You remember the horror stories we shared, right? We already answered your question whether bleach damages hair, and we also shared some of the (negative) side effects of bleaching hair.

Some of you may already have bleached hair though, and some of you may be experiencing this exact same problem. Here are some tips on how to recover from bleach damage!

1. Get a trim ASAP

Desperate times call for desperate measures. You may have been growing your hair for over a year now, but sweetie, it’ll be better in the long-run to get a much-needed trim as soon as possible. Bleach-damaged hair can be really prone to damage, which includes pesky split ends that can further cause damage to your strands. Getting a trim can help minimize the damages resulting from the bleach.

2. Use hair masks often

One of the biggest downsides to bleaching hair is the extreme dryness that goes along with it. Since the process itself makes the hair more susceptible to dryness, it’s pretty much impossible to avoid. The only way that you can at least recover from bleach damage is to find ways to combat the dryness. And one of the easiest ways to do that is to simply use moisturizing hair masks often!

3. Try to avoid shampoo

Speaking of dryness, did you know that washing your hair too often can dry your hair out? That’s why it’s recommended to wash your hair only 2x-4x a week. If you’ve got hair that was damaged by bleach, try to avoid shampoo as much as you can. What you can use instead is a clarifying conditioner that can clean your hair without drying it out. If you insist on using shampoo though, make sure you mix it with a little bit of water first before putting it on your hair. This will at least lessen the amount you have to use, thus lessening the risk for further dryness.

4. Stop using heat styling tools

We say it again and again in our articles – heat is one of your hair’s biggest enemies! Heat styling tools can already dry out perfectly healthy hair, so what makes you think your bleach damaged hair can stand a chance? To recover from bleach damage fully, make sure to stop using all heat styling tools. You can always try heatless curls or find ways to straighten your hair naturally, as an alternative.

5. Start using oils

Since the goal is to combat dryness, your job is to make sure that your hair is moisturized and hydrated all the time. Hair masks are good and all, but you need something else to leave on your hair the whole day. This is where oils come in. You can use different hair oils not just to moisturize your hair, but also to protect yourself from the harsh environment around you!

Got any questions? Ask away at the comment section below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can! And as always, for more hair care tips and tricks, feel free to check out the ZALA blog!

PUBLISHED 13TH MAY 2019

I Bleached My Hair And Almost Killed It

Do you have any bleaching horror stories? Yesterday, we received this comment after posting about whether or not you should bleach hair extensions.

“I wish I knew this before I experimented with my hair a few years ago. I had shoulder-length dark brown hair and wanted to lighten it to get the color I wanted. So I bleached my hair and almost killed it. It’s been years but it still hasn’t returned to normal. I miss my old hair. Now I regret bleaching my hair at all.”

ZALA I Bleached My Hair And Almost Killed It

Sadly, whoever wrote that comment isn’t alone in their predicament. Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of men and women have had their hair ruined by bleach. A quick Google search reveals multiple articles, blog, comments, and forum posts over the years by people who were unlucky enough to have bleach destroy their crowning glory.

Bleaching horror stories

It’s easy to find horror stories written by those who fell victim to hair bleach damage all over the internet. In many of the posts, you can feel the extreme desperation and frustration that these people, the majority of whom are women, faced when they realized what happened to their once-gorgeous locks.

Kat, Rock N Roll Bride

bleaching horror stories rock n roll bride — (c) Kat at Rock N Roll Bride

Kat, a blogger who blogs at Rock N Roll Bride, shared her bleaching horror story on her blog, “I’ve been bleaching my hair on and off since I was 16.”

According to Kat, she started out bleaching her hair by herself at home. Eventually, though, she started having her hair bleached professionally at salons every six to eight weeks. It was only a few years later when she met up with a hairstylist friend that she realized she had been doing her hair wrong the entire time.

“[Elbie] informed me that my hair was, to put it bluntly, completely fucked,” Kat said, describing her hair as ‘chewing gum on when it was wet’ and ‘crunchy straw when it was dry’. “Look at the ends especially – frazzled! My hair also wouldn’t grow any longer than this, it would just snap off.”

Jordan Hughes, Bustle

bleaching horror stories bustle — (c) Sara Tan, Bustle

“For years in NYC, I was working with an amazing colorist who helped me change my color while keeping my hair safe,” began Jordan’s bleaching horror story on Bustle. “But after moving to Los Angeles quite suddenly, I didn’t know how to replace her. For the first time, I had no referrals, no leads, and no idea where to go to find someone to help me keep up with my color. So when a friend offered me a highly recommended solution she knew about within my budget, I jumped at the opportunity.”

Jordan was trying to extend the life of her balayage in Los Angeles when things took a turn for the worse. “There was a mishap or two which resulted in four very intense rounds of bleaching that ultimately damaged my hair beyond repair.”

Months after dryness and breakage caused by her bleach, Jordan said that “an actual chunk of my hair was so fried that it had simply broken off.”

It’s not the end of the world

The thing is, no matter how bad your hair may be, it’s rarely – if ever – the end of the world.

Bleaching horror stories are so prevalent because many people are not aware of how strong bleach can be. Many stories have one thing in common. The victim usually had no idea what they were doing. Either they were new to it, or they relied simply on themselves to do the job.

The best way to combat this problem is to do always do your research. Before you bleach, make sure you know what you’re getting into. Search for reviews first if you’re having it done at a salon. Look up tutorials if you’re doing it yourself. Whatever you do – make sure you actually know what you’re doing.

And if it didn’t work out because of an accident? Don’t worry! Your hair can and will bounce back. Besides, we’re pretty sure you’re still gorgeous, bleached hair or not.

What are your thoughts after reading these bleaching horror stories? If you’re interested in more hair tips and tricks, feel free to check out our ZALA blog!

PUBLISHED 7TH MAY 2019

Easy Hair Curls

Always running late for school or work? That doesn’t mean that you always have to come into your office or classroom with your usual, ordinary hair that rarely gets styled.

Here are two easy hair curls that you can do even when you’re in a rush!

1. Five-minute curls

What you’ll need:

wide-toothed comb
heat protection spray
elastic
ZALA 4-in-1 Cosmo Curling Wand

This hairstyle was lifted from UK-based blogger, Imogen, who blogs at Ginger Fox. Thankfully for us girls, these easy hair curls can be completed in just five minutes – or even less, depending on your hair curling skills.

Use a wide-toothed comb to detangle your tresses! Make sure that there are no knots! And also, remember to put some heat protection spray before you start curling!
Gather all your hair in one ponytail using the elastic. Try to place the elastic where you’ll like the curls to end.
Start getting small sections of hair from the ponytail. Then, use ZALA 4-in-1 Cosmo Curling Wand to curl your strands safely and easily. Move on to the next section when you’re done.
Once you’re done with the rest of the sections, remove the elastic and let your newly-curled hair fall down.
Add finishing touches if necessary!

2. No heat sock bun

What you’ll need:

wide-toothed comb
a sock
hair tie
bobby pins

We’ve got YouTube vlogger Emily Liu to thank for this one. Like the name implies, this method requires no heat and it’s not hard to do at all, even for beginners. Sure, these easy hair curls take the whole night to prepare, but that means you get to wake up with gorgeous hair!

Prepare your hair first by detangling all knots using the wide-toothed comb.
Grab a hair tie and tie your hair in one big ponytail. But make sure to leave out any hair that you don’t want to be curled, like your bangs, for example.
Take a sock, preferably longer than average for best results, and roll it until it forms a circular shape.
Start wrapping your hair around the sock to create a bun. Afterwards, secure your hair with bobby pins if necessary.
Leave in your hair overnight and wake up to the loveliest curls in the morning!

If you’re interested in more hairstyle tips and tricks, check out the ZALA blog!

PUBLISHED 3RD MAY 2019

Tips To Extend Your Brazilian Blowout

Have you ever tried getting a Brazilian Blowout?

I have personally, and it was totally amazing! My hair went from dry and frizzy to smooth and soft, in just a couple of hours. My hair color also got deeper and more vibrant, far from my previous washed-out looking hairdo.

Sadly, not all of us, including me, have the time or the resources to get this hair treatment whenever we want to, so here are some tips to extend your Brazilian blowout!

1. Hold out on washing hair

Just like many other hair treatments, Brazilian Blowouts last longer if you don’t wash it immediately after your salon session. Your stylist will probably advise you not to wash your hair for the next three days, and you better follow that advice if you want to retain your beautiful tresses!

Other than that, you should also just minimize washing hair in general if you’ve got salon-treated hair. At most, you should be washing your hair just 3 times per week, for maximum longevity of your treatment.

2. Use specialized Brazilian Blowout products

If you do wash your hair, make sure that you’re using products that are specifically for hair that underwent a Brazilian Blowout. Again, your stylist will probably recommend some good products to you sold in the salon for a higher price, but you can also get such products outside the salon if you want to save some money.

Interested in drugstore brands? Make sure that you find an aftercare line that has everything you need to maintain your hair for the next 10-12 weeks, such as anti-frizz shampoo, anti-frizz conditioner, hair serum, and conditioning hair masks.

3. Avoid swimming in pools or beaches

Beach bums are going to be really sad at this, but it’s best to avoid beaches or even just swimming pools if you’ve got Brazilian Blowout hair. And not just for one reason, but for a whole variety of them.

For one, water, in general, can strip away your hair’s protective layers and make it more prone to breakage. Especially if your hair has been chemically treated, it becomes more at risk of getting damaged by friction and your environment.

Two, chlorinated water in swimming pools can ‘cancel out’ the treatment that was adhered to your strands in the Brazilian Blowout. Why spend money on such an expensive treatment if you’re not even going to take of it, right?

And lastly, sea water is not good for hair, salon-treated or otherwise. Have you ever tried bathing at the sea and coming out with horribly dried out, hard, and sticky hair that refuses to be managed no matter how hard you try? That’s because all the salt content found in seawater can be very overwhelming (and therefore very drying) for your hair.

4. Deep condition always

Salon-treated hair is always more prone to dryness than non-salon-treated hair. That’s why it’s vital that you include deep conditioning in your weekly hair care. Try to stick to products that are meant to be used specifically on Brazilian Blowout hair. Once you know what works for you, it’ll be easier to go back to in the future!

Interested in more hair tips and tricks? Feel free to check out our ZALA blog!

PUBLISHED 1ST MAY 2019

Easy Everyday Waves

Truth be told, I’ve always wanted to have wavy hair.

When I was younger, I had waist-length hair, and I would always put it in a bun every morning so that when I let it out later in the day, it’ll look naturally wavy. Oh, the efforts we go through just to have beautiful hair!

And speaking of efforts, here’s a short list of ways to get easy everyday waves that you can do during your break, in your downtime, or just whenever you have five minutes spare time!

1. Bun waves

This is the easiest, simplest, most hassle-free way to get waves in your hair, I promise.

I was born with naturally straight hair, and as I said above, I always wanted to have wavy hair. And this was the method I used, almost every day at school (except for bad hair days.)

You do have to have at least chest-length hair to be able to do this, though. First, when your strands are still slightly damp, gather all your hair and twist it tightly. Once you’ve twisted it enough, wrap it around to create a bun in the middle part of your head. Use the ends to ‘lock’ the bun in place, by inserting it inside the middle of the bun.

When your hair is already dry a few hours later, just remove the bun and voila, you’ve got gorgeous natural-looking waves!

2. Braided waves

The process of getting this type of wave is similar to the bun waves tutorial above, except, in this case, you have to put your hair in braids and not in a bun. And you do need elastics in this one, unlike the bun waves where you can use your own hair to lock your hair in place.

The only upside is that if you do this, you’re sure to get waves. Sometimes, especially when my hair was feeling particularly rebellious, it wouldn’t retain waves no matter how long I left the bun on my head. Frustrating, isn’t it?

But while it does come with some perks, I personally prefer bun waves to this one. For one, waves from a bun look so much better than waves from braids, at least in my opinion. At least bun waves look natural. This one, on the other hand, just looks like you had your hair in braids earlier, which is definitely not the look we’re going for.

3. Twisted waves

This is one method that I’ve always been interested in, but never been able to do. I saw my friends doing it sometimes but I never figured out how to do it myself. And yes, they already gave me a step-by-step guide.

Still, I’ll share it with you, in case you’re interested. To make twisted waves, simply twist small sections of your hair around themselves until they resemble a tight coil. Do that for the rest of your hair and leave them on for a couple of hours.

Later on, when you remove the twisted coils, your hair is going to have natural-looking hair that look tighter than regular waves but definitely not as tight as natural curls.

And that’s it for the three methods. Hopefully, you got something out of this short guide! As always, for more hairstyle tips and tricks, check out the ZALA blog!

PUBLISHED 27TH APRIL 2019

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