The Survival Guide
For Bleached Hair

Carole Bauer, a mother of two from California, has been bleaching her hair since her freshman year in college. A natural brunette, she loved the way her highlight locks brightened her complexion. Dedicated to keeping her hair looking it’s best, she would visit the salon every 8 weeks for root touch ups for most of her adult life until her worst nightmare came to life…

Her hair was breaking off and seemed to have stopped growing. It was dry, brittle, and far from the soft, bouncy hair she remembered.

“I panicked” said Carole. “My hair is like my safety blanket and it’s probably the physical feature I care about most. When I was younger I could color my hair with no issues but it was almost like my hair had just had enough of the damage and was fighting back”.

Carole is not alone - in fact about 75% of women in America color their hair on a constant basis and their biggest complaint is dry, damaged and dehydrated hair.

The inconvenient truth is that bleach is killing your hair.

What Does Bleach Do To Your Hair's Genetics?

Hair gets its colour from melanin, a pigment found within the hair strands that is produced by melanocytes. Hair has two types of pigments: eumelanin and pheomelanin.

Eumelanin has two types: brown eumelanin and black eumelanin and like the names indicate, is largely responsible for brown and black pigments.

Pheomelanin, on the other hand, is most responsible for red and yellow pigments. The ratios of these types of melanin determine the wide range of hair colours.

When you bleach your hair, the melanin in the hair shaft is broken down – or to put it scientifically, the bleach oxidizes the melanin, causing the melanin to lose its colour and makes the hair appear its natural colour – a pale yellow.

To bleach your hair, the bleach is added to hydrogen peroxide and mixed together. When applied to hair, this alkaline mixture changes the pH of the hair and causes the cuticle layers to lift up and open up, which allows the lightener to pass under the cuticle and into the cortex.

Once the bleach reaches inside the cortex, it oxidizes the hair’s melanin and the oxidized molecule is colourless. The brown and black pigments are first dissolved followed by the red and yellow pigments; the yellow pigments react the least with bleach. The pale yellow colour bleached hair has is due to this and also because the natural colour of keratin, the protein that comprises hair, has a yellow tint.

The bleach will continue to lighten hair until it is removed from hair. This is why a professional should bleach your hair, as they will know when the right shade has been reached. A professional will also take into account the texture of the hair and its health to know how long to process hair.

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Part 2:- OK, SO YOU BLEACHED YOUR HAIR AND IT'S DAMAGED. WHAT DO YOU DO? HOW CAN YOU REPAIR IT?

Here are the 5 best tips to restoring your hair after bleach damage.

1. BE GENTLE

Bleached hair is fragile and most of the bonds that were lost during the bleaching process are no longer there. This leads to the deterioration of the cuticles and cortex, which is vital to the health of your hair.

During the first week after bleaching, it is best not to shampoo. Use a conditioner to clean hair instead - as conditioners have some cleansing properties. You’re probably not adding a lot of product to your hair at this point so a deep shampoo is not necessary.

After the first week, you can introduce shampoo back into your life. Use a gentle low lathering, sulfate-free shampoo the first week after bleaching. Make sure your shampoo does not contain sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate; these are powerful degreasers and are just too harsh for over processed hair.

The shampoo we love is NIUCOCO's Hydrating Shampoo. It’s free of sulfates, its low lathering, and it cleanses hair without stripping your natural sebum – needed for healthy scalp and strands.

Be gentle when you shampoo and don’t rough towel dry. The added strain on the hair can lead to further damage.

2. NO HEAT STYLING

Sorry, but it’s just a must to stay away from heat styling tools. Heat styling can remove added moisture from the hair strands. At this point, your straw-like hair wants to keep all the moisture it can in the strands. Although not recommended, if you have to heat style, make sure to use a thermal protectant like NIUCOCO's Renewing Serum.

3. COCONUT OIL TREATMENTS ARE A MUST

Hair is associated with fatty acids and several integral hair proteins (Lee, 2011; Wertz, 1988). Bleaching doesn’t just break down melanin and the cuticle structure, but also the fatty acids within the hair and other integral hair proteins – causing that straw-like feeling.

To add fatty acids back into the strands, use coconut oil treatments. Coconut oil is one of the only oils that has been scientifically proven to penetrate strands, thereby nourishing parched, damaged hair. Only use extra virgin, cold pressed, unrefined coconut oil as it maximizes the coconut oil’s benefits and ensures that the naturally occurring phytonutrients are intact; it contains a superior lauric acid content, the main fatty acid that comprises coconut oil, than other types of coconut oil.

Directions: For an intense treatment, liberally coat strands with coconut oil. Wear a shower cap and let the goodness in the coconut oil penetrate strands overnight. The next morning, shampoo with a gentle shampoo and follow with a conditioner. Repeat oil treatments on a weekly basis until hair is back to healthy.

Implement the coconut oil treatment starting from the second week after bleaching. Start with 2 times per week for the first week and then 1 time per week afterwards.

4. ADD SOME OIL TO HAIR DURING THE DAY TO KEEP IT MOISTURIZED

During the day, add a pea sized amount of coconut oil to your hair to give it some extra nutrients or apply a small amount of leave-in conditioner to hair.

5. USE A DEEP CONDITIONER

We recommend this DIY deep conditioner that will give results that will amaze you.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup coconut oil (extra virgin, cold pressed, unrefined)
• ¼ cup kaolin
  Optional: a few drops of essential oil for a spa like experience!

Directions:

1. Mix together to form a slurry.
2. Slather onto hair strands liberally and cover with a shower cap.
3. Let sit for 30-60 minutes.
4. Shampoo with a gentle shampoo and follow with conditioner.

We know what the coconut oil in this recipe does for hair (see tip #3). The other main ingredient, kaolin, is a clay that is high in silica, which helps to strengthen hair and add moisture. It is the gentlest of clays so it won’t remove moisture from the hair.

Apply this mask to your hair twice a week for optimal results.