How To Repair Damaged Hair From Blow Drying

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Over the by year or 2, I've been through somewhat of a hair renaissance. I spent years antisocial my natural curls, wishing my texture away in favor of a glossier, straighter multifariousness. "Yous always desire what you can't have," was a phrase that plagued my entire beingness. Growing up, my mother thought I was crazy, constantly adulating my curls and forbidding me from straightening them. Give thanks god she did because at present they're 1 of my most cherished attributes. I went from straightening my hair to clipping in extensions each day for almost a decade to accident-drying and curling each strand every morning. Finally, I gave up and accustomed my fate equally a puffy, frizzy-haired man with curls that are anything but uniform. Truth be told, I've never felt more than like me (or gotten as many compliments).

My one vice, though, that remains throughout all of this is my analogousness for vivid, cool-blonde highlights. I color my hair a lot, and while it's great for my look, it's pretty terrible for the health and definition of my curls. After my most recent appointment, I noticed a ton of breakage, split ends, dry patches, and really uneven length. I was distraught—but, what could I do? I reached out to iii hair gurus for communication.

Meet the Good

Halli Bivona is a master hairstylist at the John Barrett Salon in New York City. Her work has been seen in editorials like Faddy and Marie Claire, on red 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 Pilus Like Hers podcast and offers virtual hair and scalp consultations.

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

Jiaqi Zhou / Byrdie

01 of 10

Exist Gentle While Shampooing

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The starting time pace everyone should have when treating over-candy hair is to be gentle to your strands while shampooing, and avert scrubbing also harshly. "Repeated behaviors are how yous can brand or break your hair," warns Reslan. "When you lot shampoo your pilus, you really want to focus the product and your scrubbing activity on your roots. If you lot scrub your ends or rub your hair together too firmly, you volition cause harm to your cuticles." Pilus can be most vulnerable when moisture, so the next time yous're washing your hair, make sure to keep Reslan's advice in mind.

02 of x

Protect Your Hair From Heat

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Let's face it: As much as we all love the sleek-straight or total-body-volume locks our pilus tools can give u.s.a., the heat from these devices tin can be also much to handle. "Hair can become over-processed for a few reasons," reveals Friese. "Impairment from chemical services and overuse of heat tools are the most common."

Avoid or minimize the use of straightening, crimper, or blow-drying your pilus to prevent heat impairment.

"If heat styling is something that you cannot get abroad from, I recommend using a expert oestrus protecting product like the Olaplex No.7 Bonding Oil," says Friese. "It is reparative besides as a practiced heat protectant."

03 of ten

Remove Excess H2o Before Conditioning

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

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

04 of x

Avoid Towel-Drying

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

Consider purchasing a microfiber hair towel, similar Aquis' Lisse Luxe Hair Turban to soak upwards your pilus'southward backlog water afterward a shower, making protecting your hair that much easier.

05 of 10

Restore Your Hair

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"The best thing for over-processed hair is to get the elasticity back into it," Bivona begins. "Poly peptide treatments similar Milbon Linkage Meu can be done in the salon—it restores proteins and collagen to assistance rebuild the pilus from the inside out."

Afterward, I got a set up of 4 Milbon Deesse'south MEU hair treatments and used an ampoule each week for four weeks to extend the benefits. And boy, were there benefits. When the month was over, I felt my pilus coming back to life. Information technology was silkier, smoother, shinier, seemingly stronger, and definitely more than moisturized. But it wasn't back to its former cocky simply notwithstanding.

06 of 10

Go for a Fresh Cutting

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"A skilful haircut will also help hair that has had a chip too much chemical processing. The cutting will take off whatever separate ends that may travel upwardly the hair and wreak more than havoc," Bivona reveals. And so, I headed over to John Barrett Salon for my first cutting in nearly 2 years. Yikes, I know, but my hair grows slowly and haircuts brand me nervous. Similar the angel that she is, Bivona dusted my ends, removing barely any length. I left with an awesome cut and zilch split ends.

Guess who else is a haircut abet: Friese. "Though information technology is not the nigh favorable pick, a good haircut is always a neat way to help restore a healthy mane," she recommends. "Cut off the over-candy hair and starting anew with the healthier hair on the head is an option to 'restart' a healthy hair journey. Damaged strands tin can break and go along to do and so along up the shaft making the hair shorter, so ofttimes a expert snip is the solution."

07 of 10

Add together Moisture Back

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"Getting moisture dorsum is key," Bivona explains. "Replace your daily conditioner with a mask—I love Shu Uemura's Ultimate Remedy Extreme Restoration Treatment. This way, you're putting in the maximum moisture with every wash. I recommend leaving it in up to 20 minutes and and so rinsing thoroughly."

Try using your mask in lieu of conditioner each time you shower. It's a full 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 endeavor a few more dear offerings in search of even more noticeable results.

08 of 10

Seek a Professional Smoothing Remedy

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If you lot're looking to treat your hair outside of your home, you may consider searching for a salon that offers a professional person smoothing handling. Friese recommends the Keratin Circuitous Smoothing Organisation, which "can target weak spots, reinforce the hair'due south structure, and aid repair the damage," she explains. "This handling also helps command frizz and reduce drying fourth dimension, which in plow, volition lessen some of the need for heat styling."

09 of x

Utilise Exit-in Conditioner

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When a decorated work schedule or a tight upkeep makes information technology hard to become to the salon, it's vital to find fourth dimension to treat your hair at dwelling house. "At-habitation hair care is very important every day, but particularly when dealing with over-processed strands," Friese emphasizes. "Regular utilize of a leave-in treatment, such as the Redken's Extreme Anti-Snap, is a great option for after shampooing (and conditioning) before styling your hair," she recommends.

x of 10

Utilise Oil to Prevent More Damage

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

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

It works to balance my cool-toned color and keep brassy 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 it even healthier and more vibrant than before. I utilise it in the shower instead of shampoo one time a week starting at the mid-lengths and working towards the ends. So, I keep information technology in for the rest of the shower (at least 10 minutes) and rinse earlier toweling off.

FAQ

What causes over-candy hair?

Your hair is over-processed when it's been damaged by oestrus, relaxers, or hair dye.
How can yous tell your hair is over-candy?

The tell-tale sign of over-processing is dry out, brittle hair. Your hair can likewise look visibly some other texture—for example, curly hair tin have directly, damaged ends. You lot might besides take a lot of frizz and wayward cowlicks.
Can y'all reverse over-processed pilus?

In one case your hair has been damaged by heat, dye, or a relaxer, you really tin can't disengage the damage. Even so, you can make your hair expect and experience better by calculation deep-conditioning masks, leave-in conditioners, and hair restoration products. You can too think about heading to the salon for a cutting and a professional person treatment as well.

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Gavazzoni Dias MF. Pilus cosmetics: an overview.Int J Trichology. 2015;7(1):2-15. doi:10.4103/0974-7753.153450