Damaged Hair/Breakage

For context, I (26F) have been color treating my hair for 10-11 years. Majority of that time, I was various shades of vibrant to eggplanty purple—always professionally done, using different brands over the years. My hair was always super healthy even with all of that coloring. A little over a month ago, I decided to change to a more coppery color. It took about 8 hours in the chair to remove the color completely; my hairdresser eventually gave up on color remover and went to bleach instead. My current hairdresser uses a couple of K18 products on my hair during my appointments.

My hair was compromised, of course, but it was still relatively healthy and I was doing my best with my circumstances to keep it that way. 4 weeks later, I went in to get the color redone (we did it stepwise) with permanent dye, no bleach. So far, so good. About a week ago, I went in just for a blowout for a special occasion and while I was there, she did a semi-permanent gloss (again, no bleach) but even she was shocked by how much more damaged my hair had gotten over time. It was a night and day difference between last week and the weeks before.

I’m losing a lot of hair in my brushes—more than likely breakage—but it’s so much more easily tangled. After work this evening, I noticed I have a significant (to me) portion of broken hairs by the side of my neck that weren’t there yesterday. It looks like a really obvious cowlick when my hair is up. I’m starting to get really upset by this and regretting my decision to change my hair color because my hair was so unbelievably healthy, but now it just feels dry, damaged, and thin. Please help, I’m on my hands and knees begging for advice!

More context: • I will be getting a couple of inches trimmed next time I go to the salon. I want to grow my hair longer, but I can’t do that if the damaged ends are contributing to tangles. • I’m an aquarist by profession and do a lot pf scuba diving—almost daily in many cases. I wear a wide headband to protect my hairline and keep my hair tied back in a low bun to keep it secure and out of the way. In hindsight, this is probably not helping as I tie it first with a riptie, then into a bun with a second elastic. • The only changes in my routine have been shampoo and conditioner—I wanted to try XMONDO to preserve my color, and a cosmetology friend recommended I try Matrix Food for Soft. I have used a Bond Repair mask as well. • I use a leave-in treatment before every shift where I anticipate my hair getting soaked in saltwater. I primarily use Aqua Guard, but I ran out and used the XMONDO clear gloss treatment a couple of times. This is the only major difference that I can maybe see contributing to the worsening of my damage, besides tension and brushing.