Struggling With Damaged Hair? We've Got Solutions For All Hair Types!

We’re all familiar with split ends. 

Thankfully, this unsightly hair situation is easily remedied with a quick trim. But sometimes, we need more than just a visit to the salon to restore our hair to its former glory.

If you’re experiencing frizz, coarseness, brittle strands, and dullness, then you might have damaged hair, and that’s no fun. A good hair day can make us feel great. A perpetual bad hair day, however, can easily sap our confidence.

So, what can we do to improve our locks’ situation? And what are the best products for dry, damaged hair? Let’s begin by going over what harm can harm your hair in the first place.

What Can Cause Hair Damage?

There are a number of factors that can take your mane from healthy, bouncy, and shiny to brittle, dry, and dull. 

Bleaching, a type of chemical treatment, is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to why you might have damaged hair. 

The bleaching process involves using chemical ingredients to open up the hair cuticle, allowing an oxidative agent to penetrate into the very core of each strand so it can dissolve the natural pigment, which results in a lighter tone. Chemical dyes can not only leave your hair feeling coarse and straw-like, but the harsh ingredients used can also cause chemical burns on the surface of your scalp. This is why it’s important to leave bleaching to the professionals since they can help to minimize damage. 

The overuse of heat tools (like hairdryers, flat irons, and curling irons) can also damage your tresses. If you were to look at a strand of hair beneath a microscope, you would see that they resemble Christmas trees—complete with what are known as cuticles that cover the structure of the hair, overlapping and facing downwards towards the scalp. These cuticles prevent pollutants from entering the hair and keep moisture locked in. 

But heat tools can change that. Heat causes the cuticles to rise, leading to more porous strands, meaning they may not be able to retain moisture as well. To prevent damage from heat tools, try using a heat-protection product and lower the temperature of the tool. When you can, let your locks air dry.

Not getting regular trims could also result in damaged hair, because going too long without a trim can cause split ends. The solution is to call your stylist to set up an appointment ASAP.

Clean Hair Products

Realistically, once your hair is damaged—whether it’s the result of neglecting salon appointments, overusing heat tools, coloring, or bleaching—there is no way to truly reverse already-damaged hair. This is because hair is made up of dead cells, which not even the most high-end, luxurious ingredients can bring back to life. 

But, feel free to breathe a sigh of relief: it’s not a lost cause if your hair is damaged!

The most effective cure is to get a haircut (as we’ve said) and avoid what caused the damage in the first place. But there are other steps that you can take in order to make your locks feel even softer and smoother. 

This is where clean haircare products come in. Too many ingredients used in modern haircare products can be bad for us. Take sulfates, for example, which cleanse hair but can actually irritate sensitive scalps or harm coarse and color-treated hair. Or mineral oil, a petroleum byproduct, can create product buildup on the scalp resulting in itchiness. And let’s not forget the fact that petroleum is super bad for the planet. Derived from crude oil, the process of finding, extracting, and processing this fossil fuel spells negative consequences for the environment and people alike. 

We’re also strong proponents of cruelty-free, vegan products because beauty and feeling good about yourself shouldn’t come at the cost of animal autonomy. We’re sure you agree that animals deserve to live a life free from harm by human hands! 

So, let’s get into which clean, vegan, and cruelty-free products can help damaged hair. 

Best Products for Dry, Damaged Hair

When searching for the best products to use on your damaged hair, the first step is to figure out your hair type so you can make the most out of the products you purchase. 

There are some products, however, that can work well no matter what type of hair you have. The following treatments are good for all hair types: straight, wavy, curly, and coily.

Earth Harbor Sunstone Hair Elixir

A nourishing hair oil is your dry, damaged mop’s best friend. This fruity-floral elixir contains seaweed extract, which stimulates the production of keratin, a protein that makes up your hair, skin, and nails. It also has jasmine flower and carrot seed oil to encourage hair growth, jojoba oil to protect against breakage, and coconut oil to soften and condition.

Pacifica Vegan Silk Hydro Luxe Conditioner

Formulated for damaged hair of all types, this hydrating conditioner contains vegan silk proteins, which hydrate, add shine, and boost hair elasticity—a critical factor in preventing breakage. Vitamin B hydrates and moisturizes, while shea butter helps to prevent split ends and increase shine.

Best Products for Damaged Curly Hair

If you have curly hair, then you will want to treat your hair to the products that are right for your locks’ texture. Let’s get into which products can help your damaged curly hair.

EVOLVh SmartCurl Hydrating Conditioner

Get frizz-free, hydrated, soft, and shiny curls with this conditioner, which contains safflower oil to help your locks attract moisture, castor oil to nourish the scalp and hydrate dry strands, and rosehip oil, which contains linoleic and oleic fatty acids to moisturize the scalp, helping to promote healthier hair. 

Holy Curls Deep Conditioning Curl Mask

The main ingredient in this rich mask is ultra-moisturizing shea butter. With the addition of conditioning baobab oil and the scents of sweet orange, bergamot, and ginger, it’s the perfect treatment for damaged curls.

Best Products for Damaged Straight Hair

Straight hair tends to be weighed down by too many rich products. Here are some options that will help your damaged strands look healthier.

Ursa Major Go Easy Shampoo

This lightweight shampoo also has conditioning properties, so it’s perfect for fine, damaged hair. It’s thanks to gentle, coconut-derived surfactants (cleansing agents), macadamia seed oil to prevent moisture loss, balsam extract to retain moisture, and licorice extract to promote scalp health, to name just a few ingredients.

Loba Mane Transformative Mask

Masks can tend to weigh down fine, straight hair. But luckily, this mask was made for all types, so it’s the perfect product for damaged straight hair. Its superpowered combination of coconut, buriti (an oil extracted from moriche palm fruit), and tucuma butter (derived from the seeds of the Brazilian tucuma palm) to strengthen, promote elasticity, and moisturize.

This transformative mask was featured in Kinder Beauty’s May 2022 boxes!

What Is the Best Product for Damaged Bleached Hair?

So you've bleached your hair and are in sore need of some healing. We've got you covered with these products that specifically address the damage that bleaching can wreak. 

Innersense Hydrating Cream Hairbath

This luxurious sage and vanilla-scented shampoo was formulated especially for coarse, dry, damaged hair. It contains raw shea butter and other intensely moisturizing ingredients such as avocado oil and tamanu oil.

Acure Simply Smoothing Conditioner

Reviewers of this budget-friendly conditioner love how it soothes itchy scalps and dry, frizzy hair—both common side-effects of bleach damage. It’s formulated with marula oil, which has hydrating, moisturizing, and occlusive (prevents water loss) properties that nourish hair follicles.

Ceremonia Guava Leave-In Conditioner

The general rule when it comes to leave-in conditioners is that you should treat your hair to this luxury around once a week. But your hair mileage may vary, so pay attention to how your locks react to it so your mane doesn’t get too weighed down. This hair cream contains hydrating safflower extract and tamarind, while avocado aids in repair. In addition to these yummy ingredients, the proteolytic enzymes in aloe vera extract help soothe your scalp, which can become irritated from bleaching.

Reverie Ever Recovery Hair Oil

Did bleaching leave you with coarse, brittle hair? Try this oil, which was designed to repair damaged strands. It contains pampering marula oil, vegan squalane to strengthen and add shine, and lightweight, conditioning Abyssinian oil. 

Final Thoughts

Remember, the best treatment for damaged tresses is a good haircut. But, barring getting a cut and starting over, these products can help your dull, dry locks look and feel healthier.

Please note: A product appearing in our blog is not an official Kinder Beauty endorsement. While every product we feature in an article is cruelty-free and vegan, these products do not necessarily meet all of our strict brand standards for curation in one of our boxes.