Dealing With Damaged Hair

Dealing with damaged hair is a hot topic in the beauty world and of course it's not too hard to understand why. As no-one strives to have damaged hair although it's a lot better for holding texture that slippery silky tresses. At university, I discovered the wonderful world of hair colour after never changing my hair before and well I went a little too far with it and really damaged my precious tresses. So during that time I really got to know what works and what doesn't when it comes to treatments and the best ways to really tackle damaged hair.

DAMAGED HAIR IS NEVER REVERSIBLE

Hair care companies are very sneaky with their marketing and wording and like to tell us that their latest release will repair damaged and brittle hair. And for a long time I was one of those people who threw away money trying to fix my dead dry ends but of course, nothing ever worked. Products can mask the damage and give the illusion of softer hair but nothing will actually repair hair, it's impossible. However, there are plenty of things you can do to make the damage as minimal as possible.

MINIMISE HEAT USE

The way that my hair naturally falls and dries isn't very pretty. So I rely on heated tools to add style to my hair to get it the way that I want so, of course, that does cause some sort of damage. Even when using the right type of protection you can't avoid some sort of damage. However there are certainly ways that you can minimise heat use and here are some of my favourite ways:

Ditch the blowdryer and let your hair air dry, this is much easier when you wash your hair in the evening.
Find heat free hairstyles.
Use styling products that can help prolong your hairstyles.
Always use a heat protectant.
Don't apply heat on the same area for too long.

GET REGULAR CUTS

When I was growing out my hair this is something that I hated doing as I felt like I was going backwards by getting it cut. However getting regular haircuts is so important for general hair health. When dead dry ends are dragging down the rest of your hair it can make it a complete pain to deal with. By getting rid of the damage [which of course, you can never reverse] it encourages healthy hair growth. Allure wrote a really handy guide on haircut time scales that you can read here.

BE CLEVER WITH YOUR COLOUR

Having your hair coloured is a big commitment so not only finding a colour that can work for you as well as a colourist that you can afford is so important. Talking to your stylist or colourist before you commit to anything is vital. Being honest about your time and your budget will help them to create something that fits your lifestyle perfectly. This is something that I never did when I first starting colouring my hair and when I was platinum white blonde having to have my roots done every 3 weeks just simply wasn't an option for me and doing it yourself is risky. There are so many amazing options out there when it comes to colour now that you're bound to find something that works for you.

USE THE RIGHT PRODUCTS FOR YOUR HAIR

Like everything else when it comes to beauty if you don't use the products that are right for you then you won't get the best out of them and nor will the area that you're applying them appreciate them. Knowing what type of hair you have is often half of the battle, for example, if you have virgin hair that rarely has heat on it then using something that's heavy and geared towards damaged colour treated hair. Means that you're only going to end up weighing down your hair and over nourishment can sometimes even cause damage. Here are some of my favourite products for fine & colour treated hair:

COCONUT OIL: For a great all natural intense hair mask coconut oil is awesome. It's a lot cheaper than the majority of deep treatments but it can give you even better results. The only thing that you have to be aware of when using this as a mask is that you need to use a clarifying shampoo afterwards to remove it all otherwise it will make your hair an oily mess which isn't what any of us want.

MARIA NILA HEAT DEFENCE*:Although we know it's not advisable to be applying heat on your hair I'm sure we all like taming our tresses into pretty styles that require it. This product from Maria Nila is a lot different to most of the other heat protectants I've used because it's a cream formulation which makes it feel a lot more nourishing to the hair. I've also found it to help hold the hair in style just a little longer than the others I've used which is great for second-day curls.

BUMBLE AND BUMBLE GROOMING CREME: My hair tends to be terribly static at certain points in the year and no matter how nourished it is or how much oil I apply to the ends. One of the only products that helped me to tackle the static is this styling creme from Bumble and Bumble. It soothes out the ends with ease and also helps it to maintain style too which is great when you don't have the time or want to be applying more heat to your tresses.

Do you have any tips for dealing with damaged hair?

R x

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