If you want to change your hair color to something lighter or more fashionable, you’ll need to use bleach. Bleach works by removing the natural pigment from your hair strands, but it can also damage your hair. This damage can make your hair feel gummy, stretchy, dry, and weak.
Recently, I asked women to share their common hair coloring problems; many mentioned bleach damage. I have been using Olaplex and a few other options to fix gummy hair.
Gummy hair after bleaching occurs when the hair is overprocessed with bleach chemicals. It can result in hair strands that take an extended time to dry when wet and lose their vibrancy.
Read on to learn how to fix gummy hair from bleaching using Olaplex and other protein treatments.
Why Is Your Hair Gummy After Bleaching?
Typically, the hair strands are smooth because the cuticle remains closed, locking in the moisture. But, when you leave the bleach in your hair for too long or do it twice in one day, the bonds holding the hair shaft break irreversibly.
The bleaching chemicals, primarily the developer, strip off the proteins from the hair, resulting in gummy, greasy, and stretched hair.
If you have gummy hair after bleaching, it is mainly caused by the excessive protein loss from the hair strands and the broken bonds, which leave the cuticle open and take away the hair’s elasticity.
Fortunately, a few good options like olaplex and aphogee protein treatment are available that help with gummy hair.
The fixes mentioned below for gummy bleached hair mainly do two things. First, they replenish the lost protein from the hair strands. Second, they reform broken bonds from bleach, restoring hair’s elasticity and vibrance.
How Can Olaplex Fix Your Gummy Hair?
The bleach developer, chemically known as hydrogen peroxide, has a harsh action on your hair strands.
When it is left for too long in the hair to get maximum color lifting or used too often, hydrogen peroxide breaks the core bonds of the hair, leaving it damaged, gummy, and rough.
Olaplex contains magic ingredients that coat the cracks on hair strands to make them look smoother and repair the broken disulfide bonds.
It is an immediate treatment that fixes your gummy bleached hair.
Bis-aminopropyl diglycol dimaleate, also called bonds builder, in Olaplex, rebuilds the structure and integrity of your gummy bleached hair and gets you smoother and considerably firmer locks.
Nine products are available from olaplex, all intended to be used before, during, or after the bleach. But you need to buy Olaplex No. 3, which repairs all the broken bonds.
You must apply olaplex once a week before washing your bleached or colored hair. Pour 2-3 tbsp of it all over your hair and gently comb through the strands.
Other Ways To Fix Bleach-Damaged Gummy Hair
If your hair has turned gummy and easily breaks away or looks ridiculous after the bleaching, don’t trim it immediately.
There are helpful options besides Olaplex to fix the gummy hair, no matter how severely damaged they are.
1. Aphogee Protein Treatment For Gummy Bleached Hair
One of the main reasons for gummy hair after bleaching is protein loss. The harsh bleach chemicals rip away the protective proteins, leaving hair cuticles open. Therefore, the hair becomes unable to hold any moisture, which is inevitable for stronger bonding in the core of the hair shaft.
Aphogee treatment employs active proteins alongside natural oils and minerals that replenish the lost protein from your hair. It is a perfect formula to repair damaged and gummy hair due to bleaching because its proteins dramatically fuse with hair and harden it from the inside.
Aphogee is a two-step treatment, which means you have to repeat the whole process twice. And what is that process?
- Wash your gummy bleached hair gently with aphogee shampoo.
- Apply the aphogee protein treatment thoroughly on your manes.
- Gently comb through the hair strands so that all of them get the solution.
- Let hair dry on its own or use the drying hood while not covering it with anything. Uncovered! Yeah.
- When hair is dry, rinse out the aphogee protein treatment and repeat the whole process.
The bleached hair, which is stretchy, gummy, and dry, will become healthier and smoother with aphogee protein solution for 4 to 6 weeks following the treatment.
2. Use Coconut Oil
According to a study, coconut oil is the most valuable oil for hair when moisturizing and nourishing your mane. It contains 20 out of 22 amino acids, vitamins, and medium-chain fatty acids that are incredibly nourishing.
The coconut oil help replenish the protein lost during the bleaching process and treats the gummy hair by restoring its elasticity and vibrancy. So, which type of coconut oil is best for bleached hair?
Experts recommend cold-pressed coconut oil for chemically treated hair because it contains all of the proteins and vitamins, unlike its other types.
But is coconut oil an immediate solution for your gummy bleached hair? No, unlike the olaplex and aphogee treatments, coconut oil needs some time to restore your smoother and healthier hair.
So, you should employ it alongside the above two treatments to get better and more sustainable results.
How To Take Care of Gummy Bleached Hair
In addition to going for quick fixes for your gummy hair, you also need to take care of it to prevent further damage and breakage. In that regard, the following points will help you to look after your damaged hair strand from bleaching.
- Your hair has already lost its natural oil that helps retain the moisture. Therefore, don’t wash your mane too often to allow the oil to build up. Washing your hair not more than once or twice every week after the bleaching will help hydrate the strands.
- Nourish and condition the gummy hair with a leave-in conditioner.
- Abstain from using any heat and chemical products on your bleached hair.
- Don’t try brushing the dry hair.
- Use rice water to replenish the lost keratin from your hair strands. It will help harden and smoothen your gummy bleached hair by coating it.
- Go for a trim.
Wrapping Up
Leaving bleach in your hair for too long or using it too often can severely damage it and make it gummy, stretchy, dry, and weak. While fixing the gummy bleached hair is difficult, a few specialized treatments like olaplex and aphogee protein are available.
Visit your hairstylist or buy any of these options to do it at home. Talking to an expert always helps your hair recover quickly.
