I was young and naive when I first bleached my hair a few years ago. *Collective sigh*
I wrongly assumed that once my hair was bleached at the salon, it would remain that way forever, without any maintenance. *Louder collective sigh*
I had no idea, for example, that the brassy tones in my hair would turn my newly blonde hair, well, orange. I also didn’t realise that products like purple shampoo were required to counteract these orangy, brassy tones.
Long story short, I was a fool and I paid the price – I think I had blonde (orange) hair for about 3 months before giving up altogether. Orange is definitely not the new blonde, and it was time to shave…
However, in the words of Confucius: “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” Three years after shaving off my brassy, orange locks in a wave of shame, I was ready to jump back onto that beautifully blonde horse once more.
This time, I decided to go with a greyish, lavender tone (requiring the same purple shampoo products as the blondies).
Instead of waiting for the white hair to inevitably turn brassy a week after the trip to the salon, I pre-empted it this time, subsequently making sure I was purple shampooing and treating my hair as soon as I got the bleach job. I established a routine whereby every couple of days, I’d leave the purple products in my hair for up to 15 minutes at a time, making sure my hair was marinating in all that purple goodness.
It’s been a couple months since the initial bleach and I’m pleased to report, ladies, gentlemen and non-binary friends, that I’ve learnt from my mistakes. I don’t mean to toot my own horn but, well…
Toot.
I think I’ve finally mastered the ability to sport blonde/white hair without it turning into a complete disaster – or, at the very least, not having my head look like the personified version of an orange.
Yes, switching to blonde does take a lot of effort, and maintaining your luscious locks can be difficult, but if you implement haircare routines early on, such as using purple shampoo every couple of days, you won’t be playing catch up to your eventual, brassy hair all the time.
It all revolved around establishing routine, pre-empting the natural progression of blonde hair and a complete and utter dedication to the sesh. After all, brassy hair is not a vibe, and you deserve to have hair shining bright like a hairy diamond.
Alexa, play Rihanna.
For more tips on how to maintain those beautifully light locks, check out Schwarzkopf Blonde Purple Shampoo, specifically designed to keep those pesky brassy tones away and easy to integrate into your daily routine.
