After colouring my hair it's in bad condition! Can I lighten it without causing further damage?

Hi,

A few years ago I had naturally mousy brown hair and used box dyes to go red. In order to cover the red I tried to go a darker brown which was very dark, almost black. In time I just began using black dyes on my hair. As I had a light brown natural colour my roots were ridiculous when they started showing so a few months ago I got my hair completely stripped at the hairdressers.

I then got a chocolate brown dye over to try and go back natural. This is slightly darker than my own colour so it takes quite some time for my roots to become noticeable. Due to getting my hair stripped it is in really bad condition and every time I wash it I have to spend about half an hour brushing conditioner through to detangle it.

My hair is falling out quite a bit whilst I'm doing so. How can I give my hair deep conditioning treatments and is there any way I can naturally lighten the rest of my hair to match my roots without harsh dyes or chemicals as I really don't want to dye it again?

Thank you,

Nicola, Liverpool

You need to get the best treatments you can, my personal favourites are Kérastase moisture treatments. But as well as moisture the hair needs protein so an in-salon protein treatment like Biolustre is great for re-building the hair shaft after chemical processing. As for the colour, I would just suggest to let it fade by not colouring it and over time it will gradually. Then have regular trims and it should start to get back to normal.

John Clark at Brooks+Brooks, London