You do not have to cut your hair
Trim, yes. Cut, not necessarily. Trimming the ends will help prevent split ends that might result from the damage, from getting out of control.
There are times when the damage is so severe that cutting the over processed hair is the only option available. Some women do also choose to cut their hair once they discover that it’s over processed, because they don’t want to deal with babying their hair.
Use lots of conditioner
Conditioner fills in the gaps that are present in the strands of your hair. It is like a filler. Along with helping fill the gaps of the hair, conditioners also leave a light layer on the outer layer of the hair that acts like a coating. Those two things combined will give your hair the appearance of health.
Apply a good protein treatment
Protein treatments do what conditioners do, but times 100. Our hair is made up of protein and those bonds are broken when hair is chemically treated.
Applying a protein treatment to over processed hair can fortify the strands and bond with the damaged strands to create overall stronger strands that won’t break while you grow your hair out. Conditioner is like a filler and a good protein treatment is like a splint.
Avoid heat
Heat is probably the worst thing you could do to your hair when dealing with over processing. You want to avoid anything that will further weaken the hair. Heat can be used sparingly and safely on hair that is healthy and hair that is not severely damaged. Over processed hair is severely damaged.
Styling your hair in heatless styles, or using flexirods* to achieve certain looks, will have to be your answer to hair boredom. Hooded dryers can be used here and there to set the hair or even to do a rod set, but in general, heat is something that will cause you to have to cut your hair because of the weakened state the hair is already in.
Over processed hair can be overcome, just remember that it takes time and patience and you will have to baby your hair if you want to keep it on your head while you grow out new, healthy hair. Have you over processed your hair before? Comment below and let us know how you dealt with it.
Felice Childress says
The last time that happened to be. I tried to save my hair by keeping it moisturized and no heat but it limited me. After it grew out a few inches I ended up cutting it off and been natural since