You’re ready to make a big change, taking your hair color wherever it stands now and making it appear lighter. Whether that is via highlights by way of a full head of highlights or having your trusted stylist apply the lightener globally [all around your head]. No matter the method of lightening, your hair is in contact with chemicals working beyond the surface of every strand it comes in contact with to erase either naturally assigned pigmentation or artificial hair color.
Before you consider how much havoc is being wrecked on your hair to make that new hair color a reality will you understand the importance of taking care of your hair much differently than you did before.
Bleached hair is damaged, weakened hair in every way. The severity of your damage will likely be very different from everyone else in the salon because your hair holds its own history that doesn’t erase but it compounds. Each time you lighten your hair it creates small microscopic holes, think of it as drilling into the hair center to find your natural hair color it wants to erase. And each time you lighten, new holes are made. Each of these holes start to weaken the resilience of your hair to become much more fragile and if you continue to bleach, those holes will eventually connect and break off strands of hair – breakage!
How you take care of your strands will make or literally break your hair. So let’s discover ways you can take better care of your hair to strengthen them and bring back that lost radiance.
1. Use a sulfate-free shampoo
Using a mild or gentle cleansing shampoo ensures that the build up and debris cleanses aways from your scalp and strands while not over drying fragile strands. Opting for a hydrating shampoo like Goldie Locks® Signature Shampoo is hydrating enough while providing you with a luxurious lather.
2. Swap for a hair-mask
Post chemical service, it is always best to find a hair mask with qualities that will either repair your hair or provide you with exceptional moisturizing benefits that give you more control and manageability. This will allow you to take it easy on your hair for the brush or comb out that follows your rinse.
3. Humectants & Emollients
Humectants attract and attach moisture from your environment into your strands and emollients provide this extra “padding” and slip to your hair so you can style with grace and a light hand. These ingredients together ensure your hair has post service recovery, think of it like aloe vera nourishes freshly sunburnt skin. That instant soothes and starts the healing on contact.
4. Minimize Heat
This includes super hot showers. Though wet heat and dry heat create different reactions it is important to be mindful of all heat while you rebuild the strength of your tresses. It is important to blow dry excess water from your hair after your shower but mind the temperature control and evaporate the water on a lower heat setting.
5. Remove excess water
Water absorbs much quicker inside of damaged hair – because there are so many new holes for it to sink into. Not only that, as your hair bonds break apart water becomes invasive and tries to connect to those bonds which lead to breakage. To avoid this, avoid keeping a lot of water in your hair for long periods of time if you can help it.
6. Satin or Silk
Pillowcases can wreak havoc on your strands especially while you sleep. To prevent friction caused damage, swap your pillowcase for satin and be sure to prep your strands with a fast-absorbing nourishing hair serum like Goldie Locks® Signature Serum.
7. Detangling with care
Damaged hair will tangle easy. Ensure you keep a light hand and always start to detangle from the ends of your hair working upwards on the hair strand. Prepping your hair with an emollient and detangling leave in conditioner will also help you ease through your hair styling prep with less fuss and damage.
8. Antioxidants Fight UV Damage
UVs are one of the environmental elements that will add more damage to your hair that you may not have considered protecting yourself from before. Trust us, with your freshly bleached hair you’ll want to use products boasting antioxidants that can prevent certain UVs from penetrating and control the damage they leave behind.