Can you actually fix damaged hair? Treatments?

amelisha · April 2015

The Internet isn't really answering this for me so...

Last year, I stripped about eight years worth of auburn dye out of my hair and returned to my natural colour, which is quite blonde. As a result, about 4-5 inches down from my roots I have these patches of damaged hair that take longer to dry and feel almost sticky to the touch when wet and are kind of weird and frizzy when dry. It's gross and I know it's from the chemical beating my hair took to lift the red. The ends, curiously, aren't so bad, but the stuff that was near my scalp when I did all the processing is in kind of disgusting shape.

I'm not willing to get a pixie and I will just patiently wait for it to grow out enough to cut off if I have to, but is there anything that can smooth that damage for longer than one wash? I've been using a ton of reconstructor and deep-conditioning packs and I've got some argan oil and Frizz-Ease and all that, which I use after every shower, and I rarely heat-style my hair at all, and I haven't coloured it since I went back to blonde (luckily I got it almost exactly back to my natural colour) but I'm wondering if there might be a salon treatment or something that would improve its condition a bit. Keratin treatment? I don't know anything about hair, clearly.

larrygaga · April 2015

I can't get this strikeout to go away.

As far as I know, you can't really restore hair to completely healthy. However, I like to do coconut oil deep conditioning. I do it on a day when my hair can be greasy and I won't mind. I also like to put a little teeny bit in my hair every day. It helps put some smooth and shine back into my hair.

levioosa · April 2015

A couple years ago I did a hair show where they stripped my hair from brunette to white/blonde with purple, and then it was dyed back to brown again within a week. It was brutal and totally fried my hair. Time has been the thing that has helped the most, although at one point my hair dresser asked me what I was doing differently because my hair was looking much better than usual. I had been giving myself deep conditioning coconut oil treatments (one time/week). I would saturate my hair with the oil, wrap some clingwrap over it, and then sit with it on for an hour or so. It made a huge difference. Pairing that with a little Moroccan oil seemed to be the combo that worked the best. For some reason my hair prefers the brand Moroccan oil to the generic stuff you can buy (picky, picky).

Sugargirl1019 · April 2015

I was looking for a repair treatment just last week! It was frizzy and sticking out and rough in texture and I was throwing my hands up in the hair saying just shave it all off!

So I found Garnier Fructis Damage Eraser Heal and Seal Treatment. I've used it once but I noticed a HUGE difference. The rough texture was smoothed out and it just felt healthier to the touch. So it might have just sealed all the damage in temporarily to make it look and feel nice, but that is so worth the 5 bucks I spent.

amelisha · April 2015

I love that all three of you have recommended super cheap stuff so far! Means I can definitely try it before moving on to more desperate measures (like the $60 conditioning/sealing treatments I keep seeing at salons but have no idea if they work or not.)

littlepep · April 2015

Yeah I'm going to agree with PPs about the coconut oil. It's amazing. I use it for everything.

minttobemrsb · April 2015

I've been using hot oil treatments again and it has made a huge change in my hair. Definitely shinier and not so frizzy. So far, I like the Loreal brand best and I think I spent $10-15 last time I bought a box.

ETA: my damage is from blow drying and styling, not coloring. I assume it would help anyway.

[Deleted User] · April 2015

Another cheap option that I love is Aussie's 3 minute miracle deep conditioner

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/cr/B000GCW1P4/s=sd/ref=mw_dp_cr

novella1186 · April 2015

Also recommend coconut oil, as well as hemp seed oil. Mix the two together and put it on damp hair. Or dry hair. Whatever.

I've tried all the hot oil treatments and leave-in conditioners and blah blah blah. I've run the gauntlet of hair fixes. Going to the grocery store and buying a jar of coconut oil, plus a bottle of hemp seed oil and/or a bottle of avocado oil made all the difference. Regular olive oil is also really good for hair (and skin)

mrsdee15 · April 2015

I did the same thing, stripped auburn out of my hair and it's naturally blond. The only real way I found to cure the fried hair was to cut it, but some other things really helped. I eventually did have to cut 2-3" off because it was so bad, but then I got a few keratin treatments that made it much softer. After that, I started washing my hair every 3ish days, and letting it air dry with leave-in conditioner (Not Your Mother's - Let it Grow is the name, it's a good one) and putting Argan oil on the tips when it's wet (I use Organix, but several brands have it). Hot oil, regular olive oil, and coconut oil treatments worked wonders as well.

plainjane0415 · April 2015

Loreal has a good deep conditioning mask that I will use no more than 2x a week.

I have a subtle ombre on my ends and so my ends tend to be dry, and this REALLY helps.

http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=461964&catid=183400&aid=338666&aparam=461964&kpid=461964&CAWELAID=120142990000017092&CAGPSPN=pla&kpid=461964

blabla89 · April 2015

The Aveda Damage Remedy shampoo and conditioner really helped my hair after a lot of coloring and bleaching. There's an in-salon treatment too and it worked pretty well for me.

amelisha · April 2015

Further question, now - how the crap do you get the oil out of your hair afterward? I've tried hot oil treatments in the past and my hair looks disgusting for days even if I rinse for like twenty minutes (or even shampoo it out, which seems like maybe missing the point?) My hair is stick straight, so maybe that's part of the problem, but I feel like if I put straight coconut oil or whatever in there that I'm going to disgust everyone.

levioosa · April 2015

amelisha said:
Further question, now - how the crap do you get the oil out of your hair afterward? I've tried hot oil treatments in the past and my hair looks disgusting for days even if I rinse for like twenty minutes (or even shampoo it out, which seems like maybe missing the point?) My hair is stick straight, so maybe that's part of the problem, but I feel like if I put straight coconut oil or whatever in there that I'm going to disgust everyone.

I would shampoo my hair twice when rinsing out the coconut oil, which I felt was counterproductive, but it still helped a ton. My hair is very fine and straight, and it holds onto grease/oil. Rinsing it wouldn't have done shit for me. lol.

ETA: With the Moroccan Oil, I put a tiny bit on my ends and through the damaged parts of my hair when it is still damp. It seems to help over putting it on dry hair, which can make it look greasy.

ohannabelle · April 2015

amelisha said:
The Internet isn't really answering this for me so...

Last year, I stripped about eight years worth of auburn dye out of my hair and returned to my natural colour, which is quite blonde. As a result, about 4-5 inches down from my roots I have these patches of damaged hair that take longer to dry and feel almost sticky to the touch when wet and are kind of weird and frizzy when dry. It's gross and I know it's from the chemical beating my hair took to lift the red. The ends, curiously, aren't so bad, but the stuff that was near my scalp when I did all the processing is in kind of disgusting shape.

I'm not willing to get a pixie and I will just patiently wait for it to grow out enough to cut off if I have to, but is there anything that can smooth that damage for longer than one wash? I've been using a ton of reconstructor and deep-conditioning packs and I've got some argan oil and Frizz-Ease and all that, which I use after every shower, and I rarely heat-style my hair at all, and I haven't coloured it since I went back to blonde (luckily I got it almost exactly back to my natural colour) but I'm wondering if there might be a salon treatment or something that would improve its condition a bit. Keratin treatment? I don't know anything about hair, clearly.

The sticky when wet etc? That sounds like product build up, and I get that from frizz-ease in the worst way. Use a clarifying shampoo, or do a wash with baking soda/apple cider vinegar to remove it, before you move on to deep conditioning.

Redken has a lightweight leave in spray called frizz dismiss (I use the 20 weight) and I love it. Pracaxi oil, which doesn't seem to give me that gummy when wet build up.

Actually, I am seriously loving the whole frizz-dismiss line. Shampoo, conditioner, all of it. The deep conditioning mask is about 20 bucks, and worth every penny. They're a little more than I like to pay, but they work. And you aren't saving money if you buy things that don't work. (That's how I justify my spending, but it's true. Also, my hair is older, and requires a lot more maintenance than young hair, because I've had more time to damage it.)

I just got all my color stripped and lightened and re-colored (a kind of brazen copper) and switched to this stuff, and my hair looks healthier and shinier than it has in years, despite the chemical stripping.

amelisha · April 2015

ohannabelle said:
The Internet isn't really answering this for me so...

Last year, I stripped about eight years worth of auburn dye out of my hair and returned to my natural colour, which is quite blonde. As a result, about 4-5 inches down from my roots I have these patches of damaged hair that take longer to dry and feel almost sticky to the touch when wet and are kind of weird and frizzy when dry. It's gross and I know it's from the chemical beating my hair took to lift the red. The ends, curiously, aren't so bad, but the stuff that was near my scalp when I did all the processing is in kind of disgusting shape.

I'm not willing to get a pixie and I will just patiently wait for it to grow out enough to cut off if I have to, but is there anything that can smooth that damage for longer than one wash? I've been using a ton of reconstructor and deep-conditioning packs and I've got some argan oil and Frizz-Ease and all that, which I use after every shower, and I rarely heat-style my hair at all, and I haven't coloured it since I went back to blonde (luckily I got it almost exactly back to my natural colour) but I'm wondering if there might be a salon treatment or something that would improve its condition a bit. Keratin treatment? I don't know anything about hair, clearly.

The sticky when wet etc? That sounds like product build up, and I get that from frizz-ease in the worst way. Use a clarifying shampoo, or do a wash with baking soda/apple cider vinegar to remove it, before you move on to deep conditioning.

Redken has a lightweight leave in spray called frizz dismiss (I use the 20 weight) and I love it. Pracaxi oil, which doesn't seem to give me that gummy when wet build up.

Actually, I am seriously loving the whole frizz-dismiss line. Shampoo, conditioner, all of it. The deep conditioning mask is about 20 bucks, and worth every penny. They're a little more than I like to pay, but they work. And you aren't saving money if you buy things that don't work. (That's how I justify my spending, but it's true. Also, my hair is older, and requires a lot more maintenance than young hair, because I've had more time to damage it.)

I just got all my color stripped and lightened and re-colored (a kind of brazen copper) and switched to this stuff, and my hair looks healthier and shinier than it has in years, despite the chemical stripping.

I'm almost positive it's just damage and not build-up, because it's only in the spots that are super frizzy when dry and tangled when wet and it's been a bit better since I started piling on the products - it's just really fragile so it kind of tangles and sticks together because the cuticle is all roughed up and porous, I think. I'd be terrified to put any kind of clarifying product on my hair as it's already so dry. I do make sure to wash and rinse it really well when I shower because I have been trying to moisturize the crap out of it.

Maybe I should also add what I'm already using/trying:

I've been using Dumb Blonde reconstructor (TIGI, I think?) along with Pureology shampoo/conditioner (speaking of $$$$ - a litre of it is like $50 but it's always worked really well on my hair) and I've been buying argan/Moroccan oil single-use deep conditioning packs. Then I've got the Frizz-Ease and some little vials of argan oil and macadamia nut oil that I've been using as leave-in treatments as needed. And I'm using a boar-bristle brush at night to try to pull whatever natural oils my scalp has down my hair as well.

Can you actually fix damaged hair? Treatments?

Re: Can you actually fix damaged hair? Treatments?

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