My entire life, I've wanted to go blonde.
But because I'm Italian, and all my features are dark (dark hair, dark eyes, olive skin, dark soul…), I was always told that I could NEVER rock light hair.
"It's too much damage, your hair will get fried!" they told me. "And anyway, blonde will look *so* bad on you."
So I listened to those voices, and I never took the plunge. But still, I wondered.
And then I heard about the Pravana Blonde Wand. I had seen videos of this professional tool online, and was awestruck — a device that looks like a straightener and blondes your hair in less time, and with less damage? This could be my chance!
And thus began my journey from brunette to blonde.
The magic started at Janet Rufin's Parlor here in NYC, where I met for a quick pre-blonde consultation — and a much-needed haircut.
I hadn't had a trim in over six months (I know, shame on me), so I needed my hair strong and healthy before lifting it.
Four days later I arrived at the salon, prepared to go blonde, but not knowing what to expect. I was so nervous — but Janet calmed me right down.
Making a major hair change can be terrifying, which is why it's so important to go to a colorist that you like and trust. Janet talked through the entire process with me, then we looked at swatches and selected my perfect shade of blonde. I felt like she listened to me and guided my choices, but never pushed me into something I didn't want to do.
Finally, I took my last selfie as a brunette. IT. WAS. TIME.
The Blonde Wand is a thermal lightening tool that professional colorists can use to lighten hair incredibly quickly. It's designed to process the dye faster, and cause less damage to the hair follicles.
With my dark hair, more "traditional" blonding methods would have taken FOREVER to lighten my hair. We're talking four to six expensive color appointments spread out over at least two months — a combined 30 hours spent in a salon.
This wand did it in one single day.
Rather than using bleach, the Blonde Wand uses Pravana's Pure Light Créme Lightener — a coconut oil-based cream lightener that nourishes hair while lightening.
And as if that wasn't awesome enough, Janet explained that unlike a classic hair straightener, the Blonde Wand's heated plates don't touch — further avoiding damage to the hair. SCORE!
According to Janet, the Blonde Wand means that anybody, no matter how dark their hair, can go blonde — as long as the hair hasn’t been over-colored or processed excessively beforehand.
“It's the hair that has been previously color treated — like dyed black a thousand times — that would pose an issue,” Janet explained.
Janet also added colorpHlex to the lightener, which would help strengthen my hair as it processed. It was time to begin painting and foiling in my highlights!
Once the foils were in, Janet ran The Blonde Wand over each small section of hair — taking my hair from a shade two (very dark brown) to a shade eight (very light blonde)!
Because beauty stops for no human, I ate lunch in the chair. In case you were wondering, it's really hard to eat a salad with a head full of foils.
Soup was impossible. Be prepared.
After my first round of blonding, Janet added more foils to strategic areas near my face for even more dimension — and I did some serious thinking about The Blonde Wand itself.
Here's where I get very real about The Blonde Wand: I had seen videos online claiming that this tool would allow colorists to take hair platinum in minutes — but in my experience, it doesn't really work that way.
The Blonde Wand will lighten your hair faster than usual. You won't spend any time sitting under a shitty dryer, burning the tops of your ears. But depending on where you start from, going blonde is still a really long process. My highlights took seven hours; granted, that's three times as fast as traditional bleaching methods would have taken… but it's still a long time. I'm glad I got to do it in a cool, calm salon like Janet Rufin's Parlor.
After the final wash, it was time for the reveal... AND I LOVED IT.
As you can tell, I was SHOCKED. My initial reaction was, "Holy shit I'm blonde like Britney Spears." Why Britney? Who knows. Maybe because we share a name? Because I have her honey blonde highlights now? Because I thought the old lady dropped it into the ocean in the end?
Who knows? But here I am: blonde ambition Brittany.
I couldn't believe this magical wand took me from brunette to blonde in less than eight hours — and left my hair feeling healthier than ever.
Take THAT, haters who told me I could never have the blonde hair of my dreams!
Seriously, CAN YOU BELIEVE this color transformation happened in a day?
Now I just had to learn about maintaining it.
As a fitness enthusiast, I work out six days a week, requiring me to wash my hair often (my hair doesn't budge when I let it down after a workout). Janet suggested a mild cleansing shampoo mousse paired with a deep conditioner for everyday use, and conditioning my hair once a week with purple conditioner. I honestly never knew these products existed!
I can't get enough of my hair — now it's time to see if blondes really have more fun!
Thanks to Janet Rufin's Parlor and Janet for such an incredible experience!
Watch the entire seven hour transformation in less than a minute!
