Here's How to Fortify Your Hair Against Breakage — for Good

All hair experiences breakage, but processed hair is even more susceptible to damage. Chemical processing (AKA dying your hair or doing your roots) can wear down your hair cuticles and remove healthy proteins. This causes dryness, leading to split ends and, ultimately, breakage. 

Luckily, there are many ways to mend demanding, processed hair at home, like using products from Redken’s Acidic Bonding Concentrate line. Ready for healthy-feeling hair and shine without a trip to the salon? Here’s a handful of at-home measures you can take.

Incorporate Acid Into Your Routine for Healthier Hair

A healthy hair care routine should have some portion of acid in it. This is because your hair is more prone to breakage and damage when it veers over to the alkaline side of the pH scale. Luckily, Redken’s chemists have engineered the four-step Acidic Bonding Concentrate (ABC) hair care regimen. Each of the products contains citric acid (to penetrate the hair cuticle and balance your hair’s pH) and the Bonding Care Complex to repair weak hydrogen bonds in the hair. 

The first step in the Acidic Bonding Concentrate process is the Intensive Treatment, which reinforces weak bonds, balances your hair’s pH, and primes your strands for the rest of the regimen. Next comes the sulfate-free shampoo for strength repair and color fade protection. The sulfate-free, pH-balancing conditioner intensely conditions the hair to leave it feeling 14x smoother.* Finishing the process off with the Leave-In Conditioner provides one final pH-balancing step, while also defending your hair against heat styling tools while visibly repairing split ends.

Use the full system for the best results, or mix and match the products with your current haircare regimen. After using the entire system, 92% of users experienced hair that felt healthier after just one use.** Continued use of the entire system can lead to fewer visible split ends and less breakage overall.

Protect Your Hair From The Heat

Your blow dryer, curling wand, and straightener can roast your strands — especially if your tool is turbo-charged to reach heats of over 400 degrees. Using heat tools regularly — particularly when you’re pulling at your hair with a brush — weakens the strong proteins in your hair, causing split ends and breakage. Always make sure to use a heat-protectant before heat styling, like Redken’s Acidic Bonding Concentrate Leave-In Treatment. In addition to providing one final pH-balancing line of defense, it protects your strands from heats up to 450 degrees.†  

Reduce Your Hair-Washing Schedule

It’s true what they say about not washing your hair every day: It is ultimately healthier for your hair. When your hair gets wet in the shower, it stretches up to 50%, which is when breakage can occur. Going two to three days between washes can help lessen damage and prevent breakage. 

However, if you need to wash more frequently due to having finer hair or a regular workout schedule, there are ways to limit breakage. Using the Acidic Bonding Concentrate Intensive Treatment prior to showering can help reinforce weak hydrogen bonds in wet strands, making your hair less likely to break.

Try A Hair Gloss 

In the summer when your hair is at its most vulnerable, consider swapping your traditional ammonia or bleach-based color, which can be tough on your locks, for an ammonia-free, amino acid-enriched hair gloss like Redken’s Shades EQ Gloss products. This gentle demi-permanent hair color treatment brightens up your hair and fades naturally over time. Better yet, it conditions and refreshes burnt-out hair after just a 20-minute treatment. It can also return your hair to its optimal acidic pH.

Additionally, the Acidic Bonding Concentrate shampoo and conditioner help protect your hair from color fade and keep it within a healthy pH Range. The Leave-In Treatment also helps preserve your hair against harsh color treatments. 

Strengthen your hair with help from Redken’s Acidic Bonding Concentrate products.

_{*System of acidic bonding concentrate intensive treatment, shampoo, and conditioner vs. non-conditioning shampoo}

<sub>**Based on expert test results, N=66

† Vs. non-conditioning shampoo</sub>