Can brunettes go blonde?

We all want what we don’t have. Hair envy is real but at the end of the day, we are all created different. Skin tones, hair types and hair texture should not be viewed as negative. You need to embrace what you have and know the limitations in what you can do.

Firstly to clear up the difference between a blonde and a brunette. In hairdressing terms, a level 6 and above is a blonde and level 5 and below is a brunette. A natural blonde colour will look mousey and dull. Slightly ashy and grey. In summer a natural blonde will turn a golden tone. This is your hair’s natural undertone. A brunette colour will look warm and rich. It is shiny and had a density to the colour. In summer a natural brunette will turn a red or orange tone. This is your hair’s natural undertone.

So you are a brunette and you envy those beautiful platinum blonde colours? So let me explain the reasons why a brunette can not get the same look as a blonde.

1. When lightening a brunette, the hair has to travel through many levels to get to a clean blonde.

If you are the lightest level a brunette can be, say a level 5, you need to lift the hair 5 levels to get to a level 10. A level 10 is the lightest we can get hair and allows the hair to be void of any warmth. This is a long process and may take a few sessions to get you there. You may only end up in the yellow section after the first session. See table to the right.

2. Brunettes will always throw off red or orange tones when lightened.

As you can see in the right table, this is the natural undertone of brunette hair. This can’t be changed or avoided as its nature. Bleach lightens hair and removes pigment to get hair lighter. If you have a stronger pigment or resistant hair, the hair won’t lighten as quickly. This means you won’t move up the table as quickly and may only lift to orange.

3. If you want hair to have no warmth, we need to lift your hair to a level 10 where it is void of any warmth.

This is the level of platinum blonde. Any level under this will have some warmth left in it. Even after a toner. This is not a bad thing but if you want a blonde with no warmth then we have to get your hair to platinum level.

4. But will platinum blonde suit your skin tone?

Your brunette hair comes with many extras such as brown eyes and a golden skin tone. If you put a cooler platinum tone on a golden skin tone, it’s like putting grey on yellow. It won’t suit and it will make the warmth in your skin look green. Blue and yellow make green remember.

5. Too light blonde will give your hair the appearance of having grey or white streaks on a brown base. If you choose highlights, they need to have some warmth in them to not look like white stripes. If you are naturally blonde, these white blonde highlights look blended but not so much on a darker brunette hair. Embrace the warmth as it blends better with your natural colour. Sandy, caramel and ash brown all blend well with brunette hair but also have a level of warmth to them

6. Look at celebrities with brunette hair and a golden skin tone for inspiration. Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Aniston and Rebecca Judd are all brunettes who have embraced the warmth. Any of these celebrities look flat with a cooler hair colour. Go on. Google it. It flattens their skin tone and they lose their glow. And these ladies should know. They are fashion icons who know their style and colourings and how to make the most of them.

Learn to be proud of what your mumma gave you and stop envying others hair colors. Work those colours and wear them with pride. And remember there is a natural blonde who is envying your golden skin tone and shiny brunette hair.

Stranger Things has shown us how to wear 80s hair and we are craving it

Stranger Things crept into our lives in 2016 with not only the most lovable new characters on TV but also showcasing the coolest 80s gear as well. This show has made fashion just as important as the nail biting storyline. But more importantly the hair has allowed some old favourites to return and get us all crushing on these latest looks.

Eleven

Every girl wants to be her and every boy wants to date her. We watched he grow out her shave from Season 1 and go through that awkward phase in Season 2, and we are now met with some very cool tussled curls in Season 3. Teamed with a new wardrobe and a scruchie she brings back ‘no fuss hair’.

Billie

Season 2 and 3’s hottie and also baddie. Who doesn’t love a hot bad boy. With aviator sunglasses, a mullet and a mo the shirtless hunk swoons all the ladies, even the married ones. But we can’t deny how cool and retro that blonde, curly mullet is. It has become the must have look for the local tradies.

Dustin

Sporting the white man’s afro, the cute kid with the lisp has owned his curls through 3 seasons. With or without a truckers cap we all want his locks. They are personality plus. And who can forget the very cool gelled back look for the dance.

Nancy

This girl gets to wear the coolest outfits with a hairstyle to match. Curls loosely pulled up and hair combs to create puffed out sides. She is the girly girl of the 80s.

Steve

The bully turned sweetheart has a great head of hair. A soft mullet with a Johnny Depp style fringe. High or floppy, we love his hair both ways.

Embrace the retro look. It's low maintenance and oh so hot right now!

Could your Purple Shampoo be Damaging to your Blonde?

Purple toning shampoo made a resurgence into our lives via online videos showing hairdressers creatively squirting squiggly lines over untoned hair at the basin. We were mesmerised. Hairdressers chanted "It can't be true!" How could a shampoo do as good a job as a toner? The public was in awe and Instagram was full of videos and pics. Everyone wanted this miracle shampoo. The miracle that is the new age of purple toning shampoo looked revolutionary. This changed the game in toning shampoo. It turned warm hair white, cleaned up old blonde and toned better than most toners. It achieved the scientifically impossible for what a toning shampoo could previously do.

That is because some of these toning products contain other ingredients added into a standard shampoo. It looked liked a shampoo bottle, it has the word shampoo printed on that bottle and it is marketed as a shampoo. But as we know in the Hairdressing Industry, marketing can't be trusted.

Current Australian Standards state that all ingredients must be listed on cosmetic products and unless those chemicals are banned in Australia, it is up to consumer choice whether the purchase the product with those ingredients. A hair product can be classed as cosmetic if it is used on any external part of the body to change its odour, appearance, cleanse it, keep it in good condition, perfume or protect it. Shampoos, conditioners and styling lotions come under the same cosmetic category as hair dye and bleach. Along with skin whitening products. This is why these products are allowed to be sold on a supermarket shelf even if they do contain ammonia and hydrogen peroxide. This is how the producers of certain brands can market their product as simpler products. Similar to what the food industry does with processed ingredients.

I was told early on by one of my product company reps some of these shampoos and conditioners contain peroxide, therefore are capable of lightening the hair and affecting the colours that we perform on the clients. This comment led me to investigate further. I had a few clients who were using purple toning shampoo and had unexplained breakage. The only way any product could remove gold tones and lighten hair is if it contained products that acted as a bleaching agents.

Analysing all the ingredients, I came across one called Guar Gum. Guar Gum is added to shampoo and other beauty products to thicken the consistensy. It is also a derivative of ammonium. The other ingredient that I red flagged was Citric Acid, as in Lemon Juice. The stuff we put on our hair to lighten it in the sun.

So I then asked a Scientist client if a derivative of ammonium when mixed with citric acid could lighten hair. The answer was a strong YES!

Just like 'Sun In' contains Hydrogen Peroxide and Lemon Juice, this combo will lighten hair and then the strong purple tone will tone this lightened hair to clean, icy blonde.

Together, the ammonia and citric acid acts like a mild bleach, lightening the hair every time you wash it. So if your hair is already light blonde, this continual lightening will cause the hair to become dry and brittle and then break. It will also lighten any natural hair, causing it to turn orange or yellow and giving highlighted hair a solid look. Too much purple tone in these products can cause the hair to look dull and over toned. The more orange the hair throws off from the shampoo lightening the natural hair, the more the public use the toning shampoo to tone out the warmth, resulting in over toned, murky, green/khaki, dull looking blonde hair. So you either end up with breakage or a dull blonde or sometimes both. This then makes a more difficult process as Colourists to get the blonde you desire.

I have seen this myself online and in salon. Please see the pics below.

My client who used a purple toning shampoo twice a week for 6 weeks.

'Chewed' was the word she used to describe the condition of her hair. We had to cut a fair amount off to even up the length. 6 weeks later she discontinued the use of the culprit purple shampoo and has had no more breakage and the condition of her hair has improved dramatically.

Just to be clear, I am not against these products. There are some great brands out there doing amazing purple toning shampoos that don't harm the hair, but moderation and correct instruction from your Colourist is the key. I think any salon hair product has great results when used correctly. Once or twice a month as a toner is ample with a moisture treatment applied afterwards. What I do have an issue with is the marketing of some of these products as shampoo and conditioner with recommendation on the bottle to be used twice weekly in place of your regular shampoo. Some brands are sold online and marketed to the masses with no warning or correct instructions.

Currently there is very little regulation in Australia when it comes to hair and beauty products. As long as the ingredients are listed, it is up to the consumer to make their decision. When a product can cause a great amount of damage to the hair and chemically react with hair colour due to build up in the hair, then I believe there needs to be better regulations and more information available.

Until then, this article has hopefully given you the info you need to make your own informed decision about your future hair product purchases. If it seems miraculous then it may just be too good to be true. Always, always check out the ingredients on the back rather than trust the marketing on the front. Choose wisely!

The girls at Birdie recommend Purology Best Blondes Shampoo and Conditioner ($39.95) each or Redken Blondage Shampoo, Conditioner ($31.00) and Anti-Brass Mask ($43.00)

Why your Supermarket Shampoo is Preventing you from going Blonde

The latest and hottest hair trend at the moment is all things Blonde. Scalp Bleaching, Balayage and Beach Blonde are all highly desired and sitting on most people’s Pinterest Boards, but you have tried and tried and still can’t seem to find a Colourist who can get you to that certain blonde you desire.

But did you ever think it may not be all about your Colourist but more about what you put in your hair, with your main culprit being your shampoo and conditioner.

You have heard hairdressers en mass proclaiming how bad these products are yet the top 4 Supermarket shampoo and conditioner brands make up 50% of the total sales. So we know they are bad but convenience, lack of education and just not being recommended by your Colourist could be all reasons why we reach to the Supermarket, full knowing what we are doing is not the best option for our hair.

But when it comes to being Blonde or going Blonde, could all those little nasties you read about that hang out in your Supermarket (or Priceline, Chemist Wharehouse etc) shampoos and conditioners actually be preventing you from achieving the blonde you desire.

Let’s run through the main culprits and their affect on your Blonde:

Ammonium- Ammonium is derived from Ammonia which is present in hair colour to help lighten hair. It opens the cuticle to let the colour penetrate into the hair shaft. The more ammonia, the more open the cuticle. If the colour is a blonde or bleach, this allows it to penetrate in further, therefore lightening the hair faster. In shampoo it is used as a foaming agent to give the shampoo lather but can also open the cuticle causing damage long term such as tangling and knotting. It is also known to be harsh on the scalp and make you more prone to scalp irritations and burning during the lightening process. An open cuticle means more damage to the hair when lightening and a faster blonde lift which results in more warmth and an uneven result. This lightening is also harder for your hairdresser to control and the uneven nature of lightening can cause breakage in areas with weaker hair or hair that is finer such as the crown and front hairline. This faster lightening can also cause the hair to become warm and heat up, creating more scalp sensitivity and possible burning of the skin. When teamed in a shampoo with Citric Acid or Alcohol this can also have a ‘lightening affect’ on the hair the way lemon juice in the sun does and not only cause your natural hair to lighten but your colour and toner to fade quicker. Avoid any shampoo with the word Ammonium in the first 4 ingredients. Other culprits are Guar Gum and Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium.

Silicones- Silicones have been known to be a big ‘no no’ nasty for a while and is used in shampoos and conditioners to give shine, detangle the hair and stop frizz but basically form a ‘plastic like’ coating over the hair making it feel and look cosmetically great but offers no nutrient values to the hair. Over time the hair starts to disintegrate internally as it isn’t receiving moisture under that coating. This coating prevents the bleach or lightening product from penetrating into the hair shaft, causing uneven and inconsistent lightening. A chemical reaction can occur causing the bleach to heat up, turn to liquid and slip right off the hair. This liquid then becomes dangerous if it comes in contact with the skin. If you have ever sat at a salon with foils in your hair and you have felt the foils heating up or expanding, you can blame the silicone in your hair. Again the chemical reaction can make the colour lift faster, creating a higher risk of breakage. Avoid any shampoo or conditioner with silicone present in the top 4 ingredients. Click here to see a list of the 29 Different Names for Silicone

Sodium Chloride- Yes that is run of the mill Table Salt and they use it in shampoos as a thickener so that big blob you squirt out can sit neatly inside your palm. We all love the way salt water at the beach make our hair feel…at the beach, but we also know the long term damage that salt water has on the hair such as lightening and eroding the hair. This Sodium Chloride is absorbed into the hair when you wash it and long term build up can literally eat away at the hair causing fine, brittle hair. This hair type is particularly dangerous to lighten due to it’s already weakened state and may cause the hair to snap very easily Avoid any products containing Sodium Chloride, including some Sea Salt Sprays.

Diethanolamine (DEA) and Triethanolamine (TEA)- These two nasties are known to destroy the keratin in the hair. Keratin is what hair is made of and it the foundation to how strong and dense the hair shaft is. Basically without keratin, hair will crumble. As hair strength is a key component when going Blonde, these 2 nasties are essential to avoid.

Other known Scalp Irritants- The last thing you want when having bleach or lightener applied is an irritated or sensitive scalp. This can cause discomfort and burning while the product processes. The following ingredients are known causes of scalp irritation: Lanolin, Petroleum, Mineral Oil, Propylene Glycol, Synthetic Colours and Fragrances and Alcohol.

So if you are already Blonde or thinking of going blonde it is time to bin those cheap, synthetic products and speak to your Colourist about their recommended products. Please let your Colourist know if you have been using Supermarket products before your colour service because it will affect the way the colour processes and reacts. It’s better to give them a ‘heads up’ first for the safety of your hair and skin. They may recommend a couple of washes with a Deep Cleansing shampoo to remove these impurities prior to colouring.

Either way, now is the time to start prepping your hair. Give it all the love it deserves and your gorgeous Blonde hair will thank you.

Written by Bleachdoll

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