Blonde Fears, Solved

As you know, we love the convenience of at-home hair color. But for those of us who are blonde, coloring your hair at home can feel…well, a little scary. Everyone’s heard horror stories of blonde dye jobs gone wrong, and no one wants to come away from their home color appointment looking orange. But! We want you to be able to color your blonde hair at home with total confidence. Read the top 3 most common blonde coloring mistakes, so you’ll know how to steer clear of them and get gorgeous blonde results at home, worry-free.

 

 

1.Hot roots. This is truly the number-one fear of blondes we spoke to, and with good reason—no one wants their roots to lift orange. The worst-case scenario known as hot roots occurs when you attempt to color your roots a lighter shade than your current color-treated shade (a mistake you’ll only make once!) It can also occur when your roots lift too orange. See, once your hair is color-treated, it is unable to be lifted lighter by permanent hair color. Trying to do so will leave you with lighter, too-warm “hot roots.” Now, why do your roots turn orange? When hair is lightened, or lifted, it naturally exposes underlying warm tones that turn your color orange or yellow. So, how to avoid hot roots? Say it with us: don’t choose a shade that’s too light! We recommend selecting a color that’s either the same level, or even one darker, than your existing blonde shade. To combat any unwanted orange tones, you’ll also want to choose a shade that has cool or ash tones in it.


 

2.Brassy highlights. Speaking of lifting too light, blondes with highlighted hair share the (highly reasonable) fear that their at-home highlights will turn out too brassy. Many of us blondes have tried to highlight our hair at home, only to end up with warm, brassy highlights that don’t look anything like the sun-kissed effect we were going for. Here’s how to avoid this home coloring mistake...do as your salon colorist does and use a demi-permanent glaze after coloring. Light Works® Toning Glaze refines and conditions highlighted hair for the ultimate salon balayage results from home. Opt for our Sorrento Cool Vanilla shade.


 

3.Not enough lift. While it’s true that you won’t be able to lift your blonde hair color significantly lighter from home, blondes who don’t have gray coverage concerns can look to our High Lift shades for lighter results. These heavy hitters—Ancona Natural 11VA, Prato Ash 11AA, and Ferrara Golden 11GV—can lighten your hair up to 3 levels. (Note: we only recommend using these shades if your natural hair color is a level 7 or lighter.) As for how to make your hair look dramatically lighter? A trip to the salon is your best bet. And we know you already know this, but never attempt going platinum on your own. Anything involving bleach is best left up to the professionals.


 

Did we miss any of your worst blonde coloring fears? Confess in the comments, and please share any tried-and-true blonde coloring tips that have worked for you.