So a few years ago I used to bleach my hair. It was almost white, and I kept bleaching it when my roots came through. I really didn't know that much about hair and hair care, and soon enough I started to notice my hair seemed to be getting shorter. 'How could this happen?' I'd question. I didn't realise that hair could break off or fall out due to damage from hair dying and bleach. My parents told me I was probably imagining it, but after a while we knew I wasn't. My hair was so badly damaged that it would just snap off at the ends and wouldn't get any longer- not good considering it was already short and I was aiming to grow it.


I knew that no amount of hair care would help this, so I took the huge decision to have a big hair cut. I had to have it all cut off into a short bob in order to get rid of all the split ends. Before that I had stopped bleaching and the roots were much healthier. I had a full head of highlights to cover up the roots along with my hair cut ( to neaten everything up). I really hated having to have my hair cut off, but luckily the hairdresser did an excellent job and I liked my new do. However I still had aimed to grow it. So from here I rarely ever used heat i.e straighteners or hair dryers. I'd only ever dyed the roots using semi permanent colours and soon enough I started to notice a different in my hair. Not using bleach and having my split ends chopped off had made a huge difference to the condition of my hair. After a while I realised that dying my hair light was too hard to maintain, so a few years later I decided to dye my hair brown.

It made a huge difference as once I had the colour I only ever needed to use semi permanent hair dye and have done to this day. I never use straighteners and rarely blow dry my hair and my hair is now quite long. However recently I started to notice my hair was in bad shape again, it seemed to be falling out in strands like there was no tomorrow. I started to worry, what was damaging my hair? I knew I needed something drastic to help my hair before I ever did any hair dying or styling again.

So now, I put warm olive oil in my hair once a week- this gives natural oils back to your hair which makes it glossy and strong. I also use a Tresemme deep conditioning mask every other day and leave it in my hair for about 10 minutes. The results have been fantastic, my hair is no longer dry or brittle but feels nourished and healthy and strong. I also use Tresemme's split end remedy when I need to and an Elvive product for my roots.

My advice for anyone who is planning to dye their hair, before you do so spend a few weeks prepping your hair. Make sure you hair is healthy enough that dying you hair won't further damage it too much. I now know that the next time I dye my hair, it'll be ready!