The Best Products For Damaged, Color-Treated Hair, From Masks To Heat Protectants

I have a problem: I'm committed to dying my hair on the reg, but my frequent bleach sessions leave my strands lookin damaged AF, and that's no way to show off my new color! If you're in the same boat, I've done a little research to figure out the 9 best products for damaged hair if you’ve spent way too much time coloring. Hallelujah! Read on for the most nourishing, color-safe products on the market, and prepare for endless great hair days.

The In-Shower Saviors

Don't get me wrong, masks, treatments, and styling products all play a role in getting your hair back into shape, but it's the products you reach for during every single shower that can make or break (Literally!) your strands. Color-treated hair can benefit from a duo like the R+Co Gemstone Shampoo ($32, randco.com) and Conditioner ($32, randco.com), which both contain a color-protecting complex that locks in your dye job for up to ten washes. They also utilize strenthening lychee extract, moisturizing okra seed extract, softening sunflower sprout extract, and conditioning vitamin E. BTW, salons that use R+Co can also offer you a special Gemstone Color Locking Pro Concentrate treatment, for amped-up results in just five relaxing minutes. Treat yourself!

The Bond-Builder

To be clear, you can't unsplit a split end, but products like the Olaplex No. 7 Bonding Oil ($28, sephora.com) work overtime to repair bonds strand by strand, and give broken locks new life. Grape seed oil and fermented green tea oil are two key players in this formula, as the former contains nourishing ingredients from fatty acids to vitamins D, C, and E, and the later improves how strands look and feel for maximum visible results.

The Shade Maintainer

If you damaged your hair with color, it's safe to say you don't want to give up on your dye job — broken strands and a hair color you don't want is truly a lose-lose situation. A leave-in conditioning treatment that deposits pigment to revive your desired hue is essential, and the new Moroccanoil Color Depositing Mask ($28, moroccanoil.com) is available in eight different shades, from blondes and browns to pink and aqua. In addition to color, this formula features the brand's repairing ArganID technology to nourish while you tone.

The One-And-Done

A hair mask you can throw on when strands just need some extra TLC is a must, and I love that The Beauty Spy Silky Hair Masks Five-Pack ($35, hsn.com) comes with individually packaged treatments — no mess trying to scoop product from a jar! This rinse-off mask features all the good stuff, including olive oil, argan oil, moringa seed oil, honey extract, egg yolk extract, radish root extract, broccoli extract, cabbage leaf extract, and cauliflower extract. They went hard with this formula; I'm talking no nourishing ingredient left behind!

The Classic Mask

If you do prefer a scoop-and-go mask, the Davines Oi Hair Butter ($44, us.davines.com) is the best by far. The Oi product range is the brand's most rich, reparative line, thanks to roucou oil to tame frizz and breakage. A dollop of this baby will leave hair looking and feeling soft AF — plus, the scent is ah-mazing, and it won't mess with your color at all.

The Daily TLC

This duo from Virtue Labs is a must for improving the look of weak strands over time, and while my salon appointments help me achieve my desired hair color, the bleach doesn't always do great things for my already-damaged ends. The Virtue Labs Hair Repair Duo ($55, originally $70, virtuelabs.com) features the brand's Restorative Treatment Mask, which deeply moisturizes without leaving hair heavy and weighed down, and the Split End Serum, a slightly thicker creme-serum that helps your hair cuticles look healthy and strong, while preventing future breakage.

The Heat Seeker

I can't help it; even though I know I shouldn't regularly use hot tools on my color-treated, damaged hair, your girl just loves to curl! To minimize any negative side effects, I always prep with the Briogeo Farewell Frizz Blow Dry Perfection Heat Protectant Crème ($24, sephora.com), which features rosehip oil to hydrate and de-frizz, argan oil to condition, and cconut oil to prevent against breakage from the unnecessary heat. When I do break the rules and use my curling wand, this product always comes first.

The Blow-Dry Base

Before I even reach for a curling wand, chances are I've already used a blow dryer, and the heat-activated Color Wow Kale-Infused Dream Cocktail (colorwowhair.com) helps me feel a little less guilty for doing so. This formula contains sulfur-rich sea kale and claims to improve hair's strenth by 50% with every use, so it makes a would-be damaging blow-dry sesh a bonus revitalizing treatment for your strands.