As one of our favorite (and constantly evolving) forms of self-expression, our hair undergoes a lot of stress and damage from daily styling methods and treatments like:
Blowouts
Chemical processing
Too-tight ponytails
Color treatments
Additionally, our hair can show signs of damage like split ends, frizziness, dryness and lackluster appearance from these common mistakes:
Neglecting trims
Spending too much time in the sun
Washing your hair too often
…all of which can all cause signs of damage like breakage, frizz, dryness, and lackluster strands.
If you’re struggling with hair damage and you’re looking for a hair repair routine that restores your strands and brings them back to life, you’re in the right place. We’ve created a customized routine, with the best products that will naturally nurture and nourish your strands, based on your hair type and the type of damage it’s experiencing. First, let’s take a closer look at a few of the most common types of damage.
3 Common Types of Damage
The best way to understand how and why hair damage happens, is to get to the root of the cause. Here are five common types of damage your strands can exhibit:
Heat Damage
Heat styling is super convenient, and a lifesaver for anyone who finds it easier to manage their strands with a little help from hot tools. But here’s the catch: every time you apply heat to your hair, you’re opening the hair cuticle—and while that makes it easier to manipulate, it also becomes more susceptible to damage. If you’re skipping heat protection, you could be significantly harming your strands down the road.
Color Damage
For many of us, our hair is how we express our individuality- and that includes switching up the color of our tresses. As much as we love the versatility and ease of changing our hair color, it can often come with damage through the process of lifting and stripping your strands with hair dye and bleach.
In order for the hair dye to stain the hair shaft, ammonia has to chemically break through the barrier of the hair cuticle, which literally lifts your hair cuticle. If you think of your hair cuticle as the shingles of your hair shaft, imagine those protective shingles being lifted away, leaving your shaft extremely vulnerable to damage.
The use of peroxide to remove your natural pigment not only dissolves your hair color, it is also extremely drying. When your stylist is stripping your strands of its color, the naturally moisturizing oils are also depleted. If you’ve ever wondered why color-treated strands take on a straw-like, frizzy appearance, this is why.
Chemical Damage
Perms and relaxers are popular when it comes to altering the natural texture of your hair—and they’re also infamous for creating pretty severe damage.
The chemicals used in relaxers and perms penetrate the cortex and the cuticle of the hair shaft, restructure the hair follicle, and create a permanent change to your hair (hence the name “perm”). These chemical processes leave your hair fragile, dry, brittle, and prone to breakage. When it comes to scalp care, relaxing your hair can also chemically burn your scalp, creating scabs, hair loss, and damage at the root of your hair care.
2 Common Signs of Damage
Split Ends
Perhaps the most recognizable sign of damage are those pesky split, v-shaped, fragile, and frayed ends at the tip of your strands. Without treatment, these split hairs will continue to snap and fray, resulting in strands that appear frizzy and dull, and hair that tangles more frequently.
Thinning/Hair Loss
Pinning down the source of thinning hair and hair loss can be tricky. Hair loss and hair thinning are two separate issues that look a lot alike but can have very different sources at their roots:
If you’re noticing thinning—less hair in your ponytail, loss of overall volume, a scalp that’s very visible and sparse strands with no signs of excess shedding—these are all signs of androgenetic alopecia. This type of hair thinning is due to the shaft of the hair becoming finer.
One of the most common reasons is physical damage to the hair and/or scalp. Our hair goes through a lot of daily manipulation: ripping through tangles and knots, wearing braids and extensions, and taut, high ponytails can also cause traction alopecia, or breakage and tension that harms our hair and can lead to dreaded hair loss.
The bottomline on caring for damaged strands
Gentle, restorative, deep-conditioning treatments are essential to healing damage. If you’re struggling with any of these types of hair stress, you’ll want to keep a trusted stash of products that will repair, strengthen, and protect your strands.
We formulated our Don’t Despair, Repair!™ lineup with damage control in mind. We’ve also just added an extra special boost with our NEW Don’t Despair, Repair! MegaStrength+ Rice Water Protein + Moisture Strengthening Treatment to supercharge your hair repair and strengthening routine.
Transform your strands with the power of rice water and moisture in this ultra-reparative, dual treatment in one convenient bottle. Finding the perfect balance of protein and moisture is vital to your hair health. Your strands are made up of mostly keratin, which is a type of protein. Maintaining the right balance of protein and moisture is the key to healthy hair—but it’s not always easy to find this find this balance:
Too much moisture: You’ll notice that your strands are limp, lifeless, and lackluster
Too much protein: Your hair will feel brittle and dry with split ends
Ready for a hair repair challenge? Upgrade your wash day once a week with a scientifically proven routine to strengthen damaged hair and prevent future breakage.
It’s time to discover the perfect hair repair routine based on your hair type:
Fine/Thin Hair
Fine hair is a type of hair that tends to be silkier and wispier than other types due to the diameter of your hair shaft. How can you tell if your hair is fine? Take a strand and hold it up against a sewing thread. If your hair is thinner than the thread, you have fine hair.
Thin hair refers to the density of your hair. If your scalp is very visible through your hair or if you run your fingers through your hair and there’s not much fullness to it- you have thin hair.
Looking for the best plan of action to protect and restore your damaged fine/thin strands? Meet your 7-day Don’t Despair, Repair!™ hair repair routine:
Day 1
Start with our ultra-hydrating, sulfate free, Super Moisture Shampoo. We’ve packed our strengthening shampoo with the natural power of coconut oil, algae extract, and panthenol to repair and nourish your strands while removing dirt, oil, and buildup.
Next, add a boost to your hair repair routine with our super-concentrated NEW Rice Water Protein + Moisture Strengthening Treatment. Our newest addition to the Don’t Despair, Repair!™ lineup is scientifically proven to strengthen your hair after just one use. We’ve made it easier than ever to harness the power of rice water with the perfect balance of protein and moisture to supercharge the effectiveness of this reparative routine.
Finish off your wash day with our best-selling, 5x Allure award-winning Deep Conditioning Mask. Not only is this daily conditioner deeply reparative, it’s also scientifically proven to decrease hair breakage after two uses and it provides long-lasting protection against future damage.
Day 2
Give your arms a break and skip a wash day!
Day 3
Cleanse and condition your hair with our Super Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner duo.
Day 4
Grab your shower cap and skip a wash day.
Day 5
Cleanse and condition your hair with our Super Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner. Duo. While your hair is still damp, apply a few drops of our Strengthening Treatment Oil to your ends- a little goes a long way!
Day 6
Hit snooze on your wash day.
Day 7
Cleanse and condition your hair with our Super Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner duo.
Thick/Textured Hair
Just like fine hair, thick hair is determined by the diameter of your individual hair shaft. Not sure if your hair is thick? Compare it to a piece of sewing thread. If your hair is thicker than a piece of sewing thread, you have thick hair.
Textured hair refers to hair that has a natural curl pattern. If you’ve got waves, curls, or coils (type 2, type, 3 and type 4 hair), you have textured hair.
Ready to protect and restore your damaged thick/textured? Meet your 7-day Don’t Despair, Repair!™ hair repair routine:
Day 1
Start with our ultra-hydrating, sulfate free, Super Moisture Shampoo. We’ve packed our strengthening shampoo with the natural power of coconut oil, algae extract, and panthenol to repair and nourish your strands while removing dirt, oil and buildup.
Next, add a boost to your hair repair routine with our super-concentrated NEW Rice Water Protein + Moisture Strengthening Treatment—our newest formula that’s scientifically proven to strengthen your hair after one use. We’ve made it easier than ever to harness the power of rice water with the perfect balance of protein and moisture to supercharge the effectiveness of this reparative routine.
Finish off your wash day with our best-selling, 5x Allure award-winning Deep Conditioning Mask. Not only is this daily conditioner deeply reparative, it’s also scientifically proven to decrease hair breakage after 2 uses and it provides long-lasting protection against future damage.
Day 2
Consider this your rest day—skip a wash day!
Day 3
Grab your shower cap and skip another wash day
Day 4
Cleanse and condition your hair with our Super Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner duo. While your hair is still damp, apply a few drops of our Strengthening Treatment Oil to your ends.
Day 5
Throw your hair in a ponytail or a bun and go.
Day 6
Go ’head and hit snooze on your wash day.
Day 7
Cleanse and condition your hair with our Super Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner duo.
Continuing Your Hair Repair Routine
Once you’ve completed the first seven days of your hair repair routine, continue using the complete Don’t Despair, Repair!™ lineup to keep your repaired strands strong and provide long-lasting protection from all types of damage. Add our award-winning silicone-free, lightweight Strengthening Treatment Oil to your damp strands after cleansing and conditioning or to dry hair in between washes. Apply a few drops at mid-lengths to tips.
Unlock your ultimate hair care routine with naturally powerful ingredients and the best products for your specific hair concerns and needs. Every healthy hair journey is different, and that’s why we created a full range of nourishing products to help you achieve your hair goals and embrace every stage of your hair journey.
If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to taking care of your damaged strands (or preventing damage), we’ve got you covered with this handy guide. Ready to bring your damaged strands back to life? Shop this post today!
