to hair masks. Whether they are professional or homemade, this type of hair care is fairly considered the best for any renewal procedures.

To hydrate bleached hair, you can make some DIY masks. The most popular ingredients for that include avocado, oils, fruits, and eggs.

A good idea will be to make a protein mask with strawberries, egg yolk, and olive oil. While the berries will moisturize your hair, the egg will enrich it with natural protein.

For an even more moisturizing option, make a mask with banana, coconut, and avocado. Avocado masks are among the best DIY hair mask for bleached hair thanks to enormous amounts of biotin in them. If you like this fruit, you can also make another treat for your dry and fried damaged hair with avocado, honey, and olive oil.

Rice water rinse may also be helpful, as it is considered to be one of the most innovative protein treatments for hair.

Nevertheless, let’s also take a look at the best professional hair mask for bleached hair.

Biolage Recovery. The concentrated product restores hair bringing back its smoothness and manageability. It’s the best hair mask for bleached hair with proteins and moisturizing ingredients that establishes the normal hydration level of your hair and strengthens it throughout its entire length. This is exactly what your strands need after unsuccessful bleaching.

Redken Extreme. A strengthening mask formulated for deeper care and restoration of bleached hair. It can restore the protective layer of your scalp and take care of the long-term nutrition in between uses.

Treatments and Products for Bleached Curly Hair

How to repair bleached curly hair? It is usually more fragile and drier than straight locks, due to the different shape of the strands and different shape of the follicles. Bleached curls are more prone to breakage. They may even change their curl pattern! To restore your natural hair switch to a sulfate-free shampoo, moisturize curls a lot, apply leave-in conditioners, choose wide-tooth combs to minimize breakage, and avoid styling with heat. If you see severe damage on your curls, they can be only cut off. Consult your hairstylist to estimate the damage and find the best solution.

What Are the Best Oils for Bleached Hair

Once more we have to mention that there is no product that can completely reverse extreme hair damage. However, these hair oils are considered to be most helpful in the fight with post-bleach damage:

Olive oil. Can be used as a deep-conditioning and hot oil treatment.

Coconut oil. Makes bleached hair softer, more manageable, and healthy-looking.

Almond oil. Contains proteins and vitamin E.

Argan oil. Has antioxidant properties, adds shine to your locks.

Rosemary oil. Promotes hair growth.

Peppermint oil. Relieves itching and is good for scalp issues after bleaching.

Best Treatments for Scalp After Bleaching

Bleach is harsh, so such thing as itchy or flaky scalp after bleaching is normal. Chemical burns usually heal in several days, more serious burns heal in several weeks. What to do to heal scalp burns? Keep them clean, make a cool compress, take pain relievers if needed. Seek medical advice if your burns seem deep, large, or infected!

If you see no burns but experience redness, flakes, or dandruff, moisturize your scalp and hair, drink more water, return to your healthy diet, and everything will improve soon.

P.S. If your scalp burns badly during bleaching, tell your hair colorist! You may have some stingy sensations, but they are never really painful!

Other Important Bleached Hair Tips

Some other rules you need to follow for bleached and bleach-fried hair:

– Use hot styling tools less often.

– Don’t forget about heat protection.

– Comb your hair carefully, use ‘wet’ brushes.

– Use the right towels and sleep on the right pillowcases.

– Avoid hot water.

– Don’t skip DIY hair treatments.

– Invest into vitamins.

– Buy non-damaging hair ties.

– Stay away from bleaching and dyeing hair, make a pause in color-treating.

– Don’t overuse hair products.

– Avoid swimming in chlorinated water.

To sum up, you should use only the best hair products for bleached hair that are marked as salon pro products or safe at-home treatments. You may combine several solutions to repair bleach damaged hair. We sincerely hope that any method described in this article will help you to fix your damaged bleached hair and get your dream mane. Share your thoughts below in the comments section!

Featured Image: prostooleh – freepik.com

by Donna Sullivan
Donna is a hairstylist with 8 years of experience. Ask her about any hair-related problem (haircuts, hairstyles, colorings, hair care) and get a pro advice!