So you have decided you want to be a blonde! What do you think of orange first? Because there are many stages to becoming a blondie. Many people are wanting silvers and whites, which is awesome, but there are things to be aware of before making the commitment.
Firstly, consider your hair goal. Do you want a colour change? Want something that blends with natural silvers beginning to sprout? Looking to grow out your natural colour?
How do you feel about orange? The photo above will introduce you to all the colours you will see before being blonde. In your stages, you will be varying shades and tones before your goal. You need to be prepared for that orange hair - now it can be toned and cooled off to a dark blonde. But as you sit in the chair watching and waiting, believe me you will see many many colours in there.
Consider your hair maintenance, finances and lifestyle. Looking for less maintenance? Don't care about it, you will do whatever is needed whenever? Can you afford to visit the salon for double process colour treatments regularly? Prepared to buy professional purple shampoo and visit the salon for monthly toners? Willing to live with gold and brassy tones in between visits when toners have washed away? And high quality, sulfate free shampoo and conditioners are essential!!
Consider schedule and time per visit. Will you be pre-scheduling your appointments to commit to the multi session colour change? And once colour is achieved, will you pre-schedule your visits to maintain which could be every 4-8 weeks depending on your habits and how long you can handle the look of roots. Each session could easily be 3-4 hours to get you there - and maintaining the look will likely be about 3 hours each time. Perhaps every 4 weeks depending on the look you choose. Thin, soft, subtle highlights or balayage look can get longer in between root touch ups, perhaps only requiring 3 or 4 times a year for re-lightening. However, there are regular toners and potential root smudges as well depending on your look. Can you handle being orange for a month?
Though I would love to say that hairstylists are miracle workers - we are not. If you want your hair to still be attached to your head, this must be done slowly and properly. Could take up to 4 sessions for you to go from a darker shade to the varying tones of blonde.
I don't want to frighten you away from the blonding process. However, I am having this chat more and more frequently with clients. I am also noticing that some of my blonde clients who were already blonde when they came to me, notice massive differences in the health of their hair after only a couple of visits with us at our salon. They will say things like, "my toner is holding longer" or "my ends don't turn purple any more" or "before I came here, I thought blonde hair meant mushy hair - now I know better". Blonde hair should never feel mushy - that is over processed hair that is screaming for help. There are proper ways to lighten and I recommend a full consultation with your stylist before making the change. It is alot of work for both you and your stylist, so you do need to be prepared as much as they do. There is nothing worse for a hairstylist than pouring your knowledge, creativity and time into a canvas to have them turn around and say, forget it - colour it dark now, I didn't think it would be this much work. They can help guide you through the proper considerations and placement of the blonde. There are lower maintenance blonde looks, but only you and your stylist can determine what will work best for you. It takes team work to make a dream work!
This is the life of a blonde. Blonde hair is only nice hair when you are willing to take care of it. It requires extra attention, less washing, less heat treatments like blow-drying and flat-ironing. It also requires heat/thermal protectants in order to avoid distressed hair. It can be absolutely beautiful but you must be patient and kind to it. Blonde is definitely worth the work! xo