fried hair

  well, i got bored yesterday and decided to put some bleach on the hair and lighten it and then put shades eq on....well the last 3 inches of my hair feel horrid...i put all kinds of stuff on it but i am wondering....do i have to get that cut off, or can something make it feel like hair and not a brillo pad????

When I lightened mine (tons of times) to get it white, it felt pretty damaged.  I used a heavy silicone conditioner to get it feeling and looking better again. The one I used was pantene because it had the most cones at the time (maybe it still does, haven't checked). It took about 3 or 4 times of using it before it was noticeably better (so if you condition a couple of times you can probably speed that up). It won't fix the problem but it will certainly hide it better than no cones.  Be aware that cones can interfere with any future dyeing you do.  I 've personally never had any problem going whiter over coney hair, and that's all I've tried, but I've heard others have had trouble so I suppose it depends on all the details how it will work for you. (Some recommend clarifying the cones off before dyeing, but its going to make your hair brittle and strawlike to do that so I'm not sure that's a good idea on very damaged hair either...probably not doing anything more to the very damaged part at least is going to be better than trying chemicals on it again anyway. 

If you've heard of silicone buildup, yes, that can cause your hair to break off after a few months or years, but right now it sounds like your hair is in a worse state that that would cause and will be needing trims anyway to keep the splits away, so its probably better to worry more about protecting your less damaged hair from buildup, but not worrying about it on the very damaged hair.  (In other words, only use the cones on the most damaged parts / the ends).

Well, I can't really let you know, only you can see it up close so you will have to decide when and if it needs any trim.  You don't want splits, because those climb the hair.  If you don't have splits you can probably put off a trim until it grows more.  If you do have splits, but not too bad, you may be able to get away with just trimming off a half inch a month.  This way it stays the same length until all the damage is off.

You can also try 'dusting', or just cutting splits off of each individual hair right above the split.  Be careful not to cut too high if you do that or you'll get too many short ones sticking out around your head.  That will remove them and avoid you needing a trim, but if you do have splits, and a lot of them, that will be a long and annoying thing to do, cutting them all individually (this method is mostly used by those who don't use chemicals, so don't have that many splits).

aw man this sound like what i just went through!

hi all...i got the cut and IT LOOKS GOOD....can you believe that?  i would not have tried this normally.....i have had some terrible hair cuts in my life and DID NOT HAVE IT IN ME TO HAVE A BAD HAIR CUT...but wasn't....thanks for the support....we are all on the same page and we love to color our own hair....we're artists....

This may not work and you have already spent quite a bit on products but back when my hair was porous on the ends from over coloring I used Bonacure Sealed Ends and it seemed to help at least in the short term. Its non greasy and seems to do something to the ends to at least take away that horrid feeling and makes them pliable again.

There is always extensions lol. I wear them now and they are fantastic! You gotta get nice hair though that matches your texture. I just have 3 sewn in wefts. The added benefit to them is it kind of gives your natural hair a rest and it will keep growing with them in.

With weaves you only want to do a full shampoo once a week but you can wash your top (natural hair) if it gets oily and just clip back the extensions which dont get dirty as fast.

Yeah clip ins are fun and good in the short term. Its nice to be able to take them in and out and the versility.

aw thanks i got in to one of my color moods and volia!  Its brown with a triple brewed coffee rinse on top it came out really pretty and shiney. 

hey eve!  your hair looks GOOD!  did you say it felt bad?  that loreal moisturizing stuff in the tub for very dry, over processed hair is really good....and you used a coffee rinse?  i have heard of using tea...coffee, that is interesting....i knew what ever you did would be...know what you mean by getting in a coloring mood.....i have to stay away from dye until a month from now....i have a cabinet full of shades eq and let me tell you, it is hard to stay out of it....i did try a little on my temples to see what my color mix looked like....jeez, i am hooked....i agree w/you that going into rehab and keeping me there would be the only way i would not color my hair too....i love it....i don't however love getting my hair cut because i have over dyed soooo much....i am glad you like your hair...it looks exotic and really becoming on you.  are you dark haired naturally?