Oops! Your hair is fried and lifeless from daily hot tool use. Your action plan:For now: Back away from the hot tools and get a polished look by applying a smoothing serum to your hair and pulling it back in a ponytail or bun for the day. Just can’t go heat-free? Protect your hair from further abuse by using a thermal protector spray like Tresemmé Platinum Strength Strengthening Heat Protect Spray ($5, walmart.com) before each and every blow-dry.For later: Repair hair with a deep conditioner like Living Proof Restore Mask Treatment ($42, sephora.com) and let sit in hair for 30 minutes. Then, combat dullness with a clear hair glaze, like John Frieda Luminous Glaze Clear Shine Gloss ($9, drugstore.com), which wraps hair in silicone and soy protein for a smooth, reflective finish. MORE: 3 Tips To Fight Back Against Damaged Hair After 40 Oops! Your at-home dye job didn’t go as planned. Your action plan:For now: Stop crying, then wait 24 hours and give yourself a “French shampoo”: Mix equal parts 20-volume hydrogen peroxide with your usual shampoo and let it sit on hair for 15 minutes. This will gently lift out some of the wrong color.For later: Reapply a dye formula that’s close to your natural color using this gentle technique: Let it stay on roots for half the time indicated on the box and wash it out of the ends of your hair after just 3 minutes. Follow up with a deep-conditioning treatment, like Reneé Furterer KARITÉ intense nourishing oil ($37, renefurtererusa.com), before you shampoo your hair again to minimize damage from the double-dye session. Oops! Your bangs are shaggy and overgrown. Photo by James Darell/Getty Images Your action plan: For now: Apply a lightweight gel, such as Pantene Volume 24-Hour Weightless Gel ($4, pantene.com), on wet, clean hair before you blow-dry to help camouflage the overgrowth before blowing your hair dry with a round brush to lift fringe up and away from the eyes so you can actually see.For later: Get thee to a salon for a trim! Ask for long, side-swept bangs (they’re much lower-maintenance than blunt, straight-across fringe) with the shortest point at the height of your brow and the lowest at your cheekbone, blended into your layers so they don’t look like an afterthought. Oops! Your new cut is way shorter than you wanted.Your action plan: For now: Make a diagonal side part and slick the sides back with a gel like Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Styling Gel ($5, walgreens.com) to create a polished, flattering look no matter how short your hair is.For later: Get through the awkward growing-it-out phase by using a hair putty with fiber, like Loma Organics Fiber Putty ($19, lomaforhair.com), as your daily styler. The slightly messy texture it lends hair will obscure the details of your cut. MORE: 15 Hairstyles That Make You Look Younger
