After My Hair Being So Dry and Breaking Off It Is Now Getting Healthy Again

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Over the past year or two, I've been through somewhat of a pilus renaissance. I spent years hating my natural curls, wishing my texture away in favor of a glossier, straighter variety. "You always desire what you can't have," was a phrase that plagued my entire existence. Growing up, my mother thought I was crazy, constantly adulating my curls and forbidding me from straightening them. Thank god she did considering now they're one of my most cherished attributes. I went from straightening my hair to clipping in extensions each day for nearly a decade to blow-drying and curling each strand every forenoon. Finally, I gave up and accustomed my fate as a puffy, frizzy-haired human with curls that are anything but uniform. Truth exist told, I've never felt more similar me (or gotten as many compliments).

My 1 vice, though, that remains throughout all of this is my analogousness for bright, absurd-blonde highlights. I color my pilus a lot, and while it'southward peachy for my await, it'due south pretty terrible for the health and definition of my curls. Subsequently my most recent appointment, I noticed a ton of breakage, split up ends, dry patches, and really uneven length. I was distraught—simply, what could I practice? I reached out to iii hair gurus for advice.

Meet the Expert

• Halli Bivona is a chief hairstylist at the John Barrett Salon in New York City. Her work has been seen in editorials like Faddy and Marie Claire, on carmine carpets, and on runways.
• Gretchen Friese is a certified trichologist and ambassador for BosleyMD.
• Shab Reslan is a certified trichologist and stylist. She hosts the Hair Like Hers podcast and offers virtual hair and scalp consultations.

Keep reading to detect out how (with their sage advice) I revived my devastatingly over-processed hair.

 Jiaqi Zhou / Byrdie

01 of 10

Be Gentle While Shampooing

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The first stride everyone should accept when treating over-processed hair is to exist gentle to your strands while shampooing, and avoid scrubbing too harshly. "Repeated behaviors are how you can brand or break your pilus," warns Reslan. "When you shampoo your hair, you really want to focus the product and your scrubbing action on your roots. If you scrub your ends or rub your hair together too firmly, you will cause damage to your cuticles." Hair tin be most vulnerable when wet, so the side by side fourth dimension you're washing your hair, make sure to keep Reslan'south advice in mind.

02 of 10

Protect Your Pilus From Heat

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Let's confront it: As much as we all dearest the sleek-direct or full-body-book locks our hair tools can give us, the heat from these devices can be too much to handle. "Pilus can become over-candy for a few reasons," reveals Friese. "Damage from chemical services and overuse of rut tools are the most common."

Avoid or minimize the use of straightening, curling, or blow-drying your hair to prevent heat damage.

"If estrus styling is something that y'all cannot get away from, I recommend using a good oestrus protecting production like the Olaplex No.7 Bonding Oil," says Friese. "It is reparative likewise every bit a practiced heat protectant."

03 of 10

Remove Excess Water Before Conditioning

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The secret to treating damaged strands includes elementary steps, like making sure your hair is dry enough before coating it with moisture. "Squeeze the excess water out of your hair very well before applying whatever conditioner or mask, and prune it up to penetrate improve," recommends Reslan. "Rinse out at the end of your shower."

Using a practiced conditioner is a must for any hair care routine. "My become-to deep conditioning handling is Essential Daily Conditioner Masque by Rare El'Ements," says Reslan.

04 of ten

Avoid Towel-Drying

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Many of us are guilty of drying our hair with a towel subsequently a shower, merely Shab advises against this. "Instead, wrap information technology in a hair turban and allow to dry slowly. That volition maintain more moisture in your hair and [it will] dry softer," she says.

Consider purchasing a microfiber hair towel, like Aquis' Lisse Luxe Hair Turban to soak up your hair's backlog water after a shower, making protecting your hair that much easier.

05 of 10

Restore Your Hair

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"The best matter for over-processed hair is to get the elasticity dorsum into it," Bivona begins. "Protein treatments like Milbon Linkage Meu tin can be done in the salon—it restores proteins and collagen to help rebuild the hair from the inside out."

Afterward, I got a set of four Milbon Deesse's MEU hair treatments and used an ampoule each calendar week for four weeks to extend the benefits. And boy, were in that location benefits. When the month was over, I felt my hair coming back to life. It was silkier, smoother, shinier, seemingly stronger, and definitely more moisturized. Only it wasn't back to its onetime self merely notwithstanding.

06 of 10

Go for a Fresh Cut

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"A good haircut will also help pilus that has had a bit likewise much chemical processing. The cut will take off any split ends that may travel up the hair and wreak more than havoc," Bivona reveals. So, I headed over to John Barrett Salon for my first cut in about two years. Yikes, I know, but my pilus grows slowly and haircuts make me nervous. Like the angel that she is, Bivona dusted my ends, removing barely any length. I left with an awesome cutting and zero split ends.

Gauge who else is a haircut advocate: Friese. "Though it is not the most favorable pick, a skillful haircut is always a swell way to help restore a salubrious mane," she recommends. "Cutting off the over-processed hair and starting afresh with the healthier hair on the head is an choice to 'restart' a healthy hair journeying. Damaged strands can intermission and continue to do so forth upwards the shaft making the pilus shorter, and then often a good snip is the solution."

07 of 10

Add Moisture Back

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"Getting moisture back is fundamental," Bivona explains. "Replace your daily conditioner with a mask—I love Shu Uemura's Ultimate Remedy Extreme Restoration Handling. This way, you're putting in the maximum wet with every launder. I recommend leaving information technology in upwards to twenty minutes and so rinsing thoroughly."

Endeavour using your mask in lieu of conditioner each time you shower. Information technology's a total game-changer in terms of hydrating, softening, and strengthening your hair.

After finding such success with the Shu Uemura mask and in-salon treatment, I was fond. I decided to try a few more than beloved offerings in search of even more noticeable results.

08 of 10

Seek a Professional Smoothing Remedy

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If you're looking to treat your hair outside of your home, you may consider searching for a salon that offers a professional person smoothing treatment. Friese recommends the Keratin Complex Smoothing System, which "can target weak spots, reinforce the pilus's construction, and help repair the damage," she explains. "This treatment besides helps control frizz and reduce drying time, which in turn, will lessen some of the need for oestrus styling."

09 of 10

Apply Leave-in Conditioner

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When a busy work schedule or a tight budget makes it hard to get to the salon, it'southward vital to discover time to treat your hair at home. "At-home pilus care is very important every day, but peculiarly when dealing with over-processed strands," Friese emphasizes. "Regular use of a leave-in treatment, such as the Redken's Extreme Anti-Snap, is a great pick for after shampooing (and conditioning) before styling your pilus," she recommends.

10 of x

Utilise Oil to Prevent More than Damage

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"Try using either camellia oil," Bivona suggests, "which is a prominent ingredient in my absolute favorite mail-shower serum, or coconut oil daily on wet and dry hair to introduce wet and protect your hair from whatever more than damage."

Later on using each of the products religiously, I thought it wise to besides put off my next color appointment. To keep my hair bright and my roots at bay, I invested in Shu Uemura's Colour Lustre Cool Blonde Shade Reviving Lotion.

It works to residual my absurd-toned colour and keep flippant tones to minimum in-between highlights. The genius is in the formula, which subtly deposits color while canceling out unwanted yellows. Plus, it nourishes hair to leave information technology fifty-fifty healthier and more vibrant than earlier. I utilise it in the shower instead of shampoo one time a calendar week starting at the mid-lengths and working towards the ends. Then, I keep it in for the rest of the shower (at least ten minutes) and rinse earlier toweling off.

FAQ

• What causes over-processed hair?

  Your hair is over-processed when it'due south been damaged by heat, relaxers, or hair dye.

• How can you lot tell your hair is over-processed?

  The tell-tale sign of over-processing is dry, brittle hair. Your hair can also await visibly another texture—for example, curly hair can have straight, damaged ends. You lot might besides have a lot of frizz and wayward cowlicks.

• Can you reverse over-candy hair?

  One time your hair has been damaged past rut, dye, or a relaxer, you really can't undo the impairment. Nonetheless, you tin can make your hair look and feel amend by adding deep-workout masks, leave-in conditioners, and pilus restoration products. You can also think about heading to the salon for a cut and a professional treatment as well.

Byrdie takes every opportunity to employ high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial guidelines to larn more well-nigh how nosotros continue our content authentic, reliable and trustworthy.

1. Gavazzoni Dias MF. Hair cosmetics: an overview.Int J Trichology. 2015;seven(1):2-15. doi:x.4103/0974-7753.153450

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