What You Should Stop Doing To Damaged Hair

As soon as the summer months hit, so does the rosé, day drinking, and of course, hair dyeing, especially with the rise of ombré and the oh-so-pretty balayage. Amidst all this, however, the sun's potential to harm your skin rises and your hair might also feel the effects of the harsh rays, which is why you should stop damaging your hair further by following a few simple tricks, courtesy of POPSUGAR.

OK, so stopping the dye jobs may be a bit of a stretch, but there are a few things you can do to minimize the damage if you're going to stick to coloring. Most notably: Get a haircut! "If someone has severely damaged or bleached hair, I always recommend that she get a hair cut and take one to two inches off. Then I have her do a conditioning treatment once a week," Johnny Ramirez, a celebrity hair colorist from Ramirez-Tran salon told POPSUGAR. I can attest to this one. Not only did my color end up looking better on healthier hair, but I loved my cute little bob, too.

For those of you who have a pretty drastic color change and can't go beyond six months of growing your roots out, Ramirez's solution is to use highlights instead to lessen the blow, according to POPSUGAR. "I have clients come in once a month, and I highlight around the face," he said. This technique also gives the illusion that you're lighter and brighter all over. Since the focus is the front of the head, it tricks the eye to thinking the rest of the hair is blonde, but gives the hair the opportunity to grow without the damaging effects of bleach." It's an optical illusion that's a win win for both you and your gorgeous mane.

So while we're reaching the tail end of the summer, it might be time for another dye job. Before you call your colorist, though, consider these two tips. After your visit to the salon, Ramirez also suggested choosing products that are protein-free. While proteins can help your cuticles and make them grow stronger, too much of it can be worse than bleach. In hair, as with life, too much of a good thing can actually be bad. Instead, Ramirez advised to only put protein in your hair once a week.

We've still got a good month and a half of beach days (who says you can't hit the waves in September?), so let's make sure to take good care of our hair.

Images: Several Seconds/Flickr; @POPSUGARBeauty/Twitter