Decades of bleaching my hair has finally caught up with me. I asked a pro how to save it

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I knew my hair was in trouble when my sister-in-law innocently asked if I was dyeing it silver. A thorough and panicked examination of my dark-blonde roots confirmed that I wasn’t going grey, but something wasn’t right. Not only was my hair streaked with white-ish strands, but my long, once-healthy locks were starting to feel stiff and straw-like.

Realistically, I knew this day would come. Decades of bleaching my hair had caught up with me. What I didn’t know was that the purple-shampoo routine that I thought was fighting brassiness was actually tingeing my tresses a flat silver from overuse. My bad-hair days were piling up, and my age wasn’t helping matters. “The most common problems for women in their 40s is thinning hair due to hormonal changes, plus lack of shine and chemical damage from hair colouring,” says Monique Coupal, a hair artist at Redken.

Surely one of the approximately 12 gazillion hair-care products lining the shelves at Sephora and flooding my social feed could help, I thought. They had fancy names and formulas containing the kinds of ingredients found in my age-defying skin-care arsenal: hyaluronic acid, collagen, niacinamide, peptides, vitamins C and B3. Could any of these miracle-promising saviours deliver my mane from its midlife crisis?

For a reality check, I spoke with Dr. Christina Han, a Vancouver-based dermatologist and medical director of XYON Health, which specializes in hair regrowth. She knows first-hand how big a role our hair plays in our self-image.

“People want shiny, luscious hair because subconsciously we relate that to health and vitality,” she says. (For the record: Hair doesn’t contain living cells, so it’s technically dead no matter how good or bad it looks.)

Here are Han’s tips for restoring dry, brittle hair.

Pay attention to your scalp: A healthy scalp can optimize the health of your hair follicles, so be on the lookout for issues such as flaking, itching or redness, which could indicate inflammation and possibly impede hair growth. If over-the-counter anti-dandruff and anti-fungal shampoos don’t work after several weeks, see your doctor for an assessment. Psoriasis, for instance, requires a prescription.

Look at the labels: Choose hair products containing keratin, argan oil or ceramides, which help prevent moisture loss and act as a protective barrier against heat, pollution and UV rays. Skin-care hero hyaluronic acid works on hair, too, helping to plump, hydrate and lock in moisture and fight frizz. Studies have shown that niacinamide, also known as B3, has antioxidant properties that help prevent harm to the hair and improve blood circulation to the scalp and hair follicles.

Build your bonds: Hair is made up of three types of structural proteins, or bonds, that can be weakened by heat and chemical treatments. When these bonds are damaged, hair becomes weak and brittle. There are plenty of products that claim to repair and rebuild bonds and experts say some of them do work, just don’t expect a miracle. “You can improve the bonds to some degree, but you can’t reverse the damage completely,” Han says. Not all products are created equal, so talk to your stylist about your options, which may include Olaplex, which makes one of the best-known lines of bonding products on the market (warning: they’re an investment buy) or drugstore brands such as Marc Anthony’s Repair Bond line.

Ease up on the heat: My hair never looks better than it does after a blowout, so it’s hard to square the shiny, healthy-looking results with the damage it takes to get there. But that glossy ‘do is only temporary, warns Rob Smith, a senior hair scientist at Dyson. The heat from most styling tools is actually breaking the hair bonds to enable them to be reshaped and realigned, helping them look smooth and shiny. But heat causes lasting damage to the proteins and lipids in the hair, resulting in weaker and more brittle hair over time. “So in the short term your hair will look good, but longer term you will suffer with more broken strands, split ends and duller hair,” Smith says.

Hair structure weakens and loses elasticity when exposed to heat around 200 degrees Celsius, Han says. If you have to blow-dry, use the lowest setting possible and blow-dry downward to help close the hair cuticle, or outer layer, which will help it look smooth and shiny. Better yet: Let your hair air-dry and go easy on the brushing while it’s wet.

Ditch the dye: Chemicals, including hair dyes and bleach, can alter the bonds in the hair and cause damage. If you can’t give up your colour treatment entirely, try to do it less frequently and follow up with hydrating oils or masks with ingredients such as argan oil or coconut oil to replenish moisture. Look for colour-safe shampoos and conditioners that don’t contain sulfates or parabens. Sulfates are detergents that can strip hair of colour and moisture, while parabens are preservatives that may cause a reaction in some people (most products already do not include parabens).

Organic or natural formulas might be a good option for sensitive scalps prone to irritation, but take note: “They may not cleanse enough depending on your hair type,” warns Han. And you might not get the results you’re looking for. Unnatural ingredients such as silicone, for instance, give hair shine and manageability.

As for my own hair? I’ve cut back on the bleach, so it’s now on a long, slightly-less-blonde road to recovery and slowly showing signs of life. Maybe a midlife crisis was exactly what it needed.

Eight products to try

While I’m not ready to quit colour and processing, I spent seven months test-driving hair products designed for dry, damaged hair. Here are the standouts:

For cleansing and repair:

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This sulfate-free shampoo, conditioner and leave-in treatment combo uses citric acid to help repair weakened hair bonds. Bonus: They smell salon-worthy and left my hair feeling silky and revitalized.

Redken Acidic Bonding Concentrate shampoo and conditioner, 300 ml, 33.99 each; leave-in treatment, 150 ml, $39

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Dubbed a “luxury dupe” by marketers, this drugstore-brand deep conditioner actually lives up to the hype. After a three-minute treatment, my hair felt quenched and manageable and it smelled divine.

Pantene Miracle Rescue Deep Repair Conditioner, 237 ml, $11.49

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This five-minute mask works to repair the hair’s disulfide bonds, which can be damaged by chemicals and heat.

Marc Anthony Repair Bond + Rescuplex Hair Mask, 8 oz, $15.49

For protection

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Spritz on this keratin-containing protector before blow-drying to guard against heat damage for a slick, glossy finish.

Dry Bar Liquid Glass Miracle Smoothing Sealant, 188 ml, $46

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Made specifically for bleached blondes and packed with hyaluronic acid, this light oil-like serum helps to seal in moisture in the scalp and hair.

Kérastase Blond Absolu 2% Hyaluronic Hair Serum, 50 ml, $78

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Olaplex made a name for itself as the OG hair-bonding brand when it launched in 2014, spawning countless copycats. This light and fresh-smelling serum is the best of the bunch, repairing and protecting against heat damage, battling frizziness and leaving hair shiny and tangle-free.

Olaplex No. 9 Bond Protector Nourishing Hair Serum, 90 ml, $41

For styling

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If you can’t pry yourself away from your flat iron, you might as well use the Cadillac of styling tools. This wet-to-dry hair straightener uses air instead of hot plates to reduce heat damage, leaving you with a slick, salon-quality blowout.

Dyson Airstrait, $699.99, dysoncanada.ca

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These lightweight styling tools are easy to use and won’t snag or pull your hair, thanks to the triple-coated ceramic-coated plates infused with coconut oil.

Revlon Smoothstay Coconut Oil-Infused Curling Iron, 39.96, and Revlon Smoothstay Coconut Oil-Infused Straightener, $44.96, walmart.ca