Over-Processed Hair: A Hard Lesson in Hair Health

Posted on February 27, 2025

Over-Processed Hair: A Hard Lesson in Hair Health

Has your hair ever been over-processed? If you’ve experienced it, you know how heartbreaking it can be.

Recently, I had a devastating experience in my salon with a longtime client. I’ve been working with her for years, and we had never run into any major issues before. But this time was different.

She had been requesting more and more chemical services—relaxing her hair, touching up her roots frequently, and adding color on top of it all. The problem was, she wasn’t comfortable with her natural new growth. The coarse texture was difficult for her to manage, and she wanted it smoothed out as soon as it appeared.

As a stylist, my job is to help my clients achieve their desired look while keeping their hair healthy. I usually recommend waiting at least 6 to 8 months before retouching a keratin acid wave, which I prefer over traditional lye relaxers because it’s gentler and lasts longer. But in this case, we had done multiple touch-ups, color, and highlights—more than we should have.

Despite my concerns, when her new growth started to come in, she just couldn’t take it anymore. So, we decided to go ahead with another root touch-up.

And then it happened.

The Devastating Reality of Over-Processed Hair

As I rinsed her hair, my heart dropped. So much hair was in the bowl.

A section of her hair had completely broken off. I could feel the difference in texture and density—it was incredibly damaged.

I was devastated. As a professional, I had made the decision to proceed with the service, not fully considering the impact of all the previous chemical treatments. And at the end of the day, that was my mistake. I take full accountability for what happened.

But while this was a heartbreaking experience, it also created an important opportunity to educate others about over-processing and how to recover from it.

How Does Chemical Over-Processing Happen?

To understand why over-processed hair breaks, you need to understand the disulfide bonds that hold the hair’s structure together.

Hair is made of keratin, a protein that contains strong disulfide bonds responsible for hair’s strength, elasticity, and shape. These bonds hold the hair strands together and are what chemical treatments target to alter the hair’s structure.

• Relaxers and perms break and reform disulfide bonds to either straighten or curl the hair permanently.

• Hair color and bleach lift the hair’s natural pigment, penetrating the cuticle and altering the protein structure.

• Keratin treatments work by coating the hair and temporarily restructuring the bonds to create smoothness.

Each of these treatments weakens the hair slightly, but when too many chemical processes are done back-to-back, the disulfide bonds become permanently broken.

At a certain point, the hair loses its structural integrity and can no longer withstand another chemical process. Instead of stretching and bouncing back, the hair becomes weak, brittle, and breaks off entirely.

This is exactly what happened to my client. We had done too many chemical services in a short period, and her hair had reached its limit. Even though the root touch-up alone wouldn’t normally cause extreme damage, her hair had already been compromised from the previous treatments.

The result? Hair that literally snapped off because it could no longer handle another chemical service.

How to Recover from Over-Processed Hair

If your hair has been over-processed, you might be advised to cut it all off—but that’s not always necessary. With the right care, patience, and treatments, you can restore your hair while growing out the damage.

Here’s what I recommend:

Give your hair a break. Avoid additional chemical services and heat styling for a while to let your hair recover.

Regular deep conditioning treatments. This will help rebuild strength and moisture. Some of my go-to treatments include:

• Olaplex No. 3 – Helps repair broken bonds in the hair.

• K18 – A fantastic restorative treatment for chemically damaged hair.

Trim regularly. You don’t have to do a drastic cut, but frequent trims will help remove damaged ends little by little.

Consider protective styles. Extensions, braids, or wigs can help give your hair a break while it heals.

Hydration is key. Moisturizing treatments and leave-ins will help improve elasticity and prevent further breakage.

Even though this situation was painful, I’m grateful that my client continues to trust me with her hair. We’re now focused on restoring her hair’s health, and I know with time, patience, and the right treatments, we’ll get there.

Unfortunately, these things happen in the salon. We always go in with the best intentions, but sometimes things take an unexpected turn. What matters most is learning from the experience and taking the necessary steps to prioritize hair health moving forward.