Beautifully blonde with minimal damage
Blonde hair is notorious for its difficulty to maintain. We’ve all seen girls try out blonde and then return to the dark side once they recognise the commitment. However, if done right, you can achieve and keep gorgeous locks. Here’s how:
Step 1: Consider your options
There are many shades of blonde; all are equally gorgeous but some may suit you better than others. Warm toned, honey blondes are more likely to suit warm skin tones, while paler, cool skin tones suit ashier blondes. The colour you initially decide on probably isn’t what it is going to turn out like on first attempt, so don’t be too hopeful!
Step 2: Nice and easy does it
Most blonde hair disasters occur when someone tries to go blonde too quickly. The only real way of becoming blonde quickly is to bleach it; as well as damaging it, the colour often turns a patchy yellow shade – nice! Accept that going blonde properly is a gradual process, as the first step is highlights.
Salons will choose the best shade for you, yet if you’re doing it from home, never try and do foils yourself, as the hair develops at different rates, leaving it patchy – I’ve been there! Instead, as excruciatingly slow as they are, use a highlighting cap, as these produce even colour and in my experience, lighten the hair all over rather than streaks. I would recommend Jerome Russell’s Bblonde highlighting kit for a noticeable lightening effect, or Boot’s highlighting kit for subtle, golden highlights.
TIP: If you do use bleach (which I have done successfully), apply it 3 inches away from the roots and then apply to the roots in the last 5-10 minutes, as the heat from your scalp accelerates the process. If it goes yellow or orange, dye it down with a dark ash blonde and then use highlights to lift.
Step 3: Dying to be blonde
Instead of heading to an all over dye straight away after highlighting, leave your hair for at least 6 weeks. Box dyes never turn out the colour shown, so choose the lightest shade you can find. If you want a warm toned blonde, look for the keywords ‘honey’ or ‘golden’ and for cool tones look for ‘ash’ or ‘icy’. Avoid bleach as this is prone to disaster, yet hair dye kits add a subtle lightening effect. My hair is a medium-light blonde and I use the lightest blonde each time, which usually tones it and lightens slightly. My favourite hair dye brands are L’Oreal and Schwarzkoph.
Step 4: Lighten up!
Get more highlights when you feel that your hair needs a boost – but this isn’t necessary! To avoid damage, make this at least 6 weeks since last dying your hair. Highlighting is the way to gorgeous blonde hair, yet everyone is different. If you want very light blonde hair, that means a lot of highlights, yet a sunkissed blonde requires only a few sets of highlights with a box dye inbetween.
Step 4: Bye-bye brassy!
No-one likes unnatural, brassy blondes. Eliminate any brassy tones by using purple shampoos – any blonde will tell you that they’re a saviour. If your hair was dark initially, it is very likely that your hair will be a red-based blonde; if this isn’t for you, toners will eventually make the hair ashier.
TIP: For very brassy hair, apply purple shampoo to dry hair for up to 20 minutes, as this makes it a lot ashier. This is also good for getting silver hair if you’re into the trend!
Step 5: Condition
Once a week treatments? Nope. Try once every other wash to keep your hair in good condition, as well as using oils or leave-in treatments afterwards. Miraculously, my hair still shines and feels reasonably soft, so being blonde doesn’t have to mean dry and frizzy!
Voila! It may not be the news you were hoping for, but being patient pays off. It also means that you get to try out varying shades of blonde along the way, instead of a sudden change. Enjoy being blonde and make sure to keep it conditioned!
The post Beautifully blonde with minimal damage appeared first on Feeling Stylish.
