If you are here, you want to give your hair a second chance. You’ve colored it, and it involved bleaching.

 After that bleaching, you ended up with hair that looked and felt parched, straw-like. Your locks need to start a recovering program. 

In some cases, you can improve your strands and make them healthy, bouncy, and deeply moisturized again. 

Here is how your washing routine can contribute to revamping your tresses! Discover the worst and the best shampoo for damaged bleached hair!

Table of Contents:

• Understanding the Damage Bleach Does to Your Hair
• Can Damaged Bleached Hair Be Revived?
• Tips for Repairing Damaged Bleached Hair
• How to prevent damaged bleached hair
• How do you fix gummy hair after bleaching it?
• Does your hair care regimen count if you have damaged bleached hair?
• Top Picks for the Best Shampoo for Damaged Bleached Hair
• What shampoo is bad for bleached hair?
• Which shampoo is good for damaged hair?

Understanding the Damage Bleach Does to Your Hair

Bleach is used to create your new color, balayage, and even highlights. It makes the hair like a white canvas so that new hues and nuances can paint on it. 

But, the way bleach does that is aggressive. Bleach cracks open the hair cuticle. After that, it enters the hair shaft and dissolves the hair’s pigment and its natural fatty acids. 

That’s how you end up with porous, dry, and prone to breakage hair.

• Your hair is damaged. It’s lost its natural shine. It happens when the cuticle doesn’t lay flat to reflect light. If the cuticle is disrupted, hair looks dull.
• Your hair tangles due to cuticle damage. Strands stick together and tangle or knot.
• Your hair is dry, brittle, straw-like. Inner moisture escapes the shaft.
• You notice more flyaways and split ends. Frizz, breakage, a ragged texture are all signs of bleached damaged hair.

Can Damaged Bleached Hair Be Revived?

Color-treated hair and especially bleached hair need a proper routine to maintain its health. If your hair feels dry after bleaching, you still have a chance to revive it. 

Using the proper shampoos, conditioners, masks, and hair treatments, you can restore that silky, soft feeling that your tresses lost in the lightning process. 

Tips for Repairing Damaged Bleached Hair

Bleaching leaves your hair weaker. The cuticle (the layer that seals in moisture and protects the hair) is disrupted when lightning your hair. 

To prevent hair breakage, split ends, excess frizz, and damage to the hair follicle, you need to adjust your beauty routine:

How to prevent damaged bleached hair

• Avoid heat damage done by heat styling tools. While you’d think heat protectants can help, bleached hair doesn’t need extra strain. Adjust your blow-drier to low temp even!
• Prevent frizz by using microfiber hair towels to pat dry your washed tresses. It will keep your strands intact.
• Use a gentle brush to avoid mechanical stress.
• Protect your hair from extra chemicals. Look for chemical-free hair products.
• Deep condition once a week to coat your tresses with extra moisture and protein.
• Use a protective mist to keep your hair safe from environmental stressors, such as wind, pollution, sun rays.
• Use lukewarm water. It’s more gentle with your cuticles.
• Avoid pulling or twisting your hair.
• Don’t avoid hair trims!
• Stay away from chlorine!
• Don’t forget to use leave-in conditioners to leave your strands soft, moisturized.
• Use hair oils to protect your locks from breakage and provide a shiny, glossy texture. Oils prevent your hair from appearing fried and deeply nourish the strand.
• Try scalp massages to boost hair circulation to the cuticle and stimulate growth.
• Use essential oils that keep the follicles healthy and strengthen the hair shaft. Rosemary and peppermint oil are ideal in such cases.
• Other natural ingredients such as aloe vera, witch hazel, or onion juice help revitalize damaged bleached hair.

How do you fix gummy hair after bleaching it?

If your hair was already damaged before bleaching and you ended up with gummy hair that easily falls off, it’s vital to see a specialist. 

Salon treatments can help you save some of your hair. All you can do is take good care of your damaged hair and coat it with what it needs until new, healthy hair grows.

Does your hair care regimen count if you have damaged bleached hair?

Even if you’ve reached the point of hair fall, your hair care routine counts. 

A lot.

From the habits we talked about above to the products you use, everything adds up. 

Top Picks for the Best Shampoo for Damaged Bleached Hair

Since bleached hair is already dry and frail, focus on natural extracts that don’t strip the hair. Such formulas add nourishment and prevent further damage. 

What shampoo is bad for bleached hair?

While you’d think a heavy formula will provide all the nutrients and shine your hair needs, such ingredients make hair more prone to breakage. 

You should avoid: 

• parabens, 
• silicones, 
• all sulfates (sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium chloride), 
• mineral oils, and
• synthetic fragrance.

They weigh down the hair and strip it of nutrients. 

Here are the ingredients to stay away from, especially after bleaching and damaging your hair:

• Silicones give your hair instant sheen, but they will weigh down your tresses. They create a buildup that tears down the fiber and prevents the shaft from absorbing nutrients and hydration. 
• Sulfates are detergents that strip hair of moisture and its protective natural oils, leaving it dryer and prone to breakage. 
• Petrolatum suffocates the hair cuticle, preventing it from soaking in moisture.
• Parabens irritate the scalp and disrupt the hormones. Phthalates are also linked to hormone activity disruption, causing breast cancer.

Which shampoo is good for damaged hair?

For damage-reversing effects, protein-rich formulas are your helpers. Ingredients like keratin, B5, and biotin strengthen the hair strand and the follicle and prevent brittleness. 

You also want a formula that gives plenty of moisture to tame frizz, make your hair texture soft, and boost shine. 

Shampoos that contain natural extracts such as wheat germ, vegetal protein, antioxidants, nourishing oils such as avocado, or shea butter gently cleanse without stripping the locks.  

• Look for lightweight formulas that are specially designed to undo the damage without weighing down your hair.
• Vitamins and antioxidants infuse the strands with strengthening, repairing compounds. They prevent further damage and protect brittle, dry strands. 

Himalayan Rose Shampoo & Himalayan Rose Conditioner Combo has a gentle formula, ideal for bleached strands prone to snapping. 

The shampoo strengthens the shaft and has reparative effects. Its ingredients help support the hair protein structure and infuse the tresses with moisturizing ingredients. 

This is a chemical-free formula, addressing dry scalp and brittle, damaged hair due to coloring. The conditioner is formulated with antioxidants, protecting the hair from further damage and taming frizz. 

Its light and delicate natural fragrance will make you feel like you’ve had a day at the spa.  

• Shampoos enhanced with natural vegetal oils improve your hair’s manageability. They leave the tresses thicker, fuller, volumized, even if your hair is fine. They also diminish the odds of developing tangles, hence preventing breakage and loss. 
• Moisturizing, hydrating ingredients are vital in your shampoos if you have damaged bleached hair. They have soothing effects, revitalizing the scalp and adding shine and vibrancy to your mane. 

Moroccan Argan Oil Shampoo & Conditioner Pack will up your hair’s moisture level. With emollient ingredients such as argan oil, your bleached hair will be left softer and nourished. 

The hydrating shampoo is good for repairing damage such as split ends. The conditioner also replenishes moisture, leaving the strands soft and shiny. This duo is designed to reduce breakage, frizz, and flyaways. 

• Look for amino acid keratin complexes. They can restore the cuticle fiber, re-linking broken hair bonds. Your hair becomes strong, healthy. Infused with the proper balance of protein and moisture, your hair is less likely to break or fall.
• Shampoos containing biotin revive your hair, strengthening it and encouraging collagen production. Hence the strand becomes more elastic. Your hair will have that feeling of a fuller body and will appear thicker.   

Coconut Milk Shampoo & Conditioner Pack gently cleanses the hair but will not strip it of its oils, leaving it dull. 

Expect extra volume, bounce and a soft, luscious finish with this ultra-nourishing shampoo. Coconut milk moisturizes dry hair, repairs split ends and prevents breakage while soothing the dry scalp. 

That typically inflamed scalp post-bleaching will be history with this combo. The shampoo will give you stronger hair that retains more moisture. And the conditioner will give more definition and shine, less frizz and breakage.

Yes, bleach can damage your locks. But, sometimes, taking care of your locks can bring them back to life. 

There are things you can do from your home, from your bathroom. And, it starts with the proper washing routine and products.