I’ve Been Bleaching My Hair for 15 Years—Here’s How I Still Have Hair on My Head

Hello, my name is Erin Jahns, and I’m fully addicted to
bleaching the hell out of my hair. It’s an addiction going 15 years
strong (I’m 26, and my first-ever color job was in fifth grade),
and despite the amount of emotional and physical turmoil my strands
and I have endured, I plan on being as blonde
as physically possible until my dying day. Or, at least, until my
hair goes white—we’ll see what happens first.

But first, some context. As a baby and through most of grade
school, I was as blonde as blonde could be. Of course, at the time,
I couldn’t have cared less about the color of my hair, and if
anything, I probably wanted blue, glitter-streaked highlights like
the Spice Girls or edgy black lowlights à la Christina. The only
reason I begged for highlights when I reached the fifth grade was
because I thought I’d look “glamorous” (lol), and it’s what all the
cool girls were doing. So, naturally, I begged my mom and dad for
an appointment until my mom finally acquiesced and brought me along
to her next salon appointment.

Peroxide zebra stripes were my first foray into the world of
fake blonde hair, and from that day onward, I never went back. As I
got older, my natural baby blonde turned into dirty dishwater, thus
my foiling sessions became increasingly regular and increasingly
hard on my hair. By the end of high school, I was asking colorists
for full bleach and tones (so I was 100% bleached versus just
heavily highlighted), and by the time I got to college, it’s fair
to say my hair was in a legitimately sorry state. Not horrible, but
on the brink of disaster if I wasn’t ultra careful with how I cared
for and treated it. Am I doing a good job of foreshadowing my
impending hair doom?

Most people, at some point in their life, will have some kind of
hair disaster. And while I had hoped I’d gotten mine out of the way
in 1997 when my sister took me for a bowl cut at Kid’s Hair, I
wasn’t so lucky. During my sophomore year of college, I experienced
what my family, friends, and I refer to as “The Bleach Apocolypse
of 2013.” After receiving a full head of highlights at a highly
regarded salon in Minneapolis (where I’m from), I was left
completely unhappy with the color. The end result was an ashy,
mouse-like shade of brown with weird tones of blue and purple
(probably from some kind of toning mishap), and I was beyond
confused how the colorist had managed to stray so far from the
bright, buttery-white blonde I’d always been.

In a panic, and because I had spent near over $300 for said
color, I begged her for options as to how she could fix it
immediately. In hindsight, I should have sucked it up and sought
out a different professional at another salon weeks later, but I
had worked myself into a state and was completely desperate for
an immediate solution. Also panicked (and a tad annoyed), the
colorist told me the only way she could transform me into the
bright blonde I wanted was to re-bleach over all of the highlights
she had just foiled. (If you’re cringing, you should be—that’s
legitimately the worst thing you can do to freshly weakened,
colored hair, and her right to color hair should be revoked.) But,
as I said, I was panicked and immediately accepted her offer even
though she should have known better, apologized, and sent me
home. 

Fast-forward about one and a half hours later, and I was sitting
in my car, balling my eyes out with a wet, tangled, bleached-off
disaster on top of my head. The bleaching was an entirely horrible
idea and as the colorist washed my hair and attempted to comb
through it, I watched in terror as fists of hair quite literally
fell off my head. I know it might sound silly, and there are
certainly larger world issues than a bleached hair disaster, but at
the time, nothing could have felt more traumatizing. I truly
thought I was going to have to shave my head, and as much as I
admire stars like Joey King, Charlize Theron, and Natalie Portman,
I’m not an actress, and I don’t have the cheekbones. 

Of course, the trials and tribulations I faced post-apocalypse
are long and detailed enough for a novel, but long story short, I
was, in the end, able to salvage my blonde hair. I poured hours and
hours into research, babysitting check after babysitting check into
rehabilitation products, and even more hours and babysitting checks
at a different salon, getting trims, treatments, and consistent
TLC. (The morning after the disaster I went to an Aveda salon
where—I kid you not—I became a staff project and am still
remembered to this day.)

It took about three years for my hair to bounce back, and up
until a year or two ago—right around when I moved to L.A. to
become a beauty editor—I was convinced my hair would never be the
same. I still struggled to grow it out, and even though I had cut
back on my highlight appointments (I think I went at least six
months without getting so much as close to heat or peroxide
post-trauma), colorists never seemed to get the tone right and my
hair perpetually felt like straw.

Until, that is, I met my two fairy hair godparents, celebrity
hairstylist
Cervando Maldonado and celebrity colorist
Cassondra Kaeding. I met Cervando week one of my job as
assistant beauty editor for Byrdie, and (bless him to infinity)
he’s taken me under his wing and helped bring my hair to health and
lengths I never thought possible as a blonde. He’s the only one
I’ve let touch my hair, style and cut-wise, since arriving in L.A.,
and I credit his amazing snipping genius and practical hair tips
(get yourself avocado or coconut oil and apply it to your ends as
much as possible) for reviving my hair over the past two years.

That said, even though my cut and length were on the right
track, I was still consistently frustrated with my color (even in
as star-studded of a town as L.A.), and it wasn’t until Maldonado
introduced me to Kaeding at his West Hollywood salon,
454 North, that I truly felt I had found my long-lost color
soulmate. I’ve met countless celebrity colorists thanks to my day
job, but Kaeding is one of the most sought-after colorists in the
industry right now, and she’s also a complete and utter
perfectionist when it comes to her art, technique, and reputation
as a colorist. In short, she’s the only kind of person you want to
entrust your fragile hair with.

Unlike that colorist back in 2013, Kaeding actually told me she
wouldn’t touch my hair with any kind of color during our initial
appointment (she’s all about integrity and refuses to administer
any risky behavior that could weaken or damage susceptible strands)
and despite my disappointment, I waited an additional three weeks
on top of the 10 I’d already waited so she could wield her magic.
And, wield she did. Not only did Kaeding give me the best blonde
hair job of my entire 26 years, but she also kept literally every
single hair on my head. My strands have never been so long or so
blonde, and everyone I see and talk to (even other celebrity
hairstylists and colorists) are truly in awe of how healthy my hair
is despite how bleached it is. Kaeding is talented enough to create
an enigma out of me, and I couldn’t be more grateful. 

To celebrate, and because I get so, SO many DMs and questions
about how to fix bleached hair, I’m using my own experience as a
forever-blonde (I refer to myself as an unofficial official color
expert) and Kaeding’s legitimate expertise, to provide a
complete—and hopefully helpful—guide for blonde hair care
below. Ahead, all of our combined best tips for how to care for and
fix bleached, post-apocalyptic blonde hair. Keep scrolling!

The very first order of business post-bleach-apocalypse back in
2013 was a haircut. The stylist I saw said that although they would
give me a protein and moisture treatment to help stop the immediate
breakage (my hair kept falling and falling), I would continue to
shed, so the best thing I could do was to part with as much length
as I could emotionally handle. Not only would the cut help even out
the look of my hair, it would also help prevent further splits and
snaps. At the time, he chopped my boob-length hair to my
collarbones, and I was diligent about coming into the salon for
trims every month or two.

Years later, my cadence is every three months or so, and I make
sure to see the same stylist (Maldonado) who knows my hair’s
history and my goals for length and thickness. My hair has never
been so long or as thick, and I attribute that in part to my
consistency with trims—even if it’s just a dusting off the ends
prior to a coloring appointment (which Kaeding always recommends
pre-bleach).

Please learn from my mistake here, and before you go in for
color with a new professional, stop by the salon for a
consultation. Not only will you get a feel for the colorist and see
their other clients’ hair, you’ll also be able to make a game plan
with them to ensure you get the exact color you want without
sacrificing the health of your hair. As I mentioned above, the
first time I was booked to see Kaeding, I was scheduled for an
allover highlight, but when I went in to see her, she had me go
home and grow out my hair for another three weeks and said I’d be
better off getting a bleach and tone rather than highlights
considering how blonde I wanted to be and how inconsistent I’d been
with different colorists since being in L.A. 

“We decided to take the bleach and tone approach because during
our consult you expressed that the color hadn’t been quite right,”
she explains. “There were some gold undertones you weren’t fond of
that needed to be eliminated, and your hair was in good enough
condition. I knew that I would be able to go through, take my time,
and get you to the desired bright blonde you have always
wanted!”

Again, please learn from my deadly error, and do a lot of
research when searching for your perfect colorist and don’t solely
rely on a salon’s name or owner. I’ve seen more colorists and been
to more salons than I could count on my fingers and toes, and just
because a salon is owned by a famous name or has a “good
reputation” doesn’t speak to every single stylist or colorist
housed there. (Although I can vouch for everyone at 454 North—its
team is heaven-sent.)

Even being in an industry city like L.A., I’ve had some pretty
terrible experiences and some pretty terrible color. When I met
Kaeding, it was like a breath of fresh air. She took her time, she
was relaxed, and I felt safe in her hands. She also came
recommended by Maldonado, whom I 110% trusted, and her Instagram
showcases a lot of her work so I could rest assured she was
well-versed in the color blonde I was hoping for. Bleaching is a
really intense (and scientific) process, and going to the wrong
person can be the do-or-die factor when it comes to both the color
and integrity of your hair. 

“Bleaching is really tough,” Kaeding agrees. “It’s easy to
over-process the hair, which will cause extreme dryness or even
breakage. My advice to other colorists is to take your time, do the
work, and absolutely don’t rush. If both time and care are put
into the application, your hair will stay healthier and longer,
which means you can stay blonder longer.

“What I did was coat the previously bleached, highlighted hair
with Redken’s All
Soft Heavy Cream Super Treatment Mask ($21). This helps the new
bleach I was going to be applying from overlapping onto the old,
pre-lightened hair. I only applied bleach to the regrowth, and I
put about a four-inch-long piece of cotton between each thin
section, which acts as a barrier so the bleach doesn’t expand
onto old blonde and also helps absorb any excess bleach.”

If
you want to have super-blonde and super-healthy hair, lots of heat
styling just isn’t in your foreseeable future. (Sorry!) I didn’t
TOUCH a blowdryer or my beloved flat iron for months and months
after my bleaching disaster, and unless I absolutely have to, I
still airdry my hair whenever possible and avoid my collection of
hot tools, which, Kaeding completely supports, especially right
after you’ve done major color or bleach. “It depends on the
client’s severity of breakage, but the best thing to do after your
color appointment is to leave your hair alone,” she confirms. “Try
not to do any more chemical processes until your colorist gives you
the green light or tells you to come back in. Excessive bleaching
will only worsen your hair’s health, and you need to give it time
to recover. Also avoid heat styling; using hot tools on damaged
hair will cause more breakage.” When I do blow-dry my hair, I use a
high-quality dryer like this above from T3, which was created with
your strands’ health and integrity in mind. But most of the time, I
work with hair-healthy leave-ins that encourage and enhance my
natural texture—no wands or irons necessary. (The below spray
from IGK is my fave.)

Not
to wax poetic on the importance of not washing your hair every day,
but… please don’t wash your hair every day. I personally aim for
about twice a week, which has been a game-changer as far as keeping
my color vibrant and fresh in addition to expediting hair growth.
Kaeding loves Redken’s Color Extend Magnetics Shampoo ($20)
and Conditioner ($20), which are sulfate-free (this is important!)
and lightweight but packed with hydrating and strengthening
ingredients to help your hair recover post–bleaching trauma.  As
far as purple shampoo, both Kaeding and I recommend using
as-needed. I won’t purple my hair until two or three weeks
post-color and only every couple of weeks thereafter. In fact, I
have better luck with salon-quality clarifying treatments (like the
below from Malibu C), which completely nix brassiness and
discoloration instead of just counteracting with a violet shampoo
formula. Ask your colorist what they’d prescribe as far as purple
shampoo, but you probably need it less than you (and the hair
product market!) think. Right now, I’m loving Amika’s formula,
which was a recommendation from a fellow platinum blonde at WWW HQ.
(Thanks, Dev!)

Surprise,
surprise, don’t follow my 2013 lead by pre-gaming a bleaching
process with more bleaching. Instead, in the weeks prior to the big
color appointment, you should flood your system with the essential
vitamins, nutrients, and hydration to encourage healthy, strong
strands.  “Before a big bleach process, I like to tell clients to
do a hair mask once a week, and to take hair vitamins to make sure
your hair is healthy and strong,” Kaeding tells me. “Keep
hydrated—what you put in your body does impact the state of your
skin, nails, AND hair. Drink lots of water, and eat fruits and
vegetables that are high in water content.” I swear by Hum’s vegan
hair gummies (they’ve truly made a difference with how fast and
long my hair has grown), but Nutrafol is another favorite among
both myself and other A-list hair professionals I’ve talked to. And
yes, I’m that annoying girl that makes it a personal goal to drink
at least 80 ounces of water per day. But, I do think Kaeding is
right; it actually makes a difference. I also eat really clean and
make sure I get ample protein from high-quality sources (legumes,
salmon, etc.) plus healthy fats from nuts, seeds, avocados, and the
like. 

I’ll
admit watching that colorist attempt to comb through my
bleached-off hair all those years ago still gives me nightmares,
and to this day, I baby the eff out of my hair. In addition to
using my favorite products religiously, I also take painstaking
care when it comes to detangling and brushing my hair. I strictly
use a wide-tooth comb on damp hair, starting with my ends, and
working my way up, and use my favorite Shine Enhancer brush from
Wet Brush only when completely necessary on my dry strands. It’s
even gotten to the point where I bring my comb with me to any kind
of hair or blow-out appointment and insist the stylist use it to
detangle—unpopular opinion, but it results in significantly less
breakage and fallout than a Wet Brush or Tangle Teezer. 

Hair masks are a major part of bleached hair recovery, and I try
to do one every single week (bearing in mind I only wash my hair
twice a week), so basically every other wash. I rotate between
Olaplex’s Hair
Perfector No. 3 ($28) and any of the seven formulas below
depending on what my hair needs. If it feels like it’s dry, I’ll
pick one that’s more moisturizing; if I feel like it’s weak and
prone to snapping more than usual, I’ll grab one that has more
protein and is geared toward strengthening.

Kaeding is also on board with my hardcore masking habit and
recommends a once-per-week cadence to her clients. She loves
Redken’s Color
Extend Blondage Mask ($29), which also helps brighten and
maintain lightened hair.

I
use Olaplex every other week to keep my strands strong and less
prone to breakage. It needs to go on wet hair to be effective, and
I’ll often wrap my hair into a bun, go to work and the gym, then
rinse it out before I shampoo and condition when I get home. 

I
haven’t been using this mask as much recently, but I absolutely
swear it has miraculous superpowers. Post-apocalypse, I practically
wore it 24/7 and used it as a daily conditioner, leave-in, and
mask. The name doesn’t lie, and even years later, I haven’t found
too many formulas that can compete with it. 

If
you’re looking for an affordable drugstore find that feels super
luxurious and truly works wonders on damaged, bleached hair, I
highly recommend this fan favorite from celebrity hairstylist
Kristin Ess. It’s deeply nourishing and helps build strength and
stamina back into weakened strands. 

This
is one of the most iconic hair masks in the business and for good
reason. Developed by legendary hair genius Christophe Robin
himself, it’s enriched with amazing luxe ingredients like prickly
pear seed oil and inula flower extract to flood parched strands
with moisture and repair any lingering damage that’s compromising
your growth goals. 

I’ve
turned so many fellow blondes onto this protein-rich mask from
Davines. It’s so dreamy, and, I swear, legitimately glues broken
strands back together again. That said, it IS potent, so make sure
you don’t let it marinate longer than the recommended 10 to 30
minutes, and don’t use it more than every few weeks or so. I
usually apply it monthly in lieu of conditioner for 15 minutes.
Does the trick! 

This
was a recent Violet Grey find (along with my beloved Christophe
Robin pick) that I’ve been really into lately and which has had a
very positive impact on the softness and strength of my hair. It
smells amazing (not a bad perk!) and utilizes the brand’s
signature Alpha Keratin 60ku complex to revive hair with shine,
mega-hydration, and durability for more gloss and less
snapping. 

How
you choose to wrap and handle your hair when it’s damp might seem
innocent enough, but if you’re pulling and yanking too aggressively
or using the wrong materials, it can bear serious consequences.
Instead of wrapping my hair with a heavy, frizz-promoting towel, I
now only ever use these Microfiber Hair Turbans from Aquis. They’re
beloved within the beauty industry and promote faster drying time,
more shine, longer-lasting color, and less breakage. Plus, they’re
lightweight and won’t break your neck. 

Folks,
silk pillowcases are a game-changer, and I notice a significant
difference with the breakage around my hairline if I’m without one
(i.e. when I’m traveling or sleeping at a friend’s or S.O.’s.) I
recommend getting a few of these for a multitude of reasons: They
do wonders for keeping hair smooth, and they prolong your style so
you don’t have to wash as often. 

In
the same vein, I swear by these big fluffy silk scrunchies. I pull
my hair into a ponytail at the very tip-top of my head before
tucking my ends through into a big floppy bun. I might look like
Michelle Tanner, but I have less breakage and more shine than I did
before starting the ritual. 

Aside from shampoo, conditioner, masks, and my beloved air-dry
spray (shown above from IGK), the only products I ever use in my
hair are heat protecting and detangling leave-in conditioners,
serums, and clear oils. After I unwrap my hair from the turban,
I’ll smooth a nickel-size amount of hair oil (always clear if
you’re blonde!) into the entire length of my hair, and then I’ll
spritz through with my leave-in. If I feel like my hair needs even
more TLC, I might use another specialized serum or cream, but it’s
just as needed, and again, just depending on what my hair is
feeling and looking like. My favorites are below!

I’ve
used this lightweight clear oil from Verb for YEARS. I’m obsessed,
and it’s one of the first products I always recommend to anyone who
has hair but especially for blondes. 

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