They say gentlemen prefer them, they are the life of the party, and that it is the most coveted of hair colors – of course I am talking about blondes.
From the arousing allure of the glamour days of Hollywood (think Marilyn Monroe), to the outrageous fashion flair of Lady Gaga, blondes make a definite statement, and that statement is one of the most fun and glamorous looks available.
Blondes have historically combined the flirty girlishness of “the girl next door” with the hypnotic magnetism of the big screen vixens. Scan your eyes across the top of any crowd of people and the shades that catch the eye are frequently the blondes. There is something powerful and empowering about those who choose to venture down this hair color avenue. Since blondes will flatter most any skin tone and hair style, it is more of a technical and cost factor that needs to be considered before hitting the bottle and brush!
Which blonde shade is for me?
Although falling at the extreme end of the color spectrum, there are still so many hues and tones available for those who desire blonde locks. From the cooler champagnes, to the warmer strawberry shades, blondes do offer a variety of selections that can adapt to almost any skin tone.
Blondes add brightness and vibrancy to those whose skin tones could use a little pick-me-up. Whether through the strategic application of a few highlights around the face for a healthy glimmer, to a spray of foils in the crown to give a summery lifeguard-like glow, almost anyone can benefit from a bit of blonding. To the beach or to the bleach, the choices are up to you!
What are the downsides to going blonde?
Blonde hair color is a commitment. The lighter you go, the more noticeable the regrowth. For those who totally color or bleach their hair, you will see regrowth in a matter of days as opposed to weeks. You must also be aware that the chemicals required to lighten hair are much more caustic than those that just deposit pigment.
Beware of overlapping, over processing, and overdoing it. I have seen the hair of the abusers turn to an indescribable substance that no longer resembles hair. (In the industry we call it getting a “chemical hair cut.”) So if you are not a pro, respect your abilities (or lack thereof.)
Blondes can also require “toning.” This is a process where a shade of color is applied over the existing lightened hair to either neutralize brassiness, add a cooler tone, add shine and richness, or simply tweak the color to the desired shade. The downside, it is an extra service that requires money.
The upside, it can refresh your color in between retouches. This however is not a substitute for tending to your scalp regrowth. I don’t care what the fashion magazines try to tell you, “roots” are not hip, and you will become the girl others make fun of in line at the grocery if you neglect your blonde. Only celebrities can pull off the rooted look (even then, not so much!)
Go forth and go blonde
From the honeys to the wheats, from the icy to the warm, blondes offer a wide variety of color that adds interest, sex-appeal, and charm. You must remember though if you want the perfect finish, you must give attention to your blonde hair color. It is best to have a plan ahead of time as to what you are willing to invest in time and dime.
Consider the following:
– How much money can you afford?
– What technique (or techniques) will be used and what do they cost?
– How often must you attend to your hair?
– What products are best used to maintain the tonality?
– What will become of your hairs condition?
The options are endless and the menu of services is vast. No matter if it is inspired by icon Farrah Fawcett, to the edgy pale blonde of Christina Aguilera, blonde hair color can help you make your own bold statement as you stroll down the runway or down your own sidewalk!
Im new to hair colouring.
Im planning to dye my hair from natural black to the lighest brown(golden brown maybe). Then 1 month later, im going to bleach everything including the black roots & browns so that i can achieve a blonde hair. And then the following month, im going to dye everything to golden brown again. And it goes on and on!
Is it possible???? Lol i now im crazy changing colour everymonth, but at least i wun get bored hahaha. Any expert can advice me if this is possible all by single process. Im going to colour my hair all in salon, so i hope i dun need to go to double process dying as it cost more. I have short hair btw, above chin.
Hey Kevin, thanks for stopping by 🙂
Sounds like you’re getting geared up for quite the hair color adventure, I love it! The first stage of your plan (going from black to light brown) will take two steps, you’ll essentially have to get bleached and then come back up to the light brown.
After that, it will be possible to hop from brown to blonde.
It goes without saying that huge color changes like this can potentially be risky, but if you’re having it done in a salon then it sounds like you’re going to be in good hands.
I’m so excited for you, when are you planning on taking the first step?
S x
By this week! Think im not going for brown, but instead, bleach it for the first few month, and if everything goes well, i mightgo into colour like blue,red,green,purple!!!! Hahaha im crazy man. Just 1 question here. If i have red hair now for eg, how would the stylist dye it into blue for eg in 1 day? How would they handle my black root?
Hey Kevin.
Wow, it sounds like you’re going to have covered the whole rainbow by the end of the year!
If you were going from blue to red the only way to hide the roots would be to have them (and potentially your full hair) bleached again. There are ways round it though, if you went for a really vibrant and slightly darker blue, you wouldn’t need to worry about black roots (in fact, they might look pretty cool)
I can’t wait to hear how you get on, I’ll have my fingers crossed for you. Have fun!!!
x
hey i dyed my hair blonde with permemnt dye and now i want to dye my hair black with black hair dye from boots what will my hair colour turn out?
Hey. Going from blonde to black shouldn’t be a problem in terms of color, the only real risk of going from one extreme to another is the risk of damaging the hair. How recently did you go blonde? x
I have quite dark brown hair,wanting to go light brown/dark blonde? Is this possible without bleaching/re-dying? please reply asap as my appointment is tomorrow,thanks a lot!
Hi Caty,
Yep it’s entirely possible to achieve a light brown without bleaching your hair first (although the darker the level, the more challenging it may be).
The Colorist will still need to used a colorant containing peroxide (or a substitute activator), however this will still be gentler and easier than an out and out full bleach.
Good luck tomorrow, and please let me know how you get on.
Susie x
Help here! I had one of those moments. We have all had it. Went from mousey brown to hideous lemon yellow orange. I have dyed it with semi permanent ash color but as soon as i washed it the color was gone. Need ideas and specifi name of product pleasE. My wish was to be a tawny-wheat blonde. Yea!
Hey Lauren. Firstly, my sympathies go out to you, I’ve had more hair color disasters than I can count so I can feel your frustration. What brand did you use that washed straight out?
I like the blondes from Clariols Perfect 10 range, maybe the 7A ash blonde? If that’s too dark they also do a champagne blonde and a golden neutral blonde, so you should be able to get the right shade for you.
Good luck, and let me know how it goes.
Susie x
Help! I’m natural blonde but dyed it warm sand tones with the natural blondes collection an now it’s gone a much darker colour than previously. I wanted to have a lighter warm blonde. How soon can I re dye it?
Hey,
Firstly, depending on how soon you applied your new color, I would recommend giving it a week or so and a few washes to naturally lighten. If you’ve already tried this and it’s still too dark, you can use a semi-permanent color to adjust the tone almost straight away.
If it’s a bigger issue than simply adjusting the tone, then I would recommend consulting a Colorist (even if you don’t decide to pay to have the work done in a Salon). Bleaching on top of an existing color can be a bit of a tightrope walk, so having a professional give you their opinion can be the difference between success and a hair color disaster!
Good luck, let me know if you want any further advice.
Susie x
hi i want my hair the same colour as mollie king from the saturdays what colour would you recommend i use? i already have blonde hair. thanks
Hi Jayne,
What level is your current blonde? Depending on whether you want to go lighter or darker I will be able to recommend a good shade.
Great choice though, I love Mollie’s hair 🙂
Susie x
Hi, I was wondering which blonde colour you would recommend for asians? Is it possible to highlight your hair from black/dark brown to blond? (the time it takes does not really matter. I just heard this was healthier for the hair). I have bleached my hair once and it is now an uneven mix of orange and black. I also tried going blonde in one day last year, and it did not go well. So this time I would like to do some research before bleaching it again.
In advance, thank you so much for the help!
hey, i naturaly blonde , but had dyed my hair dark brown. im very tired of this color and want to go back to a lighter color, what can i do to prevent damaging my hair because i have also chemically straightned it, i dont want my hair to break
Hi Roxc,
There are a few things you could try to help prevent damage to your hair…
Gradually lightening your hair would be kinder. Speak to your colorist about the shade you want to achieve and work it into stages, that way you are not using too many harsh chemicals at once.
Using specialised hair treatments/masks to help condition and add moisture to colored/damaged hair will help to repair. After dying your hair you could add a treatment a couple of times a week rather than the recommended once a week just until your hair starts to look and feel better. Leaving conditioner on a little longer can help too.
Good luck and hope you get the color you want!
Susie x
Hi I have dyed my hair twice with loreal semi-permanent casting cream gloss in
Liquorice (black) approx 3 months apart I use. Quite a strong shampoo for psoprisis and this normally strips the colour out. Really quickly but this has nit budged at all I’m wanting to go blond a shade similar to molly king from the Saturdays
Please help lol x
Hey Sharron,
First of all, I love your choice. Molly from the Saturday’s has a beautiful hair color!
So far you are trying just what we would suggest by attempting to strip your hair color first. Then I would suggest to dye your hair in stages; from black to brown and then brown to blonde. This will help you monitor and develop the color you want to achieve and it is a little more kind to your hair.
I hope this is helpful and let us know how you get on!
Susie x
I’m getting a lot of gray since I’m now 66, I’d like to have a color that allows the gray to grow with out showing a big change of difference. my hair dresser keeps doing to much yellow and I don’t really care for it. I’d like an idea of what to tell her what it is I want. More in the Natural and nutral colors.
Hey Patricia,
It is likely that your hair dresser is using a darker blonde as they tend to cover grey hair better.
You could try suggesting a shade such as Natual Light Ash Blonde (an example for you to see is ‘Clairol Nice n Easy Natural Light Ash Blonde’). Have a look at this online and see what you think. Be honest with your hair dresser as well. You want to make sure you are happy before handing over your cash!
If the shade I suggested isn’t what you had in mind then please let me know and I will help search for the right color.
Susie x
Hey tomorrow im getting my hair done and i want to go blonde not to blonde though and ive got light brown hair at the moment but got dark eyebrows and wondered what colour would go best or if blonde would suit me x
Hey CCx,
Thanks for your post I hope this doesn’t get to you too late!
From what you have described I would such to try caramel and honey highlights. You would be blonde without being too dark and the mixed highlights would make the hair color look more natural.
Have you had your hair done yet? If so what did you go for?
Susie x
Hey so i was wondering.. I want to get my hair dyed a medium blonde and get black put underneath. But i was curious if it would kill my hair? Right now my hair is sorta a light brown so will it work?
Hey Kaitlin,
The truth is that whenever you dye your hair you risk damaging it and the majority of the time it will. To lighten hair bleach is used which is a strong chemical, so it will have an affect on your hair. Professional hairdressers know this and will do all they can to help prevent damage.
Susie x
Okay so I have naturaly light brown hair but I have had heavily highlighted hair for 3 years. Then ingot bored and dyed my hair red with 4RM Loreal Paris box dye. What steps do I have to do to go back blonde blonde.(not brassy
Hey Allie,
To go back to blonde you just need to use a ‘color remover’ to help strip the color and then dye back to blonde. I would suggest when using bleach to go to a salon but if you are going to do this at home then please follow the instructions carefully.
Good luck and I hope you get back to the blonde you like!
Susie x
light grey roots , length and ends bleach blonde want an all over blonde permanent colour , thought light ash blonde on the roots then combe it through to the ends will this work or will it need a toner , cheers.
Hi, I’m looking to go the same colour as Mollie from the Saturdays, I normally have bleach blonde foils, but I’d love to go warmer like her. I normally use fudge brand on my hair so if you could tell me what colour to use that are similar to use and what % peroxides. Thanks x
I use 10WB wishpersoft Blonde by preference by Loreal what is a color that is equal to this or a hair bit lighter?
My hair is almost totally gray (a pretty shade of gray). I was naturally a dishwater blonde. I recently purchased Wella Color Charm permanent gel haircolor # 740-1/2 / 8A which is Light Ash Blonde. Do you think that will be okay for me or turn my hair green or something. I’m hesitant to color it myself. I have always had highlights until the past year.
I’m an African American female who had locs but when I took them loose I noticed I had several different shades of color. I had it bleached then dyed a Crème of Nature light caramel brown but my roots came out little lighter than the rest of my hair. I then tried a Jazzing semi perm. spiced cognac color to darken it but it turned a orangey color. HELP!!! I really need to know what to do to get it a caramel color or at least get rid of the orangey color.
Hello…I have a question I am goingoto have my hair done the first of next month…I previously bleached it and it turned out an orange color. I want a medium silver ash blonde with platnium highlights. What do you recomend? I really want to get rid of this orangish blonde color. Help! Thankyou!
Hiya! I also really like Mollie from The Saturdays hair colour, but I don’t know what colour and style of highlights to ask the stylist for… I’ve had a few highlight disasters recently and I’m wondering if I’m asking for the wrong thing. This is the colour I would like to achieve http://i3.cdnds.net/13/18/300×400/mollie-king-zuma-restaurant.jpg
Any help and advice would be really lovely!
Many thanks!
This is the colour I would like to achieve http://i3.cdnds.net/13/18/300×400/mollie-king-zuma-restaurant.jpg
Any help and advice would be really lovely!
Many thanks!
Hi, I have recently had my hair dyed, and it has blonde and brown highlights, it has turned out very stripey and blocky on top, how do I remove this, My hair was blonde wth subtle highlights, just want my hair back to how it was. I love Molly Kings from Saturdays 🙁 help!!
Hi there! Question time!
My hair has been every color of the rainbow and processed god knows how many times. I have avoided processing it whatsoever within the last 11 months and even done a deep conditioning treatment every other week in order to restore the health of my hair. Now that it’s healthy again, I would REALLY like to go a bleach blonde color. (So much for it finally being healthy again??)… and I just purchased new hair extensions in the shade #613 (which is essentially just a bleach blonde color), and I’d really like to get my medium brown hair to as close to that shade as possible.
So now for the question,
Since I am trying to keep my hair as healthy as possible, do you think it would be better to just bleach it… OR.. Use a bleach bath 2 or 3 times with about 2 weeks in between each bleach bath?
Either way I will continue to do the deep conditioning treatments after each process. But I’m just curious as to which one you think would be the safest route to go with my hair.
Than you so so much in advance!
My hair has always been blonde to a golden blonde color. till about age 5 it was blonde almost white. My teen years it looked more of a golden blonde. I’ve always highlighted my hair with lighter blonde highlights because I don’t like the golden blonde color but I couldn’t afford to get my hair colored . So my hair has grown out and it is a light brown to brown color now and it just washes me out and makes me look really pale. So my question is what color or highlights would work with this light brown/brown hair I have and not wash me out and not look bad when it starts to grow out?
Hi 🙂 I have always had medium brown hair with dark brown eyebrows. I also have green eyes and brown freckles with pale skin. What colour would suit me best? I’d love to dye my hair because I’ve gotten very bored of my original colour. Going blonde would be great and I don’t really want to go red. Do I have any options??
Hi, so my natural hair colour is a dark blonde/ light mouse brown, I normally colour it medium browns/ chestnuts but despite this my hair is actually really quite healthy and strong. My roots are at my ears and my sisters wedding is around the corner so I wanted to get it dyed professionally rather than slapping another brown dye on top and hoping for the best. I wanted to go blonde (honey blonde, similar to the colour my hair was when I was younger). I went to the salon and showed a photograph of what I was looking for and the stylist told me that to achieve that look I should get highlights and that he would strip out some of the red/ brown dye on the ends. As I have never gotten it done professionally before I have no frame of reference as to if that would work I just agreed and let him do his thing. When he finished blow drying it I could see that it wasnt what I wanted, but I’ve gotten dramatic cuts/ colours before and know you dont always love it immediately, so i paid and left.
The more I look at it the more upset I get, because my natural roots are duller they look grey brown next to the highlights which look horrible and cheap/stripey. I dont mind the redder colours at the ends but I HAVE to do something about it before the wedding. I dont know if I should go back to the same stylist or a different one. Should get more highlights to get rid of more of the “brown” or should be asking to have my hair dyed? Will dying the hair blonde mess with the highlights that are already in? I don’t want to endlessly waste money trying to fix this but I do not want to have to live with wedding photographs of this hair forever… please please help, any suggestions are welcome.
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