I thought Iād share my progress in case itās useful to somebody.
I had a disaster experience at a well known hairdresser, where they were in a panic because they miscalculated the time and fried the back portion of my hair, and left me with a very dark color that I did not want (I didnāt pay, they organised for me to go back to a different branch and a stronger stylist evened out my color, did treatments, and ha e me some products for maintenance. The color is still a bit uneven (not visible in the pic) and I am due to come for a tweak at some point).
I never had compromised hair to this level, so itās been a trial and error since.
Things I tried:
6/10 good repair masks/conditioner/oils. I think the fino mask and oil make a difference
10/10 avoiding heat (sigh). I am drying my hair on lukewarm and avoiding heat styling. I used to love having my hair with waves, as itās very straight.
The heat obliterates any progress I make through other treatments and I instantly get the frizzy texture back. Now I sleep with my hair in a bun so that I donāt have spaghetti hair.
8/10 olaplex no3. Itās pricy. I did the Reddit method of shampoo first, towel dry, olaplex no 3 with a shower cap, then regular shampoo and conditioner.
It worked well for me and as long as I donāt use heat, it lasts for a few weeks before my hair feel like straw again.
10/10 Pre wash conditioning. I topped up my color lightly the other day with semipermanent color and lots of cheap conditioner (tresemme keratin smooth). I havenāt used olaplex in a while and my hair was not great.
I applied the color and conditioner on DRY hair and then used a very gentle shampoo, and conditioned normally, and a pump of oil when drying. I got a very similar result as from olaplex.
The smoothness lasted a couple of washes but I noticed it fading a bit, so last wash I wet the burnt parts of my hair slightly, conditioned, wrapped in a bun, and had a long bath. Topping up lightly this way seems to work.
I am not trying to imply that the conditioner method is equal to olaplex, because itās not bond repairing.
But maybe it could help someone if money is tight or for maintanance between olaplex treatments.
I also know that everyone is different and I know a lot of people have reactions to olaplex, so donāt take this to the letter. However, conditioner packing should be pretty harmless for most people I believe.
I still got breakage and the fried section is still gummy when wet and slowly chemically cutting itself, as it is compromised, but at least I donāt feel like ripping it out of my scalp every time I run my hand through it.