We could all use a bit of a boost these days, and an updated beauty look is sometimes the best way to elevate the mood. While some salons have been slowly re-opening, most of our beauty routines are happening at home. Newsflash: Lots of people are dyeing their own hair. If you’re tempted to make a change and let’s say get gold blond hair, it’s best to take your time and do it right. Cutting baby bangs is regrettable, but dyeing your hair green is not an option. So we’ve called on a couple of hair coloring experts to help navigate the process of going blond.
Going for white blond hair and bright blond hair should be left to the professionals because there’s too much stripping of the hair's natural pigment during the process to leave the results to chance. But there are ways to get sandy blond hair, gold blond hair, or even highlighted blond hair carefully at home. Here are some expert tips on getting gold blond hair at a salon or even at home.
Understand Your Hair's Condition
“If your hair has been dyed in the last six months or chemically-treated in some way, go to a salon,” suggests Ghanima Abdullah, cosmetologist and beauty consultant for TheRightHairstyles.com to CafeMom. “Go to a salon instead of frying your hair at home.” If you have virgin hair, Abdullah thinks you’ll have a greater chance at success and gives the greenlight to dye at home. “You'll get results closer to what's on the box instead of that unpredictable orange you hear people complaining about.”
Choose Your Color
“When going blond, try your best to stay away from permanent hair colors and trying to match your roots to the blond highlights your hair professional gave you,” warns NYC hairstylist Kali Ferrarra who offers custom made color kits sent directly to your home. “The misuse of high-lift hair colors and lighteners at home could be catastrophic to your tresses.”
Instead, Ferrara recommends reaching for a semi or demi permanent color or glaze one shade darker than your blond hair. “This will help to just blend your roots into your blond, resulting in a more rooty look, while also camouflaging some gray,” she suggests. “This method will result in less of a defined line between the blond and your natural color.” Ferrara also advises to stay away from extra ashy colors, which can easily turn your hair colors like green, blue, or purple/gray.
Another color tip if you’re going for a natural looking gold blond color (as opposed to platinum) is to “use less mix on the roots than at the tips,” offers Abdullah. “It won't have a natural look if the roots are the same color as the tips. Just make sure you have a slight gradation and not a stark, dividing line between blond and brown.”
If you care about whether your new color will look natural, don't go more than two shades lighter.” Abdullah recommends the brand Schwarzkopf. “Otherwise L'Oreal will do.”
Prepare Ahead for the Process
A week or so before going blond, Abdullah says to use a rich hair mask on your hair. “You want to build your moisture level up as much as possible, so that going blond doesn't strip everything you have left.”
“There's no need to shampoo prior to bleaching. You don't want to remove all your hair's natural oils before applying something as strong as hair bleach.”
Ferrara agrees with doing a hair mask and avoiding washing your hair 24 to 48 hours before coloring to avoid skin sensitivities and burning. She likes Oribe’s Gold Lust Transformative Mask and the Verb Hydrating Mask, either in conjunction with the Olaplex No. 3 which is a pre-shampoo treatment.
Pro tip from Ferrara: “Be sure to do things that are good for your hair. I also recommend that while my clients are at the pharmacy to pick up a hair vitamin to help with their hair growth and health (I like Vitafusion’s Gorgeous Hair Skin and Nails gummies), it’s an easy, affordable, and effective way to work on your hair health from the inside out.”
Dyeing day
“Don't skip the strand test. Bleaching is an intense process. You want to make sure your hair can take it before you start,” Abdullah recommends. “Actually, follow all the instructions [on the package], especially when it comes to timing. Leaving the mix in for longer will make your hair lighter, for sure, but it will also give your scalp chemical burns.”
Ferrara prefers mixing the dye solutions in a plastic or glass bowl and — while wearing gloves — brushing the mix on the hair from scalp to roots. Dyes you’ll find at your local pharmacy are generally a looser mixture, so Ferrara says the bottle that they come with is a great delivery system for your at-home dye application. Just be sure to work in small even sections and always cross-check your work at the end for places you may have missed.
Once you’re ready to start applying the dye, Ferrara suggests pulling the color from roots to about one-third of the way down your hair shaft and comb with a wide-tooth comb, wait 10 minutes, and if you aren’t happy with the tone of your mid shaft and ends, mush the rest of the color with a little water all over for two minutes, if you’re happy with your ends, cover them with conditioner before entering the shower.” Then you’ll rinse until the water runs clean, shampoo, and condition.
Dyeing Don’ts
Although we’re here chatting about dyeing your hair, Ferrara highly recommends going for a subtle change in hair color if you’re dyeing your hair at-home and leaving the major dye jobs to the professionals. “There are reasons we have all gone to school, apprenticed for years, and continue our education, hair color isn’t as easy as it looks.”
Her other “don'ts”:
- “Steer clear of henna and metallic dyes, as they are impossible to remove and no hair colorist will fix your mess due to liability issues of your hair burning off.”
- “Don’t ever try to lift color with color. Say you’ve been coloring your hair at a salon a sandy blond color, but you’re feeling like you want to go lighter. Just because the woman on the box has beautiful blond hair does not mean it’s a one-size-fits-all solution. Your sandy blond will stay sandy blond and the new growth will be closer to the color on the box but likely screaming yellow or orange.”
- “Don’t mix brands. You don’t know what is in each particular brand's box and therefore it could result in a chemical reaction that could ruin your hair or turn it a funny color.”
After-Care for Your Hair
Once you’ve completed your dye job, continue to protect your new color and keep your hair looking beautiful and healthy. Abdullah suggests having a purple shampoo handy to keep your blond the right color. “You don't want it looking brassy or having odd undertones.”
You can find Kali Ferrara on Instagram @HairstylistKali
You can follow Ghanima Abdullah at therighthairstyles.com
