Blonde Hair Survival Guide

It is commitment to have healthy looking blonde hair. We all know that blonde can be a high maintenance colour and after investing a lot of money in your beautiful blonde hair, the last thing you want to do is have damaged, brassy hair.

So what can you do to keep your blonde healthy?

Keep it hydrated – For many of us wanting to achieve that perfect shade of blonde, we put our hair through very harsh process. This often leaves us with dry, stretchy, brittle, unhappy hair.

Treatments are a MUST to restore the moisture which is stripped from your hair during the colouring process.

How often should you do treatment?

It all depends on how often you wash your hair. Personally, I recommend doing it every third wash. Make it regular! If you don’t like to wait for the treatment to sit in your hair then I introduce you to Olaplex! Olaplex is applied before you wash your hair and your hair will love it! It’s a win win situation!

Alternatively, leave in conditioner is something so easy and lightweight you can use to treat your hair after every wash. If you choose right product, leave in conditioner can replace your additional heat protection products all together!

Protect it – The less heat styling used, the better! However, if you are addicted to heat (like many of us are) then turn down the heat and always use a heat protection spray when styling your hair. Make sure you spray each section. Sadly, too much heat makes your hair looking dull and unhappy. If you are using a lot of heat, make sure you never ever skip your treatment!! Your hair will thank you later!

Unknown to a lot of people, too much sun is not only damaging for your skin, but also for your blonde hair. With this is mind, I recommend spraying your blonde hair with heath protector or leave in conditioner before entering sunny environments. Harmful UV rays can dry out your hair, and turn your beautiful blonde a brassy shade of yellow/orange.

Make it last – Specially formulated shampoo and conditioner is a great way to keep away these brassy tones and leave your hair with the tone you paid big money for. I recommend blondes to use a purple shampoo or conditioner. If your hair is really brassy, then try leaving the shampoo in your hair for 5 minutes to work its magic. For very little brass 2 minutes will do the trick! It’s not a permanent fix but it helps to keep you a perfect blonde for at least a few more weeks.

How often should you use purple shampoo/conditioner? Use no more than once a week. If you are using purple shampoo every single wash you are actually making your hair darker and taking the brightness away. I also highly recommend getting deep cleaning shampoo and using that fortnightly to remove excess toning build up. Always follow up with a deep moisturising conditioner (unless you are using a purple conditioner which has become really popular).

Keep in mind that purple shampoo is not designed to clean your hair. I recommend to use your normal every day shampoo for the first wash and follow up with purple shampoo for a second wash, so you don’t rinse out the tone you are wanting to achieve initially.

If a purple shampoo or conditioner just don’t do it for you, consider visiting your stylist for a toner in between appointments. Don’t forget – toner doesn’t lighten your hair, it only tones!

Keep your appointments regular – Get your colour done regularly to maintain a consistent shade of blonde.

If you having your scalp bleached, then ideally you should be visiting your colourist for a root touch up every 4 to 6 weeks. Why? On-scalp bleach is activated by the natural human heat coming through the scalp. If your regrowth is too long then there will be colour difference due to the lack of heat from scalp. The colour will be lifted at 2 different speeds and the result will be uneven. Your colourist will need to use two different formulas or need to do a double application to balance out the different development times. These techniques are often much more expensive, as it becomes a much more complicated process which takes a lot longer than a normal service to complete.

If you are having foils, then you can go longer in-between your appointments. It varies from 6 to 12 weeks depending on the contrast between your highlights and your natural colour.

It is important to have regular trims! I strongly recommend to have a trim every time you are having your colour done. Some blondes will find their ends can snap fairly easily. If you want your hair looking healthy and happy, then commit to have it trimmed every time (even if it’s just 1cm!). It will make a difference!

Go as long as possible between washes – The fastest way to ruin your beautiful blonde is to over-wash your hair. Cutting back on the frequency of washes helps retain moisture and keep your hair healthy. Washing your hair everyday can make your colour dull and lifeless.

Be mindful of water…Avoid swimming pools – This one is all about the chlorine and salt in water. Those horror stories you’ve heard about hair turning green after swimming are no joke! Chlorine & salt water dehydrates hair and can cause colour changes. Try wearing a cap or wetting hair down with tap water before jumping in. This way, the chlorine won’t be able to enter the hair shaft as easily and won’t be able to do as much damage as it would if you entered the water with dry hair. Make sure you still rinse your hair after you go for a dip to get rid of the residue – no one likes discoloured hair!

Alternatively, add some leave-in conditioner to your hair – you’ll find it not only protects it from the green tinge, it also keeps it soft. If you swim frequently and notice a build-up or a greenish tinge, use a clarifying shampoo to remove it. If the build-up or greenish tone is too strong, seek the help of your colourist to recreate and maintain your proper blonde tone.

Remember!

Your colour will look it’s best if your hair is in good condition. Look after your hair!

Make sure your products are silicon, sulphate and paraben free. (Why? Read my previous blog post)