BREAKING POINT

The biggest pitfall for colour-treated strands is breakage, but with a few pro tips, you can navigate through the fragile phase and regain strength. “You will always be compromising your hair by using colour, but this shouldn’t deter you,” says Gilmore. “Hair colour comes with so many great benefits, like the opportunity to have freedom of expression.” Preventive measures are best. “If you’re investing in a colour service, you need to be investing in your home routine with colour-treated products as well,” advises Dubois. Should breakage occur, consider it a sign that something is missing. “All colour-treated clients need a [professional] protein treatment every six to eight weeks for strengthening,” says Gilmore. “Protein helps build up the hair strand and make it sturdy.” In between salon treatments, which offer more potent formulas that help restore hair integrity, an at-home routine focused on moisture will help, too. You need to find a balance between strength and softness, says Dubois. Her go-to SOS lineup for breakage includes shampoo, conditioner and leave-in conditioner for brittle hair and a biweekly reparative mask or treatment. For blonds experiencing breakage, Dubois suggests alternating between shampoos that neutralize brassiness and more moisturizing formulas. Purple shampoo keeps blond tones bright, but it can also be very drying, she says. And excessive exposure to hot tools is another drying factor to watch out for. “Limit the amount of heat styling, and always use a leave-in conditioner and thermal protectant on colourtreated hair before blow-drying,” says Gilmore. For those using at-home hair colour, he also recommends watching out for breakage caused by overprocessing. If you start by applying dye in the same spot on your head every time, it will always be sitting there the longest while you finish the rest of your hair, he explains. ■