Guide
Are highlights damaging to hair?
Yes, to a degree. Lightening, the step behind hair highlights, breaks down the pigment that gives hair its colour, and the same step wears the hair itself. The lighter the hair is made, the more it is worn.
What lightening does to hair
The pigment sits inside each hair, so lightening reaches inside it. At the same time it breaks the bonds that hold the hair’s protein together, which wears the hair. Lightening changes the hair: lightened hair is more porous than untouched hair, and heavily bleached hair shows its outer layer coming away and small holes where the pigment was.
What helps at home
Lightened hair takes up conditioning ingredients more readily, so conditioner after every shampoo is worth keeping up. Wrapping your hair in a towel instead of rubbing it, and using heat less often, help as well. Our page on frizzy hair in humidity explains why.
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