Bleached hair disaster- all breaking off :'( how can i make it grow faster?

After one too many bleaching sessions at the hairdressers my hair has finally given up. And I am very very angry with myself.

I have naturally very thick dark red hair. I have been obsessed with having long blonde hair for 15 years and have 3/4 head foil highlights (bleach) every 3 months or so. Anyway, my hair cannot take it anymore and after my last salon visit last week, the true extent of the damage has now shocked me into seeking help. It is completely breaking off at the underneath front layers, it will start to look ridiculous soon. And overall it is very very thin and wispy at the ends.

I am using kerastase hair products for brittle/broken hair and a pre shampoo mask. All this stuff cost me way more than my colour last week.

I was also reguarly using hair straighteners as my hair is so thick and frizzy which of cours made the problem much much worse.

I know it is all my fault, and my next step is going to be to cut it all off and maybe get good quality extensions if I can afford it. I have been extremely depressed since last week and just can't believe I have let this happen to my hair. No more bleach, ever.

Has anyone else had this problem .... and does anyone have any tips to make hair grow faster?

very distressed girl here x

Isn't it funny how us women tend to never be happy with what we have? Lol. I have been dying my hair red for years because I want what you have.

Your only option may be to cut it and just wait this all out. You could ask a professional, such as your hair dresser, for options.

I am sorry! YIKES!

Cut it all off.... it sounds like a mess

There's nothing you can do to make hair grow faster, but eating well and making sure you get all the minerals and vitamins you need will help your hair be healthier and less brittle.

Hair extensions using glue will also damage your hair, but the woven ones less so. See your hairdresser about the best options to have it cut; I used to have very long hair with streaks, where the bleach had really damaged it, but all the bleached bits came out quite neatly when I had it layered. Just took a while to grow all the layers out - and now I've got long hair with - ahem! - natural silver streaks.

However, how about just letting your naturally thick curly, dark red hair do its own thing for a bit? How about learning to love it? That will save you a fortune on treatments in the future and, as Moontiger says, many would envy you your locks!

Good luck, whatever you decide!

Tip - nothing can be done to speed up the growth of hair!

Get extensions

They are going to tell you to get it cut off and start over. Do not put extensions on it, it is already too weak. I think you will just have to suffer this out. Sorry.

Yes, had it happen to me once. Actually twice. Once when i got a bad perm where the stylist rolled the hair too tight, and another from too much bleach.

It feels like a tragedy at first, but you'll live. What really helped me was darkening the hair again with a semi-permanent hair color (medium brown chestnut) that didn't contain ammonia. The semi-permanent color actually bonds with your hair and thickens it a bit which repairs the hair a bit and adds shine (Try L'Oreal Healthy Look or Clairol Natural Instincts). Bleach works by opening the hair and removing color, whereas the semi-permanents layer and fuse on top of the hair like glue without breaking the bonds. I especially like the kind you only leave on 10 minutes... gentle and coat the hair shaft and make it strong and glossy.

But you'll have to be willing to go dark again to do that. Once i gave up on blonde and colored with the semi-permanent, it took care of the breakage and did grow out just fine. Just make sure you use semi-permanent which will strengthen and improve the hair rather than permanent which is harsh.

I think the problem is if you have naturally strong and glorious glossy dark hair, you have to practially destroy it with bleach to get it to go blonde. I decided glossy chestnut colored hair was far preferanble to blonde straw! I also only had to cut the bottom few inches off and could keep my hair shoulder length while growing it out because the semi-permanent color repaired it enough it could grow out.

I also stuck to a style where i didnt need to use curling irons (too hot!) or extensive blow drying. I bought an ionic hair dryer that uses ions rather than high heat to dry your hair. Heat and stress (pulling) are your hair's enemies right now so to prevent breakage, if you don't want to totally cut it off, try going dark again wtih a good semi-permanent like Healthy Look, buy an ionic blow dryer, and avoid any hair chemicals that have alcohol or any other drying agent in them.

I also don't let anyone color my hair anymore. If they put too much bleach in the mix or leave it on too long, it can destroy your hair pretty quickly and take you a couple years to grow out again. I now stick to the mild semi-permanents that you can buy and do yourself which actually help with shine and body. You can go a little lighter with these but not enough to destroy your hair.

Yes, and sadly hair extensions are very hard on the hair and scalp and can cause long term problems, so i'd avoid those. Try a shoulder length style and darken it with semi-permanents and you can survive the grow out period.

I have naturally very dark hair and I had a blonde period too for 2 years. It made an entire DISASTER of my hair. As you say more and more and more bleaching just kills your hair and I did look ridiculous after a while. I had my hairdresser lop off about 8 inches of my hair and I started over.I have remained dark ever since and have no problems.

From a hairdresser perspective (Mind I've not actively done hairdressing in a few years now!) - you need to get all of the damage cut out, else it is going to keep splitting up into the roots and then your hair will grow split and STOP using any heated products, when you condition your hair, make sure it is a deep conditioner which you leave on for 10 mins, and rinse with cold water (cold water will close the cuticles - well whats left after the bleach stripped them all out..) nothing will make your hair grow faster unfortunantly. Maybe get a nice wig or find a super cute pixie cut until it can grow back..

Yup. How fast your hair grows I am afraid is genetic not product controlled.

!Get a good wig! You can get any color you like that way...problem solved~~

thank you to those of you offering suggestions and your own stories and not so many thanks to the people saying ''sounds like a mess'' or ''nothing will make your hair grow''. I am fully aware I have made a hash of my hair and I do think I will have to start again but I was interested to hear from people who have been in similar situations.

I think I will have to get it cut short. I dont want to but apart from shaving it all off I dont think I have a choice. I keep looking at it and it looks worse every time I look in the mirror.

My other option would be to wear it up loosly every day for as long as possible. The problem I have is that when it air dries it looks terrible as it is so frizzy. Even before all the bleach is was very frizzy as coarse red hair often is. I dont want to blow dry it due to the damage but then I have to work 6 days a week and it needs to look presentable at work and the mega frizzy bleach look is not good. Again that brings me back to having it cut short.

Regarding a wig, I dont think wigs look very realistic unless you have money to invest. Especially wigs on pale white girls like me. I dont have the money to spend on a good wig right now.

I was contemplating going darker and close as possible to my natural colour, but I may have to not touch it for a few weeks or it might make the condition worse.

If I was gona get extensions I would maybe look at clip in extensions but I dont know if they would look right alongside the texture of this mess.

I have bought some hair and nails tablets and I have heard biotin is good for hair growth. I may look into that. I have also heard of a shampoo and conditioner called FAST but I do not know if it suitable for bleached hair as it sounds a little harsh.

Any more suggestions welcome

Personally I would just cut it off and start over. You don't want to wear a fuzzy frizzy mess all over your head. Just get a short cute style. Really when I had that 8 inches of frizz and yuck cut off I looked so much better! Nothing looks worse than frizzy broken hair. Not even long frizzy broken hair. It just looks bad.

Your average hair grows about 6 inches in a year. If you want long hair again just regrow it.

No need to be rude to people giving their honest opinion about the situation. You asked what could make your hair grow faster and to the knowledge of the people who have replied the answer is "nothing". You asked a question and got an answer. Don't be rude because you don't like the answer.

It is true though there is no product that will make it grow faster. On average people's hair grows a half an inch a month. This is just a fact. I know it's not what you want to hear but that's just how it goes. I was in your position and I had to live with it too.

Hugs, at some point I will likely have to chop all mine off too. I don't get my highlights done so often but am likely a lot older than you.

A couple of years ago, when I was growing my hair, I used to slick it back into a short ponytail. You can use something like Morroccan Oil or L'Oreal Elvive which is very good for hair. Then I added a clip on ponytail at the back. So many people thought it was my own hair. One day, I went to uni without it on, and when I walked in the room, people were going: "OMG, you've cut your hair and curled it. It looks great!" I never wore it after that, but I certainly got good value out of it. It wasn't expensive - it was not human hair, but I had to condition it with a special wig conditioner everyday. I went through 2 of them over a 2 year period. When the time comes when I have to cut my hair off - it's a couple of inches past my shoulders now (I'm in my early 50's), I'll probably do the same. I've been thinking that my hair would be much more appreciative of giving up the amonia and switching to a henna brunette to cover the grey.

Good luck. I'm sure it will work out okay. You will find a new look. Let this be the discovery to a new you rather than holding onto the older look you have had. I'm going to have to do the same and I'm sure when the time comes, I'll find it a little scarey too. I do like the saying: "I am NOT my hair." In fact, there is a song about it with a lovely clip. Will see if I can find it.

If there is a hair disaster out there that can happen I think I've been its poster child including bleaching it then stepping into the shower only to have clumps of hair coming out in my fingers by fistfuls!

At this stage of the game you will need to stop all chemicals and start some serious babying. Get it cut as short as you dare or keep it just long enough to pull back into a loose ponytail--not tight since that just makes the hair break even more. Get an extension if need be, but something that can be clipped on rather than glued or woven in since I'm pretty sure that just contributes further to breakage, which is one of the key things you want stopped. Oil treatments are excellent for restoring moisture. I used to comb argan oil or jojoba oil through my hair, warm a wet towel in the drier then wrap it around my head to let it absorb more not taking it off until it had cooled or often just leaving it on all night. I did this every night for a month. Also make sure your diet is a good one with plenty of protein and veggies. Sephora also sells some sort of hair vitamins, which they get a lot of positive reviews on--Phyto Phytophanère Hair And Nails Dietary Supplement. I never used them, but did use Biotin which can be gotten at a healthfood store. For me that seemed to help although I am also open to the fact it could just as easily have simply been a placebo effect. One last thing--I stopped using any shampoo or conditioners with sodium lauryl sulphate and/or silicone. Net result--I went from wispy, thinning, dried out straw that was orange to a full head of shoulder length gorgeous silver hair that's shiny and wavy. It took me a year to get there since I was undoing literally more than three decades of damage. Finally, find someone or do it yourself and get trims every three weeks. Depending on fast the hair is growing and/or what stage it's at you can do more or less, but you want to little by little keep removing the damaged strands as new growth comes in.

Learn to stay patient and not rush to do anything to it for a good solid six or more months, espeicially the minute it starts to look good again. Another mistake I've done. It takes time to undo the damage and the longer you can put off doing anything drastic to it in the way of cut, color or curl the better and sooner the hair will recover and stay recovered. Good luck and I guarentee you'll soon hear people commenting that your hair has never looked better or healthier.

The best thing for you right now would not leave the hair be, no more preaching but if you can't handle having different color in your hair, you have to go dark and best option is semi permanent, or something that's vegetable based, like manic panic. No chemicals no hair spray because it can dry your hair out and remember sometimes less is more. Constantly putting in various products in your hair daily can damage your hair, as can hair dryers, strangeness, curling thongs etc.

Take a multi vitamin, eat healthy, and take vitamins for hair and nails. Some women do see improvement and some don't you can't know unless you try.

In the future you can still have light hair, but have to be very careful not only with how often you color and bleach it but also how you look after it.

At this point your hair is dead, and there isn't much if anything you can do to get it back besides letting it grow out.

I have almost hip length hair, and I lighten it depending on season, summer months it is usually lighter and winter darker, but my hair stylist is very careful about how often he puts bleach in my (naturally dark hair) and the after treatment of hair color. Also remember when hair is bleached you should not re-bleach it, so if you were getting foils done, perhaps your hair stylist wasn't doing just the roots, maybe she was picking up already bleached hair, which isn't good and top stylists would never recommend anyone doing this as it can not only kill hair but it can burn hair to the point of literally falling off while the bleach is on.

Bottom line, stop the bleach.

Also don't buy hair products at salons because they are usually more expensive, you can get the stuff at other places for a bit cheaper, especially online. Unless of course you get a discount from the salon.

Kerastase is good, I have used the line before and still do because I don't like committing to one hair line as hair can get used to the same products and it can stop working. I like MoroccanOil and use them, Macadamia natural oil shampoo, organic shampoo from the health shop, Aveda, Bumble & Bumble, Redken, L'Occitane or speak with your hair stylists about the type of hair you have and what they might suggest you use to help your hair. If you fee your stylist is trying to push a product forcefully maybe it is time to find someone new.

On also if your hair is that weak, even clip in extensions can be damaging as they can weigh hair down.

Good luck.

had similar things happen with my hair. DON'T get extensions. it will make it worse. don't blow dry it out out or anything like that. just deep condition, no more treatments, cut as much of the dead ends as you can and leave it curly for a while. there is this product called avacado oil or something like that - or morroccan oil too which you can use for the frizz, but leave it curly - no blow dryers - nothing to stress it out. you have to wait it out in this case .believe me it grows back. you should love your red hair. it makes you you.

thank you for your suggestions and advice. they are really welcome. the idea of a clip in pony tail is something i hadnt thought of, thank you. on the flip side i have been looking up pixie hair cuts and some look lovely on the models but i am not sure one would suit me. maybe i shoud be brave and just go for it. i am definitely growing my hair out now and going bck to my natura colour. it will take a long time but this is a lesson learned for sure.x

I had a bit of a disaster recently. I have very thick wavy hair that is naturally dark blonde. It can look dull without hightlights so I have it highlighted every once in a while. Because my hair isn't very dark, the roots can grow out for some time before I need to have it done again so luckily I don't have to have it done too often. However, because it is thick and wavy I am either scrunching it under the hair dryer to curl it or killing it with straighteners.

A little while ago, after watching my teenage daughter and her friends have much success with home highlighting kits, I thought I would give it a go. Why pay salon prices, right?

It was a total disaster. So, in order to rectify it, I did it again, resulting in bright orange hair with lighter and darker patches. A trip to the hairdressers to dull it down with low lights helped a bit but then, to match it all up, I went back after a few weeks to have more highlights put in. This was all done to rectify the colour of my hair but all this faffing about plus the curling and straightening has ruined it and it is now breaking off at the ends.

I can see my hair is growing because, due to the brightness of my hair, I can now very clearly see the roots but it isn't getting any longer. It is literally breaking off. I haven't been able to do anything about making it grow faster but it is growing nevertheless and quite quickly. Because your hair doesn't seem to be getting any longer, you may not notice how quickly it cam actually grow. Obviously we aren't talking days or weeks here, we are talking months before you may grow all the colour out. My hair is now only blonde on the ends and now looks like I have the dip-dyed look!! A couple more cuts and it should all be out. Then I will be going back to the hairdressers to get it done professionally!!

All you can do is let your hair grow. Hair grows quicker after it has been cut - well, not QUICKER exactly but by having the split ends cut off your hair will stop breaking off for a while and will therefore grow LONGER. If it is still in not too good A condition it will most likely start breaking off again so try treating it with certain specialised conditioning treatments to keep the split ends from reappearing as much as possible. Then have it trimmed again, doing the same, often, until it all grows out. Unfortunately that is the only thing you can do but if you have it cut regularly, allowing it to grow a little, you may be able to avoid having it cut off altogether! It will take a while but it will be worth it in the end. The difference in the condition between my "new" hair and "old" hair is quite incredible. I can't wait for it all this colour to be gone.

i am definitely growing my hair out now and going bck to my natura colour. it will take a long time but this is a lesson learned for sure.x

That's great to hear. I think you'll find you'll be so happy with the results you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Ironically, the last hair disaster I had before I stopped all coloring and chemicals was making my blonde wavy hair straight and red. I developed a severe allergic response to the dye and had to stop. Now I laugh when people ask me who does my highlights since they are all natural. Good luck.

Carrie, I think you will find this site useful. It's provided by L'Oreal and provides a "virtual makeover". You upload a photo of yourself and can try on lots of different hairstyles. It's a lot of fun and quite addictive.

link removed

Try this :

1. Virgin coconut oil and Jojoba oil treatment. You can buy VCO at any whole food or trader joe's. Where I come from, coconut oil is well known to make your hair grow faster.

2. Rene Furterer serum. Buy at any salon supply or link removed. It's so powerful, I used my first pack, I love it! I usually use it once a week after my oil treatment.

3. Always always massage your scalp before shampoo. I used to massage my hair with Rene Furterer scalp massage oil, but I got lazy now because my hair is so full now LoL...so now I just massage without any oil. If Rene is too expensive, massage with jojoba + lavender oil. It works.

4. Say "I love you" to your hair as often as you can (of course when you're alone haha). I love my hair so much especially after shampoo coz it smells so good, I know I'm such a weirdo! But try it, it doesn't hurt anyone!

Oh I just realized you're in UK. I'm not sure if there's any whole food or trader joe's there...but vco, jojoba and lavender you can always get them online.

Also, when you apply the hot oil (steam it first, make sure it's not too hot otherwise you're gonna hurt your scalp) cover your head with a cap and leave it for at least an hour (they said 10-15 mins is enough) but I like to leave it for at least 1 hour.