How to Achieve Your Desired BLONDE

Blonding is totally an art! It's one of my absolute favorite projects to take on.

Let's think about what makes a blonde beautiful--

Shiny blonde hair is a must. When the hair is shiny, it means it's healthy, so it has maximum reflection of light! Second, if you're going for an icy or ashy blonde, having no brassiness (orange/gold tones) is also key. And lastly, keeping the hair thick, with minimal damage is important.

**HOT TIP** Every time a Stylist lightens your hair, naturally 10-15% of the protein bonds get broken in the process. This is why we use products like Olaplex and Brazilian Bond Builder as an additive into the color, to reduce the percentage, keeping the hair more in tact. Hair will split and break if it's done too quickly or with low quality products.

And will end up like this:

First, you'll need to understand the basics of lightening the hair, from a client standpoint. On the left are the "levels" of haircolor, from black to lightest blonde. As your Hairstylist lightens the hair to get to higher levels, natural "undertones" get exposed- ranges in red, orange and yellow.

Undertones get exposed, every time, no matter what. They're part of the process. Your Stylist didn't do something wrong. It's chemistry and a throwback to the color wheel back in elementary art class!

If you want platinum hair, your hair must be a Level 10. And the undertone will look like the inside of a banana peel. Sometimes I call it "baby chicken yellow"!

So where to go from here? Here is the optimal process to be aware of, as a client, for achieving the perfect blonde. And I'll also show you what happens when you try to do it faster and cheaper.

1. Go into the salon for a consultation. What I normally do is find an inspiration photo or two and analyze what it will take to get you there based on your natural hair color, previous coloring, integrity of the hair, thickness, etc.

2. I will give you three options.

Option 1: Do a test strand to see exactly how the hair will lighten, how long it will take, and if it will need to be lightened more than once. I will then know how many appointments to book, how much time it will take, etc. This will give you the most accurate estimate of cost and time. And yes, the test strand has a cost.

Option 2: Book two separate appointments, spaced 1-2 weeks apart. Why? The hair has a point at which it will not lighten past, in one sitting. The hair needs time for the proteins inside of it to become available to lighten again. If I cannot get the hair to budge past the orange/yellow stage in the first sitting, you'll need to wait and have your next appointment ready to go.

Option 3: Book one appointment and you are my only guest that day. It could take between 4 and 10 hours, depending on many factors. Lots of rebuilding treatments will be done in between to make sure the hair remains in the best possible condition. This is the least ideal scenario, but still manageable in most cases, especially if you're not okay with your hair being in brassy/golden stage before we reach the end result.

Here are some examples of blonding sessions from other Stylists.

6 Hour Session Below:

8 Hour Session Below:

10 Hour Session Below:

If you have:

-box haircolored your hair in the last 4 years

-brown hair naturally

-red or fantasy colors previously

Then you're going to be in the salon for a while!

Here is an example of what happens if we try to do it quicker than ideal. Below is her "before" photo. I had previously lightened her ends multiple times over the last year. She has dark brown hair naturally, with root touchups to make them lighter.

After 4.5 hours and lightening all of her hair, below is what we ended up with! As you can see, her ends are the perfect shade of blonde she was desiring. Where the hair was darker and previously colored, there is still brassiness that needed one more lightening session so the middle of the hair matches the ends.

A second session is required at this point, or booking a much longer appointment to attempt it in one session.

Here is an example of my same guest, just a year prior, when I did 2 lightening sessions in one sitting. There is still a little bit of gold in some spots, due to stubborn previous color, but we were able to achieve a much lighter color overall.

Here are some other examples of THE REALITY of blonding and how it can take beyond 2 sessions to get what you want.

Remember, blonding is a process and as much as I WISH it could be done faster, as many times as I've attempted, it rarely turns out, even with the best products and techniques.

The important thing is doing it slow and steady, so the hair does not get over-processed and break, like you saw above.

As far as cost goes, nobody fibs and pretends that going blonde isn't costly. In Scottsdale, most of the Stylists I know charge between $90-$150 per hour for jobs like this. Knowing all of this information, helps you make the best decision possible for your specific hair goals.

I'm always available to answer any hair questions you may have; I'm not here to just create gorgeous hair, I'm here to help educate you so you get the best results with your hair!

Christina