With hair color trends constantly changing, there is no surprise that many of us are suffering from severely chemically damaged hair. When you add in heat-styling, tight hairstyles, and poor haircare routine habits, you’re sure to get stuck in a damaged hair rut. It’s important to understand the main causes and repair chemically damaged hair and that cab be through in-salon treatments that will help, and learn about an arsenal of the right products and tips to win your healthy hair back with a repair of chemically damaged hair. Here are the causes and tips on how to repair chemically damaged hair.

 3 major causes of damaged hair:

Here are the 3 main causes of severely chemically damaged hair

 Chemical hair dye

 Dying hair wrong and without taking proper precautions can strip your hair’s natural oils, leaving it dry and brittle. We recommend staying within 2-3 shades of your natural color to limit damage. Hair becomes chemically damaged when harsh chemicals used in perms, brazilian blowouts, hair color dyes and bleach attack the protective outer layer of your hair (the cuticle), leaving cracks in the exterior. For example, hair color penetrates the cuticle in order to access the cortex that changes the hair. The hair cuticle is the outermost part of the hair shaft, made up of dead cells. This layer protects your hair shaft. When your hair is severely chemically damaged, the cuticle wears away, exposing the cortex. 

Related Article: Tips for Coloring Hair at Home

Bleach

Drastically changing your hair from dark to light will cause damage if your stylist isn’t taking it slow with sessions over a period of time. When hair is bleached, UV rays and other environmental stressors will suck out all of the moisture in your strands, leaving hair dry and frayed.  Continuous bleaching is one more cause for severely damaged hair

Hot tools

If you’re using heat styling tools too often, avoiding a heat protectant, or if you keep the heat setting too high, chances are your hair will be more prone to breakage, especially if it’s colored. 

Learn how to identify severely damaged hair.

Signs of Chemically Damaged Hair:

• Lack of moisture through your mid-shaft to ends
• Dramatic change of thickness
• When wet, your hair feels more slimy rather than wet
• You can visibly see split ends (when the hair shaft splits into two or three fragments)
• Dulled shine
• Lack of elasticity
  • How to test: stretch a strand while it’s wet - If it breaks without stretching, that means there’s no moisture in your hair. You want your hair to be stretchy, which shows you have normal elasticity

Understanding the signs, here are key techniques to follow on how to repair chemically damaged hair

Treatments that will help repair severely chemically damaged hair:

Products that can help repair severely chemically damaged hair.

Pai-Shau Signature Hydrating MulTEA Treatment & Blow Out

 If you are experiencing dry, brittle hair, the Pai-Shau Hydrating Ritual Collection is a must. It includes the Replenishing Hair Cleanser, Replenishing Cream Conditioner (conditioner to strengthen hair), and the Supreme Revitalizing Mask (Moisturizing mask for hair) The Replenishing Hair Cleanser promotes healthy growth and leaves the hair feeling soft, silky and full of shine. The Replenishing Cream Conditioner will detangle your hair while adding shine and moisture without the weight. Lastly, the Supreme Revitalizing Mask will completely nourish and revitalize your hair. This hydrating mask gives volume and makes your hair feel soft and luscious. The icing on the cake to this perfect hydrating Pai-Shau MulTEA Treatment is adding in our Biphasic Infusion from our Enhance Ritual Collection to the ends of your hair. The Biphasic Infusion is an oil-free rejuvenating concentrate that contains a potent amount of our Signature Tea complex. This “Liquid Gold”  serum smooths, softens, enhances shine, protects and nourishes the hair. Use these treatment products to repair chemically damaged hair.

Keratin Treatment

 In most cases the extremely popular Keratin Treatment can help you repair severely chemically damaged hair. This smoothing treatment puts natural keratin into your cuticle to reduce frizz and add shine. Keratin also calms your texture making the maintenance of your hair a lot easier. Thus, you’ll be less tempted to manipulate your hair in other ways such as heat styling tools and tight hairstyles. We recommend this treatment for coarse, thick hair.

Tips on how to repair severely chemically damaged hair:

Key tips on how to repair chemically damaged hair

1. Avoid harsh products to the scalp, since that’s where healthy hair starts. When shampooing your hair, use chemically free products that are not so harsh and don’t have ingredients such as parabens and sulfates. Pai-Shau’s Replenishing Hair Cleanser promotes healthy hair growth because it has a combination of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals essential for restoring hair. This product removes build-up without stripping necessary oils, leaving your hair soft, silky and full of shine.

2. End your wash with a cool rinse. Cold water tightens cuticles and pores, which helps your scalp from drying out and prevents the natural oils from becoming clogged.

3. Use a hair mask in place of your normal conditioner once a week. Our Supreme Revitalizing Mask infuses your hair with weightless moisture and intense hydration. BONUS TREND: Apply this mask to your hair during the day and comb through. This gives you a “wet” look that’s super cute and will treat your hair at the same time. It’s a win-win!

4. Avoid heat-styling and tight hairstyles all together. Mixing both of these together on top of already chemically damaged hair is a HUGE no. Instead, embrace your natural hair. If you’re extra cautious for at least a year, you’ll see a dramatic change in the health of your hair. It’s a commitment, but well worth it!

5. Visit your stylist to cut all of the dead ends off in a timely manner. Sometimes, you need to chop it all off in order for new, healthy hair to grow. If you’re dealing with split ends or breakage, hydration will help immensely but you need a fresh start or those split ends will keep splitting.
6. Consistently seal the ends of your hair daily with our Biphasic Infusion --aka-- Liquid Gold. This oil-free daily treatment has the largest concentration of our Signature Tea Complex. It penetrates deep inside the cuticle to nourish the hair's structure, which attracts moisture and locks it inside.

All this pro tips can help you repair severely chemically damaged hair

So, that’s it! If you have any additional questions about Pai-Shau products or how to repair severely chemically damaged hair, feel free to reach out to us at info@pai-shau.com.

Have you ever wondered what unprotected heat is doing to your hair? When you heat-style your hair the wrong way, the keratin proteins that give your hair strength break down. The result is cracked and frayed cuticles. Also, the pigments that give your hair its color will change, vibrancy and tone will fade, and you will notice your hair losing its shine and becoming dull.

 If you don’t protect your hair from the dangers of heating tools, you will damage your hair. It’s important to take the right steps to make sure you’re protecting it, so we’re sharing some tips to keep your locks shiny and healthy.

10 Tips to Protect Hair from Heat

1.   Choose high quality tools: When shopping for a new tool, don’t get the cheapest one out there. Instead, look for tools that offer a variety of different heat settings. For hair dryers, we recommend using a professional brand from a beauty supply store. You’ll get stronger airflow and more power with less damage to the hair. When using curling irons and flat irons, find a brand that uses higher quality material like ceramic or titanium. Investing in good-quality tools is worth it in the long run.
2. Hydrate your hair: Using moisturizing products weekly will keep your stands healthy and less prone to breakage. We recommend using our Replenishing Hair Cleanser to wash and Supreme Revitalizing Moisturizing Mask for Hair to moisturize if you tend to style with heat often.  Replenishing Hair Cleanser contains amino acids and essential vitamins and minerals that deeply infuses hair with moisture and shine. Nourish your cuticles by using our Supreme Revitalizing Mask once or twice a week to further strengthen and moisturize your hair.
3. Protect your hair: Applying a heat protection spray for hair prior to heat styling is ESSENTIAL. We cannot emphasize that enough. Our Miracle MulTEAtasker spray, Something To BeLeave-In (daily hair moisturizer), smooths, detangles, and protects from pollutants and heat (up to 450F). This product contains our Signature Tea Complex, which is a blend of five steeped teas, each with their own purpose for the scalp and hair. These teas work together to insulate your hair from heat. Work this hair protector through your hair after you towel dry and comb through to evenly distribute.
4. Lower the heat setting: If you’re using quality heat-styling tools, then there should be heat settings that you can adjust. Just because the heat setting goes up to 400F, doesn’t mean you should use that much heat. Think about when water is over just 212F, it starts to boil. Can you imagine what this is doing to your hair without protection? The average heat styling tool goes up to 185-200-degrees.  If you have fine hair, we recommend staying around 180F. Medium to higher settings are okay for coarser hair. If you see steam coming from your hair while heat styling, that's a major indication that the heat is set too high.
5. Never use heat on soaking wet hair: Never, ever put heat to your hair immediately after you wash it. If you’re blow drying your hair after the shower, towel dry first and then wait at least 10 minutes. You can also wait until your hair is about 50-70 percent dry, depending on your hair type. Be extra careful by putting your blow dryer temperature low until your entire head of hair is dry and then going in with a higher heat where it’s needed most.
6. Regularly visit the salon: Get a trim from your stylist every 4-6 weeks. The ends of your hair are typically the most damaged from heat styling. When you cut the ends every month or two, you will continuously strengthen your hair. Talk to your stylist about any additional in depth tips on heat styling and protecting hair from heat. 
7. Limit how often you style: While styling your hair with heat may be part of your rouTEAne, try to limit yourself to only using heat 1-2 times per week. Cutting your normal time in half will help revitalize your hair back to health.
8. Use sections when styling: Creating sections will minimize damage by allowing you to control where you need the most heat. Sectioning out will also help manage your time so that you’re not rushing and being careless.
9. Work quickly: Keep the styling tool moving to protect your hair from heat. This avoids overheating any one specific section of hair. On average, you should only be in one section for 3-5 seconds.
10. Prolong your style: Use satin pillowcases or a satin cap while sleeping to prolong your heat style. This will lessen the amount of times you will need to refresh your hair during the week.

 By not following these simple tips and tricks on how to protect your hair from heat, within seconds, your hair can become extremely damaged, while repairing that damage can take a long, long time. That’s why it’s important to live in moderation when heat-styling your hair. Don’t over do it. When you have the chance to let your hair rest, air-dry! By working these easy hacks in your styling rouTEAne, you will notice reduced split ends and improvement in the overall health of your hair.

 Read this: How to Detangle Hair

Do you ever feel like your hair takes almost an eternity to grow out? This is a very common issue that many people struggle with. Don’t worry, we’re here to provide some simple, yet effective tips on how to trigger hair growth with just a few habit changes. 

CONSUME ENOUGH VITAMINS AND NUTRIENTS

A lack of vitamins and nutrients might be a cause of slowed-down hair growth. A balanced diet of Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamins E, A, D, and C all contribute to healthy hair growth. If you’re not getting them in your foods, then you should definitely consider supplements.

KNOW WHAT INGREDIENTS TO AVOID IN YOUR HAIR CARE PRODUCTS

A smart consumer like yourself should know by now that the shampoo and conditioner you use should be free of sulfates. Sulfates will strip your hair of its natural oils, leaving hair your extremely brittle over time. Try out our Replenishing Hair Cleanser (hair growth shampoos) and Replenishing Cream Conditioner to keep hair moisturized and refreshed without drying it out. Pai-Shau is vegan, cruelty-free, paraben and sulfate free!

GET A TRIM REGULARLY

You might think this is counterproductive, but getting a trim, or  “dusting,” is essential in growing out your hair. You should be getting a trim at least every 10 to 12 weeks. This will prevent your hair from getting split ends, which are culprits in what keep your hair length from growing. Frayed ends will cause your hair to break up farther and it will not get longer past a certain point.

AVOID HEAT STYLING TOOLS

Heat damage will slow down the process of growing out your hair. There’s nothing wrong with leaving your hair natural for a while - embrace it! If you’re worried about frizz, Pai-Shau Something To BeLeave-In and Biphasic Infusion will help defrizz that mane. While using heat styling tools, try and avoid putting the temperature all the way to 450 degrees. Just because it goes that high, doesn’t mean you should be using it. If you must use those heating tools, make sure you’re using a heat protectant, like Pai-Shau Something To BeLeave-In.

STOP AGGRESSIVELY DRYING/BRUSHING

Always treat your hair delicately and never be harsh. When brushing, use a boar bristle brush, and make sure you are starting from the bottom, slowly working your way up. Use a microfiber towel and silk pillowcase to prevent your hair from breaking due to friction. Another major habit to avoid is putting your hair up in a tight ponytail.

HYDRATE YOUR HAIR

Don’t forget to give your hair some extra hydration! Simply using conditioner a few times a week is not enough, especially if you’re in a cooler climate. Hair growth could be delayed because your ends are not fully moisturized. Using a hair serum daily and a mask once a week will ensure that your hair stays healthy and strong. We recommend Pai-Shau’s Biphasic Infusion and Supreme Revitalizing Mask (moisturizing mask for hair) for ultimate hydration.

Pai-Shau’s Signature Tea Complex, a blend of five steeped teas,  provides many benefits to your scalp and hair. For the scalp, the teas stimulate circulation, speed up hair growth, and reduce inflammation. The green tea in our Signature Tea Complex is the key ingredient to faster hair growth. It will help clear hair follicles of debris, aiding speedy growth.

Breakdown of products that will help:

• Replenishing Hair Cleanser:
  • Promotes healthy hair
  • Leaves hair soft, silky and full of shine
• Replenishing Cream Conditioner
  • Detangles hair
  • Adds shine and moisture without adding weight
• Supreme Revitalizing Mask
  • Nourishes and revitalizes hair
  • Adds volume and softness
  • Weightless moisture
• Biphasic Infusion
  • Oil-free hair serum
  • Smooths
  • Softens
  • Enhances shine
  • Protects and nourishes
• Something To BeLeave-In
  • Leave-in conditioner
  • Detangler
  • Frizz blocker
  • Heat protectant
  • Color and shine enhancer

A big struggle, especially for those with curly and coarse hair, is keeping locks moisturized for an extended period of time. There are a few different reasons for this, some of which is your hair washing routine, not knowing the difference between hydrating and moisturizing your hair, using the wrong type of moisturizing products, and lacking hair masks.

Are you washing your hair correctly? 

Do:

• Use a hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner. We recommend our Replenishing Hair Cleanser and Replenishing Cream Conditioner because it will not strip your hair of natural oils. 
• Wash your hair only a few times per week to retain the scalp’s natural oils. If you wash it more frequently than that, you run the risk of drying it out.

Don’t:

• Wash your hair in scalding hot water because it will result in dehydrated hair and increase frizz and static.
• Brush your hair after the shower. When you get out of the shower your hair is extremely fragile and prone to breakage.
• Lather in the shampoo on the ends of your hair. Shampoo should only be used to the scalp area and will only further dry out the ends.

Hydrate before you moisturize

You may be surprised to learn that “hydrate” and “moisturize” do not mean the same thing. It’s important to do both as part of our hair care “rouTEAne,” and in the proper order. Hydrating the hair is improving the absorption of water (penetration), while moisturizing is coating the outer surface (locking it in). Hydrating the hair will increase the initial moisture. The product you’ll want for hydration is a leave-in conditioner. Our Something To BeLeave-In, Miracle MulTEAtasker spray will ensure intense hydration. In this product, water is the first ingredient, which will really hydrate the hair.

After you have the right amount of hydration, next comes locking it in with moisture. Moisture will create a seal around the hair, preventing the moisture from leaving. A common mistake people make is moisturizing without hydrating. You will not get the results you are looking for by skipping the first step. 

Use an oil-free serum

We are often told that oil-based products will deeply moisturize the hair shaft, but that’s not true at all. The oils used in hair products are EXTREMELY different than the natural oils that your scalp produces. When initially applying these products, the hair will feel moisturized but this is only temporary. These heavily-based oily products have large molecules that are too big to penetrate deep inside the hair. Pai-Shau Replenishing Cleanser, along with other products, uses smaller molecules in its formula, which is why it’s able to cleanse without disrupting any natural oil production. 

If you want to deeply moisturize your hair, we recommend to use a oil-free hair serum (using smaller molecules). Pai-Shau Biphasic Infusion is an oil-free rejuvenating concentrate with a potent amount of our Signature Tea Complex. This complex will nourish the hair structure, attract moisture, and lock it inside. It also surrounds hair with a sheer veil of shielding properties to protect against environmental factors, which will prevent your hair from drying out. Biphasic Infusion = LIQUID GOLD!

Masking is essential

If it feels like no matter what products you use, your hair is STILL dry, you might want to switch out your regular conditioner for a nourishing mask. Pai-Shau Supreme Revitalizing Mask, an moisturizing mask for hair locks in moisture without any added weight. We recommend using this mask once a week after you shampoo with Pai-Shau Replenishing Cleanser. For maximum hydration, use with  Replenishing Cream Conditioner to strengthen hair as well.

You won’t believe how soft and silky your hair will feel afterwards!