HAIR DYE AND DAMAGE

Dear Jellybean,

I wanted to know what messes up your hair the dye color or the bleach? or both i do my hair like every 3 months right now i have it blue but should i stop doing it or continue doing my hair? what affect does dying my hair affect on my hair? please hepl me!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Writer,

Any color change that involves making hair lighter - or any color process that involves bleach - will damage your strands. When you bleach your hair, you're using a strong chemical to remove its natural "pigment" or color. This leaves hair weak and porous - which makes it "ready" for depositing new color (such as blue), but also makes it more prone to breakage and frizz.

Meanwhile, dyeing hair darker can actually make it healthier, because color is deposited onto the hair strand, so hair can become thicker and less prone to damage.

Do know that even if you damage your hair, you won't have damaged hair for life. It will only be damaged until the dyed hair grows out. But colored hair does require more manitenance - such as color protecting shampoo with UV protection, daily conditioning, and weekly deep conditioner masks - to preserve.

If your hair is showing signs of damage, you should really give it a break from bleach. Signs of damaged hair include:

-A whole lot of hairs coming off on your brush and bathroom floors

-You heat-style your colored hair more than twice a week (this includes using a blow drier)

-When you run your hands through hair, it feels rough or bristly, not smooth

-Hair looks dull, never shiny, even after you style it (damaged hair can't reflect light as well as normal hair)

If you decide to stop bleaching and dyeing your hair, you might want to visit a professional colorist to bring it back to a more "natural" shade. This will likely involve some color stripping (to get rid of the blue that's already there), and then color depositing (to put a darker, more realistic shade back into hair strands). Do visit a professional for this step - trying to do it yourself could result in a damaging disaster. While you're at the salon, you can also pump the stylist for information about what type of hair dye would work best for you, if you decide to color your hair again in future.

Finally, if you do decide to dye again, consider a color change that doesn't involve bleach, as that's the harshest thing you can put on hair. Always follow dye package instructions to a tee, never mix dye packages together, and don't leave dye on your hair for any longer than is recommended. Follow up with the conditioner that's in the package, and keep conditioning hair as often as possible to keep it in good condition.