Frankenstein hair: Bringing my hair back to life + Ranting

After my recent mishap with ION Color Brilliance: Brights, I was constantly nagged by a class facilitator about my hair being blue. He said nobody would take me seriously with blue hair, I'm unprofessional with blue hair, nobody would hire me with blue hair and I really needed to change my fucking hair back to a normal fucking color. So, after feeling bullied by that guy, I relented.

If there is one thing anybody should know about themselves it's this: NOBODY HAS THE RIGHT TO TELL YOU WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR BODY!

It is yours! If someone does try to tell you what they think (which is fine to an extent because of free speech but there is a line) tell them to shut up. I really wish I told the facilitator to shut up. He doesn't realize the damage bleach does to hair. Or that hair needs time to heal and repair. Or that not everybody lives the way that he does. He firmly believes that everyone has to look the exact same way. I swear I've finally met my nemesis! Through poking and prodding me with his beliefs and a little public humiliation (ripping apart my hair's appearance in front of the class), I gave up and dyed my hair black so that he would leave me alone! It felt okay to just sink into the back of the week long class and avoid him but I don't feel like it was worth it in the end. If I saw him again, I'd probably fly off the handle and cuss him out!

End rant

I'm miserable with the color and I'm miserable over the condition because my hair shouldn't have been dyed again so soon after bleach and semi-permanent color treatments. It wasn't even a week. Now my hair is fried and I'm attempting to bring it back from the grave...

A gnarled, dried out hot mess.

Things your hair needs to rebound:
The basic building blocks for hair health
Protein- products with keratin. These help rebuild your hair and strengthen it but don't go overboard because too much protein can make your hair brittle.

Moisture- oils like almond, shea, coconut, and olive are great! Providing what your hair is missing, rich shampoos, conditioners and hair masks will slowly nurse your hair back to health.

The products I'm using are L'Oreal Pairs Total Repair Extreme shampoo and Smooth Intense conditioner

Lorealparisusa.com

ulta.com

Despite what companies tell you, it's totally okay to mix products for a personalized routine. I needed Keratin to repair my hair but I also required extra moisture for smoothing because my hair is naturally frizzy. 

Things your hair needs to avoid to rebound:

Heat- Avoid straightening, blow drying, curling with any tools that involve heat because all the moisture you but just put in will be taken right out. Look up alternative methods of hair styling until your hair is back in good health. Wash hair with warm water instead of hot.

Sulfates and Alcohol- Surface Acting Agents also known as surfactants are what make the bubbles in shampoo. Sodium laureth sulfate is one of them and they also strip your hair of oil. That's how your hair gets "clean" which effectively dries your hair out. Alcohol also dries your hair out. Buying a Sulfate free shampoo and conditioner system like L'oreal Ever Pure is extremely helpful. Looking up recipes for your own shampoo can work too.