By Theresa Christine
After discovering that my sister had to shave her head because she had bleached it and dyed her hair blue (and later, purple), I had decided I would never bleach my hair. Well, that was until I got the crazy notion about two years ago to dye my own hair bright pink. And now I prance around and tell everyone I meet that I feel like I should have been born with this hair color. It just fits. And to make it work, I do have to bleach it.
I was hesitant at first, since my hair was so incredibly healthy before I started processing it. But I’ve happily discovered that I can still keep my hair healthy even when I do bleach it. It does take a little more work, but with a few of my favorite products my hair is going strong! Here are a few of the best ones I’ve found:
1. Coconut oil
It’s no secret that I love coconut oil. I do a weekly treatment that is essentially a mask of coconut oil slathered all over the ends of my hair. It helps restore a bit of protein, it makes my hair super silky and much more manageable, and it also smells great. Just slather some on before you intend to wash your hair, and let it sit for anywhere from 20 minutes to overnight. The big plus to using this is that it’s a crazy cheap way to help revive dry hair!
2. Quenched Sea Mineral Moisture Shimmering Spray by OGX
In between coconut oil treatments, I always spray this on my ends before I head out for the day. I’m not sure how much this product actually contributes to the health of my hair — I wouldn’t be surprised if it does wonders to each little hair — but I use it primarily because it makes my hair look better, instantly. It adds a bit of shine to the dry parts I spray it on, and it makes frizzy ends look much healthier. It’s more of a quick fix than anything, but I do know how hard it is to sometimes see results when you change your hair routine. This delivers just the right amount of instant gratification to make me feel not totally crazy for bleaching my hair.\ 3. Renewing Argan
3. Oil of Morocco by OGX
This little bottle of oil will last you forever and it is a must-have for someone with coarse or dry hair. I’ve been using oil of Morocco for years on my hair — it’s just part of my routine, and I would never go without it. Use this after a shower and let it sit in your hair (preferably air dry it). You’ll only need a small drop, smaller than a dime probably, otherwise you’ll end up looking like grease city.
4. Dove Dry Shampoo
You may have already heard the news: shampooing your hair every day is no good. It strips your hair follicles of their natural oils, which means you could be making your dry hair even worse. I’ve gotten in the habit of actually washing my hair about once a week or so. I may get it wet (say, after a gnarly workout) but I don’t use shampoo too often. In between, my roots might get a little greasy, so I spray a little dry shampoo on and it makes my hair look freshly washed. I also love that it gives a little bit of volume to my otherwise pretty thin, straight hair. Use it sparingly — if you go overboard it can make your roots look a little white and it’s hard to just brush out. Start out using a few small sprays and then add more as you need to.
5. Conair Drying Brush
This completely saved me for many reasons. First of all, it’s far less harsh on my hair than a regular hair dryer. But more importantly, it gives all of us uncoordinated gals a way to blowdry our hair the way the wonderful folks at the salon do. Seriously, I have never ever ever been able to manage holding a hairbrush and a dryer to style my hair. After Googling “hair brush that dries hair,” I found this and life has improved dramatically. If air drying is not an option, this is the next best thing. I get instant volume and it works like a dream.
6. Living Proof Restore Targeted Repair Cream
Because bleaching my hair really dries it out, I use this to get a little more hair healing to happen. What I love is that I can use it on dry hair. A lot of hydrating creams are only meant for application on wet hair, but since I don’t wash my hair as often as most folks that doesn’t work for me! This is a nice cream I apply on dry hair a couple times a week. This is also great for anyone with split ends!
