Is your hair gummy or stretchy after you bleached it?
I like gum.
Or chewing gum, as it’s called in some countries.
I like to chew on it as anti-stress therapy or to entertain myself by blowing bubbles.
I don’t like having it in my hair!
If you’ve ever had gum stuck in your hair, you know very well that it is not at all fun.
The only way to get it out is by cutting the strands of hair where it’s stuck.
I didn’t get gum stuck in my hair.
Something worse happened.
Yes, worse.
In my case, it was like my hair was covered in a mask of stretchy gum.
As if someone had stuck hundreds and hundreds of pieces of gum in my hair.
Horrible.
The worst nightmare of my life.
Everything started with the advice of my friend, Aixa. She encouraged me to dye my hair blonde. She told me that I could do it myself at home. So, I said, “Why not?”
Finally, I was able to get to that dirty blond that I had wanted for years.
My darling friend Aixa didn’t tell me that bleaching is a very aggressive process for your hair. It’s a process that weakens hair and, in some cases, turns it gummy and stretchy.
That’s exactly what happened to me.
I went from having beautiful, healthy brown hair to horrible duck yellow, gummy, stretchy hair…
- How was I able to revive my hair after this disaster?
- What treatments did I use?
- What are the mortal sins for recently colored hair?
That is exactly what I want to tell you about today.
If you do the same things I did, I’m sure that your hair will go back to being attractive and healthy in a few weeks.
Tabla de Contenidos
Why is your hair gummy or stretchy?
Bleaching, first and foremost, is a chemical process. Let’s start by just getting out there the fact that chemistry is not one of my favorite subjects, so I didn’t pay much attention to it.
But after that nightmare of a process, I started to do some research. In my desperation, I even memorized the periodic table of elements (I should mention that it didn’t help at all in my search for a solution).
Chemically speaking, the process consists of removing your natural hair color. To do this, you need an activator. I even learned its name: hydrogen peroxide.
But calm down, don’t be afraid. This compound is more commonly known as oxygenated water. That’s better, right?
I also should say that if the product in question is left on too long, it can burn your scalp, and if you don’t rinse it correctly, the bleaching effects will continue.
Even if you leave the product on for the exact right amount of time, and even if you rinse it well, your hair still ends up weak because of the chemical process that happens to it in the bleaching process.
Hair naturally has body. It’s elastic.
Bleached hair loses all the characteristics that it had in its natural state. It’s as weak as a house of cards and breaks upon the slightest contact with a comb or brush. And the worst part is that it gets a horrible, sticky, and stretchy texture that is difficult to get rid of.
But with a little bit of patience and the right treatment, everything is possible. I’m not saying that in two days, your hair is going to go back to the way it was, but if you follow the advice that I’m going to give you now, you’ll start to see improvements within a few weeks.
5 tips to repair and revitalize your hair after bleaching
My friend Aixa was the one who encouraged me to dye my hair blonde.
I listened to her, and that’s where things went way, way wrong. I don’t want to exaggerate, but it almost left me bald.
So, in order to recuperate my hair, I decided to look for help for a real hair professional.
In reality, I wanted to do a reparative treatment like hair botox or something similar. But when I consulted Carina, she told me, “You don’t need any treatment. What you need to do is start caring for your hair like it’s a newborn baby. That’s the only way you’re going to be able to revive your hair.”
And then she gave me this advice.
1- Don’t abuse it by washing it
That first piece of advice is fundamental. If your hair is gummy or stretchy, the worst thing you can do is wash it every day. Why?
Because the products you use to wash your hair have a ton of chemicals in them that will only make the situation worse.
Carina’s advice (which worked, by the way) was to wash my hair as little as possible. In the first few days after bleaching, I would only wash it 2 times a week.
The actual products you choose to wash your hair with during that time are also key. As I said earlier, most products we use to wash our hair have chemicals that will only cause a hair attack if used on weak hair.
What you should do is wash your hair with hand soap for the first two or three weeks. Then you can move on to a sulfate-free shampoo.
This is key. Follow this advice. Everything that comes after is linked to this first instruction. In other words, if you keep washing your hair every day and using the same products that you always have, nothing you do will fix your hair.
2- Use revitalizing products that give nutrients and hydrate your hair
“Elementary, Watson,” Sherlock Holmes would say. If your hair is gummy and stretchy, what you have to do is give it back its life. So, all hands on deck.
I tried oily creams for thorough nutrition. Insist and persist! Because it’s not something that will happen overnight, but little by little, your hair starts gaining nutrients. Patience!
I have gotten excellent results from coconut oil. But if you can’t find it or costly in your city, you can use any natural oil. It can be Argan oil, almond oil, etc. Remember that the more natural the composition, the better results you’ll get.
3- Use a hair mask for longer periods of time
It was then that I tried my regular mask, but instead of rinsing my hair after my shower, I used it overnight and let it sit until the next morning. Maybe such a long time wasn’t necessary. It would be enough to let it do its thing for more or less half an hour to take advantage of its qualities best.
Similar to nutritive products, the key is inconsistency. You have to repeat the process each week, and you also will see the results little by little.
There are many ways of making masks with ingredients at home. For example, Carina explains here how to make an avocado mask for damaged hair. You can also use other natural ingredients like bananas or eggs.
4- Don’t abuse it with a flat iron or curler
If we are in the process of improvement, nutrition, and care, it is important to avoid applying heat with a flat iron or curler.
If you get some overwhelming desire to flat iron or curl your hair, remember to apply a heat protectant first, and don’t forget to use ones that include nutritive ingredients like nectar.
5- Don’t tie your hair up
Tying up your hair after bleaching is a mortal sin. I mean tying it up in a bun, using clips, hair ties, etc.
Bleached hair has no elasticity. That means that even under the most minimal tension, the hair is going to break. We don’t want that. That’s why you have to avoid anything that stretches or puts tension on your hair.
6- Extra Tip: incorporate Biotin supplements in your diet
I want to make something very clear.
You should take supplements in moderation even though you don’t need a prescription for them. You should also talk to your doctor before you start taking any supplements.
That said, I had never been a big lover of food supplements. Whenever I lacked some nutrients, I preferred to incorporate those nutrients through food…
But now, in my desperation to strengthen my hair, I decided to incorporate a supplement into my diet. I decided to use biotin because many blogs all said that it was one of the most comprehensive supplements for hair.
Conclusions
After compiling ideas, trying them and waiting, my hair started gaining nutrients and started regaining its vigor, and gaining more life little by little. It also started growing (yes, that’s always an option: let it grow out…)
