How to keep bleached hair soft!

So I’ve had a few people ask me what I use to keep my bleached locks soft and in good condition, and I’ll let you know every secret now!

Products I use – (Please note that these were all the hair care products in my flat at the time, and I have many more that I love in my parents house, but I will review those in a separate post!)

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Shampoo and Conditioners –

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Herbal Essences Shampoo and conditioner for dry hair – I keep these in the bathroom and they always leave my hair feeling and smelling delicious.  My hair holds on to their fragrances really well which I love as I always get whiffs of lovelyness when I’m out and about.  I think Herbal essences are affordable, smell great and do the job of washing my hair and keeping it healthy.

T-Gel Shampoo – I use this twice a month max, only when my hair is behaving badly and getting greasy really quickly after washing.  I will shampoo my hair with this twice, then condition, and then my hair will be back to normal once again and I won’t need to use it for another few weeks.  I personally wouldn’t use it every time I wash my hair as its dry anyway and I don’t want it to strip all of the moisture out of my locks, but my housemate uses this every time she washes her hair and her barnet is lovely!

Aussie Three Minute Miracle conditioner – Probably my most purchased hair care product, I get through so many of them!  I use quite a few big handfuls of this as a conditioner and leave it in for five minutes whilst in the shower.  Smells gorgeous and I really feel like this product softens my hair and keeps it looking healthy and shiny.

John Frieda Sheer Blonde Highlight Activating Moisturizing Conditioner (Platinum to Champagne coloured hair) – I can’t actually speak of the ‘highlight activating-ness’ of this product as my hair is bleached anyway and I’ve never noticed a change in my hair colour after using this, but its a lovely, thick, creamy conditioner that sorts my hair out when its feeling dry.

Masks –

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Trevor Sorbie Ultimate Moisture Mask – I like to do hair masks whenever I remember (once or twice a month) and this is what I’ve been using recently and I adore it.  It smells divine and feels like a nice intense hair moisturizer.  Doesn’t leave my hair feeling greasy or heavy after.

John Frieda Sheer Blonde Hair Repair Conditioning Treatment – I just finished a tub of this – it smells great and really puts the moisture back in to my hair when it gets a little too dry or frizzy.

Leave in products –

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Prive Serum – I’ve raved SO much about this product already, your probably all bored of hearing it, but I’ve never been one to use a serum but this will now never leave my vanity table.  Its smoothes out flyaway’s, split ends and general frizz and keeps my hair tame.  I use this on dry or wet hair, on the ends of my hair and occasionally swept over the top of my hair if its behaving badly.

Prive Leave-in treatment – A lovely leave in conditioner, nice and natural ingredients. Prive reviews here!

L’Oreal Elvive Nurti-Gloss Leave in conditioner – I’ve been using this for years now and I know I can rely on it to detangle my hair after its been washed.  I literally sweep a blob of this through knots and it makes my hair easier to comb through straight away.

Aussie Miracle Hair Care Insurance Leave in Conditioner – This smells lovely and detangles really well.  Its light so it won’t leave your hair feeling heavy or coated in products after you apply, which is good!

Katie’s Top Healthy Hair Tips –

1) Don’t use heat on your hair!!

Its a simple one but one I’m sure would be very hard to give up for most girls now days, but just don’t use heat on your barnet!  I have never been one to use straighteners, just because I don’t think poker straight hair suits me at all, and to be honest, I just can’t ever be bothered to straighten it.  The ONLY heat I use on my hair is a hair dryer and I use it once a week max.  This time last year I noticed that my hair was in quite bad condition and frizzy, so I stopped using my hair dryer, and within a month my hair was perfect again.  I can’t express how much of a difference it makes.  The only time I use my hair dryer is if I’m in a rush out and even then I’ll only blow dry my fringe and ends.  Try it out for yourself!

2) Leave your conditioner in for at least five minutes!

Conditioner makes SUCH a big difference to the softness of my hair so I always leave it in for at least five minutes in the shower/bath, if not longer.  Sounds difficult and time consuming but its really not – just shampoo your hair really quickly, wash it out, apply lots of conditioner and whilst you wait just shave and scrub!  Simple!  If you have more time, comb through your hair whilst the conditioner is on so it really reaches every lock.  In general, the longer I leave the conditioner on, the softer my hair is after.

3) Use a leave in conditioner to detangle and keep hair soft.

I always use a leave in conditioner to help detangle my matted hair after a bath and I pretty much rely on it to get rid of evil knots.  I just use a walnut size amount of either L’Oreal or Prive’s Leave in conditioner, and comb in through the underneath of my hair.  Makes it so much more manageable and keeps hair soft after its dried.

I hope this helps!  I have a few more favourite hair products which I’ll write about soon.

What do you use to keep your hair in good condition?  Have you got any tips?

XXX

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27 Comments

  1. March 23, 2011 / 4:06 pm

    I find the Redken Extreme Shampoo & Conditioner is great for when my hair gets dry…I love the leave in conditioner called Anti-Snap that is probably the best leave in conditioner I have ever bought!

    Philip Kingsley Elasticizer is a great treatment to recommend…fixed my hair when I some bleach in it and it was snapping!

    Great post 🙂

    x

  2. March 23, 2011 / 4:08 pm

    I quite like the Aussie 3 minute miracle but I can't find it in France (lived in London for 2 years) !
    At the moment I use American Cream from Lush and it works and smells gorgeous, just have to use a lot 🙁

  3. March 23, 2011 / 5:45 pm

    I have bleached blonde hair too, and I have been using alot of natural products- coconut oil on my ends and scalp overnight, mayonnaise as a monthly treatment, and biotin shampoos and conditioners. Just recently I purchased the Ojon line which has great reviews!!

  4. March 23, 2011 / 5:55 pm

    I love this post, hair care is so important and I'm always in awe of how lovely certain people's hair, including yours ofc, is in such lovely condition!
    Aussie Reconstructor smells lovely and is great, and recently I've been trying using Naked products as my scalp hates chemicals. They're really good and I find I get much less hairloss per wash xx

  5. March 23, 2011 / 7:53 pm

    ah such a good post. I've been meaning to try the aussie miracle conditioner and now you've persuaded me. Think they sell it on the cheap in bodycare aswell! xx

  6. March 23, 2011 / 8:33 pm

    this reminds me of when i had bleach blonde hair, so hard to keep it not looking and feeling like straw. awesome post, i wish i looked after my hair better! xo.
    gh0stparties.com

  7. March 24, 2011 / 6:43 am

    Great post! Thanks! Check out my blog when you have some time! http://www.everybitbeauty.blogspot.comThanks!

  8. March 24, 2011 / 9:20 am

    Fab post, I had my hair bleached years ago and i destroyed it! Back to eau naturelle now and i definately agree that less heat makes it better!
    xx :o)

  9. March 24, 2011 / 7:16 pm

    I love this post! Gives me a few ideas for conditioners and serums to try 🙂

    I have a few tips for any fellow curly gurls! My mom never knew how to style my hair cuz i got all the curls from my dad, so I had to learn about curly hair and teach myself how to style it.

    I use iso Smoothing Gloss (similar to the serum you showed) to keep the roots and the small baby hairs near the face tame, then I use Biolage Smoothing Shine Milk as a leave in conditioner. It is so light that it won't weigh down my curls, and keeps them bouncy all day (and usually the next day too!). The last step is a pump hairspray (not aerosol!) cuz you really do not need a lot of hairspray, and you want to control where it goes. The last suggestion (no matter how gross it sounds) is to not wash it every day. It helps keep those natural oils in. I have also noticed the wash right after I have straightened my hair turns out extra curly haha go figure!

  10. March 27, 2011 / 12:10 am

    Great blog post, difinitely going to try some of these tips and products!
    Check out my blog if you want some time??
    http://www.theamourstyle.blogspot.com/ Im new

  11. October 30, 2012 / 4:25 pm

    Thanks so much! I'm in the process of going platinum and I have really healthy hair but I can see it slowly getting worse every time I dye it. Thanks for sharing the best hair styling products. I love your hair color in your pic by the way.

  12. February 10, 2013 / 1:58 pm

    To avoid bleach damage, I would recommend using john friedas blonde go blonder spray -esp for red heads and dirty blondes- just spray on oily unwashed hair, apply blow dryer and bam done in about 25-30 mins. Sounds crazy, sounds painful to your hair, but it's not 😉 wayyyy better than sun in and if your hair gets dry, it should get back to normal by 3-5 days 🙂 happy blonding ♥♡♥♡♥
    ~♡m

  13. Anonymous
    December 11, 2013 / 6:09 pm

    Herbal Essences is the WORST, you should go with something sulfate free

  14. Anonymous
    December 31, 2013 / 10:46 pm

    my hair is super short and bleached, and doesn't matter what I do , it remains dry and brittle, or it gets too oily with serums and conditioners, I never use heat , and yet I cant make it look good,, I buy good products and ones with protein but still they do not make a change,,, what gives,,, I need some stong recommendations for products,,, does plantunum hair really ever feel that good,, it can look good , but does it feel good,, hmmmm thanks,

  15. Anonymous
    February 7, 2014 / 1:38 pm

    You should only use protein products once a week. The hair is made up of protein and putting more in will start killing the hair causing it to become brittle, limp and break. Limit the protein products and take the sulfate free shampoo and conditioner route. Buy a deep conditioner and use it once a week for 30 minutes at minimum. Also try a hot oil treatment once a week. Always wash your hair out with cold water as well as this seals the cuticle and locks in moisture

  16. February 18, 2014 / 3:34 pm

    check out the pro naturals argan oil shampoo and conditioner!

  17. Anonymous
    March 11, 2014 / 11:17 pm

    I'm a male and I've recently bleached my hair, Osmo silverising shampoo and conditioner, and Aveda pure abundance volumising shampoo and conditioner leave my hair fuller, thicker and less frazzled and dry. Use Argan Oil, not morrocan oil, as morrocan oil is the water of the argan nut not the oil!

  18. April 2, 2014 / 12:04 pm

    Bleaching my hair has been the harshest and most difficult look to maintain. It's harder than trying to keep red vibrant! I know what doesn't work, but I have yet to find a gem.

    Clairol Shimmer Lights – This came highly recommended. I highly recommend you do a strand test. I used this once, as directed, 11 days after my root touch up and it burned the heck out of my hair. I also had flushed cheeks for hours. I hear that's unusual for a shampoo, but its definitely what caused my cheeks to burn.

    John Frida Sheer Blonde – This line was also pretty drying. The conditioner did nothing and I had to use t-gel about three days after instead of regular shampoo. I agree with t-gel being great stuff.

    Head and shoulders damage control – I love this stuff only because its the cheapest, least damaging stuff I've used so far.

    Miracle Number 7 – I believe this stuff turns my hair orange, but I've had to use it lately because my hair has been so frazzled.

    Reeking line – The blue bottle of leave in conditioner makes my face break out and it causes my hair to get very staticky. I will be trying the Redfin shampoo and conditioner soon.

    Thank you for sharing your hair tips. It's really nice to see recommendations that aren't $100 a bottle or chemistry experiments.

  19. Anonymous
    April 28, 2014 / 2:55 am

    i dont wash my hair for few days, and let it all oiled up. i know it may sound gross but it keeps them strong for me!!

  20. May 16, 2014 / 4:06 pm

    These are some fantastic tips Katie,I'm sure these will help a lot of people who are 'tearing their hair out'!

  21. May 30, 2015 / 9:54 pm

    Personally I found hair oils the most effective for keeping my hair soft (I dye it as well). Right now I'm using Agadir oil which is fantastic but i think any oil will do; Argan, Shea etc. Just apply when damp…

  22. August 29, 2015 / 4:37 pm

    Despite my hair is not bleached, I still use some of these products. Thanx for the tips!

  23. August 2, 2016 / 10:12 am

    Thank you for these great tips . I lıke using organic tools for my hair care and I am using most of them . I use hair dryer for styling it so it doesn't give harm.

  24. July 6, 2017 / 5:51 am

    I love th conditioner Aussie. It makes my hair shiny and soft!

  25. October 5, 2017 / 7:14 am

    L’Oreal Elvive – perfect conditioner!

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