How to Take Care of Blonde Hair
This is the only guide to caring for blonde hair that you’ll ever need. I’ve done ALL of the research for you, so you can enjoy your platinum tresses worry free, and I’ve road tested countless products so that you can save money by using products that REALLY WORK!
Trust me! I’ve tried EVERY trick in the book and just about every product on the market to care for blonde hair and maintain my “expensive” blonde locks!
Yes, that’s right……blonde hair is HIGH MAINTENANCE and to protect your investment for as long as possible there are certain things you should do and specific products you should consider.
The process of lightening your hair usually exposes warmer tones. The more you lift the pigments in your hair the less warm tones there are but not many of us are after that white/silver blonde look. And if you’re not, then you will certainly be left with an endless battle of brassiness!
At the salon, they usually apply a toner to your hair that counteracts these brassy tones but unfortunately these toners only last a few weeks.
In this article I’ll outline the expert advice on how to prevent brassy blonde hair, repair damage, brighten, and maintain the perfect tone without spending a fortune at the salon.
I’ll also show you what I believe to be the BEST purple shampoo and purple conditioner on the market, along with a few other KEY products that EVERY BLONDE SHOULD HAVE in their beauty arsenal.
Blonde Tip #1: Use only the BEST Purple Shampoo & Violet Conditioner
Maintaining your fresh colour starts in the shower!
Toners applied to your blonde hair at the salon typically only last a few weeks and this can be even less if you are washing your hair frequently. Therefore, it’s important that every time you wash your hair you are not washing away your nice bright or ashy tone but instead maintaining it.
Purple shampoos & conditioners are great for battling brassy hair as the blue violet tones counteract the yellow orange tones in your blonde.
The best purple line I’ve tried is the Kevin Murphy Blonde Angel line. This line is not only powerful enough to counteract tones but is super gentle on chemically processed locks.
After trying multiple other products, I believe this line to have the most purple pigments and optical brighteners (some lines offer less toning pigments and you can tell by their paler purple colour), but it’s also the most gentle!
Blondes not only battle brassiness but also battle dry/brittle condition and Kevin Murphy has really stepped up the moisuturizing benefits by adding conditioning Mango, Shea and Murumuru butters and soothing Lavender.
Also, be warned about Sulphates!
Sulphates are the ingredients that make your shampoo foam up, but this means that they can strip away your precious toner from the salon even faster. So look for shampoos like the Kevin Murphy Blonde Angel wash that are FREE from sulphates.
Blonde Tip #2: Use a Weekly Hair Toner Mask
Remember when I mentioned that your in-salon toner will only last a couple of weeks?! Well, no need to worry and save your pennies because you can do your own hair toner at home!
The ultimate blonde hair toner mask is made by Shu Uemura called Shades Reviving Balm in Cool Blonde.
This weekly mask is a powerful tool in your arsenal. So powerful that careful practice is needed in order to achieve the correct results. In other words, this toner is so pigmented and strong that if left too long on platinum locks may result in temporary blue hair.
But don’t let that scare you because those who are in desperate need of bannishing brassy hair NEED this product! Just follow the instructions and experiment with the timing gradually leaving it on hair longer until desired tone is reached.
Blonde Tip #3: Repair Broken Bonds with a Specialized Treatment
Lifting the pigments out of your hair to lighten it also strips away moisture and breaks the disulfide bonds leaving hair more porous and brittle (which is why blonde hair usually feels more straw-like).
A lot of salons now use a product that re-seals the bonds broken in the hair called Olaplex. This product is CRUCIAL in maintaining the condition of your blonde especially if going platinum! So I highly recommend that you don’t go blonde without it!
But for at home, another good product for repairing chemically processed hair is Paul Mitchells’ Forever Blonde Dramatic Repair Spray. This leave in spray has a unique KerActive protein that helps to restore weak and depleted hair.
Why I like the Dramatic Repair Spray is that it’s a leave -in treatment so it adds extra nourishment beyond the shower. This is important for delicate blonde hair as heat styling and general wear and tear throughout the day needs extra caution.
The other added surprise to this product is that it seemed to add extra body and volume to my hair and prevented hair static and frizz throughout the day!
Blonde Tip #4: Protect Your Tone from Hard Water with a Clarifying Shampoo.
This is a revelation for blondes!
Did you know that hard water can leave mineral deposits on your hair causing it not only to dull or darken your blonde but change the tone?!!!!
So as many products you buy or as many times you go to the salon for a tone, it won’t mean a thing if your washing your hair in hard water every day!
Enter Malibu C, the ONLY hair care brand that has specialized and tackled this problem head on. Their Water Wellness system is a revelation for blondes and is probably my #1 tip for taking care of blonde hair!
Unfortunately most of us have tap water that includes many minerals that can alter the tone of your hair. For example, high Copper content when oxidized on blonde hair will produce a green tint and high Iron content will cause an orange tint.
But Malibu C has developed a 3-part system that clarifies the hair of these EXACT mineral deposits leaving your hair with a clear tone and helps prevent the build up of these minerals in the future.
It’s called their Water Wellness system and includes an intense crystallized vitamin C wellness remedy that is used occasionally when you need to budge stubborn mineral build up after prolonged exposure to hard water.
After one use of this product, my blonde locks were transformed! It’s a MUST-have product for every blonde!
This system also includes a regular use Shampoo and Conditioner to clarify hair of mineral deposits and prevent excessive build up in the future. They are also sulphate free, paraben free, and colourant free!
Blonde Tip #5: Conserve Your Colour with a Daily Protectant Lotion
In order to keep your tone looking it’s best for as long as you can, it’s important to use some sort of colour protectant line to protect hair from the elements such as excessive styling, heat tools, and environmental elements like UV rays.
Aveda makes an exceptional Colour Conserve line that harnesses nature to preserve colour for up to 6 weeks!
Plant-derived Shampoo, Conditioner, and Strengthening Treatment would make good shower staples for blonde hair that needs extra care and attention. This line is best used immediately after going to the salon so you can conserve your colour for as long as possible and protect the hair that is overly-processed.
But the star of the line is their Daily Colour Protect leave-in treatment. A 93% naturally derived treatment protects your hair colour the botanically-based Color Conserve Complex™. Larch Tree Extract to seal colour, Green Tea and other Anti-Oxidants to help protect against environmental stressors, and a blend of Wintergreen and Cinnamon Oil to help shield hair from UVA/UVBs.
This is a great product to use daily but especially in the Summer and on sunny beach holidays when sun, salt water, and chlorine can reek havack on blonde hair.
Blonde Tip #6: Camoflage Brassy Tones Quickly with a Toning Spray
There are times when we just need a quick fix and Paul Mitchell’s Platinum Blonde Toning Spray is just the fix that you need!
This light conditioning spray contains shimmery purple pigments that subtly counteract brassy tones on the go. It also lightly conditions hair leaving it soft to the touch.
Don’t be scared by the colour of it’s content, it WON’T turn your hair purple!
And trust me…..this stuff WORKS!
Most toning products are used in the shower and are rinsed out. This product is unique as it deposits toning particles and are left on your hair to give an immediate and obvious effect.
[This article contains Press Samples and Affiliate Links but reviews of the products are of the honest opinions of the author]
About the Author
The Perfume Expert The Perfume Expert is an online Perfume Blog, Beauty Blog and Skincare Blog all rolled into one so you can stay looking good, smelling nice and feeling great all in one place! Written by an expert you can trust, I provide you with Perfume reviews, Best Perfumes, Beauty reviews and Makeup trends that are all written with passion and an eye for excellence.
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Hello fellow beauty lover!
