Winter has finally gone and glorious spring has arrived. I survived with only 3 days in bed with the Flu but my poor computer caught a very bad virus, but we are now both well and back with new articles and even some reviews for you all.
So what happens in spring time? Colour change!Those lovely deep tones you may have had for winter can sometimes make you feel, well, still “wintry”. That’s why may people choose this time to go lighter.
But like when your (well, my) computer needs fixing and changing, you don’t try and do it yourself. Leave it to someone who knows what they are doing. Changing your colour can be a very complicated process, especially if you are going lighter.
Going from dark to light involves stripping out artificial colour molecules and is usually done with bleach which can be very damaging to you hair, even causing major breakage. And that’s not where it ends.
Once the required level of lightness has been achieved, you then have to assess what colour you hair is now and decide on what colour you want it to be. Most people who try this at home end up with a “clown orange” or “warning yellow” colour, what I have tagged as Centerlink Blonde. For those of you unfamiliar with Centerlink, it’s the Australian name for Welfare.
Now most hairdressers are trained, some better than others, on how to counteract these unwanted tones to give you the results you want. But remember, most of the time you will get what you pay for, cheap usually is cheap, but by spending a bit more on someone knowledgeable who uses good quality products, you have a much greater chance of success. Though success cannot always be guaranteed. If there is excessive colour build up you may not be able to get as light as you may wish, so when the hairdresser asks what you have been doing to your hair, be honest, don’t lie. They would rather know and give you a little scalding at the beginning rather than find out the hard way when your hair stays dark, or in worst case examples, turns to jelly and washes away down the sink because you didn’t want to tell them you had bleached your hair last summer, then went dark, then light again, then back to dark for winter. You may be smiling now while reading this but I have seen it happen because someone was too embarrassed to let the hairdresser know just what they had been up to.
It’s what we refer to as a “chemical haircut” and really only looks good on a Jack Russell Terrier.
When going lighter, your hairdresser should take their time, using a low strength peroxide with the bleach which will be much more gentle on your hair, if you can say that bleach can be gentle. They should also recommend a treatment regimen consisting of both protein and moisture to keep your hair in good condition.