Hair Color Tips for Blondes

Do blondes have more fun? Not if their hair color goes funky on them! Keeping your blonde hair color looking fresh and fab can be tricky. Today I�ve scoured the blogosphere and found some great hair blogs with solid advice for blondes. So in the spirit of some �link love�, here are some tips to ensure your blonde doesn�t turn into a bomb.

Beware the Brass

One of the biggest problems with blonde is its tendency to go brassy. To avoid this hair color disaster there are specialty shampoos with a violet color added which neutralizes those nasty �goldy� hues.

But while surfing the beauty web I came across this awesome tip for making your own violet shampoo and saving yourself some cash. Read it at Beauty Buffet.

Keep on Top of Your Hair Color

I found a blog entry that tackles a question I�ve wondered about for years. Why is it you see SO many bad blondes out there? No, I don�t mean Heather Mills dumping water on another lawyer�I mean all those God-awful blonde colors that are so obviously too light.

This strange phenomenon is likely due to �too much of a good thing�. We don�t keep tabs on our hair color and before we know it we�ve traded buttery blonde for bleached-out blah.

Here�s a great article that addresses this problem at Divine Caroline.

Protect Your Tresses

While this last piece of advice is applicable to all hair colors (and hair without color, for that matter) it goes double for anyone who has double processed blonde. These days professional grade blow driers and flat irons are available to the public. This is great for getting salon-like hairstyles but what many people don�t realize is that these styling tools are hotter and can cause damage more easily than those drug store alternatives.

If you use high powered styling tools you MUST use a thermal protector before styling. Any hair type can easily get dried out and damaged if not protected from all that heat but if you bleach your hair it�s already been through some �tough love� in order to look good. So pamper it.

Style Bell has reviewed a great thermal protectant to use before you dry, curl or iron.

While reading hair trends for spring I found that there�s a discrepancy in the area of highlights. Some stylists say they�re still hot while others say sticking with one rich hair color is the way to go. What do you think? To highlight or not to highlight? That is they hairstyle question I pose to you today. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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So you�re hair color is about as dull as a lecture on watching paint dry (wow�that WOULD be boring). Well, I�ve got great news. Thanks to the Fekkai Salon Glaze Clear Shine Rinse it�s now possible to give your self a salon quality glossing right in your own home.
So what the heck is a glossing? So glad you asked.

A glossing is basically clear hair color. Now that sounds about as affective as a lecture on paint drying but the truth is glossings do wonderful things for all hair types.

If you�re color shy and won�t even use semi-permanent hair color but are tired of your hair�s color a glossing will brighten and shine up your natural hair color instantly. It�s also an awesome way to freshen up your existing color between touchups. It adds shine, softness and manageability to both colored and uncolored hair.

Also, I must insist that everyone with fine, limp hair run out immediately and purchase the Fekkai Salon Glaze. Why? Because it will plump up those skinny hair strands without causing any damage or changing your hair color. It�s like the padded bra of hairstyling for fine hair.

So where can you get this miracle in a bottle? Why, at Sephora, of course. Buy now, buy often and say bye-bye to dull, limp hair for good.

Have you had a glossing from a salon before? If so tell us about it.

Do you love vibrant hair color? I mean the hues that not only stand out but slap you in the face? As a former hairstylist I lost my fear of shocking hair color years ago. In fact in my salon days when I was having another stylist color my hair I�d tell them to make it so red it would scare old ladies and children.

Now that I�m a mother myself and have kids of my own I�ve tamed it down somewhat so I don�t completely embarrass my kids when I pick them up from school but I do still appreciate a wild and wicked color when I see one.

When we look at celebrity hairstyles the first thing we notice about their hair color is that, for the most part, they keep it fairly tame. I suppose if my hair color was subject to a fashion magazine�s �hot or not� list I might think twice about an eggplant and fuchsia color combo as well. But what about those of us who still love a bold head of hair color?

I stumbled across this post at StyleBell�s blog showcasing the work of stylist Tim Wilson and his dare-to-be-different hair color combos. While it might scare off many of you, or seem like the thing only a stick figure runway model might wear you do have to appreciate the artistry of it all.

So what�s your take on Tim Wilson�s work? Love it or hate it? And more importantly�would you ever dare to wear it?

Do you color your own hair at home? If so you know that it can be difficult to apply that hair color right where you want it while keeping your other hair out of the way. I’m going to let you in on a super simple trick that makes sectioning your hair and applying your hair color a little bit easier.

So what’s the trick to easier hair color application? Drum roll please…

Wet your hair. Yup, sounds just too damn easy, doesn’t it? But the truth is applying your hair color to damp hair has some awesome benefits. To do it right you’ll want to simply wet your hair—not wash so skip the shampoo—and towel dry until your hair is only damp.

Divide and Conquer

When applying your own hair color to your roots it’s best to divide the hair into four sections for easier application. When your hair is damp those sections are easier to divide and keep separate. To properly divide your hair into four even sections use a tail comb and create a part from the middle of your front hairline back to the middle of your back hairline. Then create a part from ear top to ear top.

Now when you’re applying your hair color to your roots each small section will divide and stay put much easier thanks to your damp hair. Another awesome benefit of applying your hair color to damp hair is the hair color will absorb better. Hair is just like a sponge—it absorbs better when it’s damp. So apply your hair color on damp hair and let it penetrate as deeply as possible to help your color last longer.

I’m curious; with all the different brands of home hair color out there I wonder which one people use most. If you color your own hair at home which brand do you use? Let me know in the comments section.

Is your hair color flattering or faltering? Finding the right hair color for you doesn’t have to be rocket science but there are rules to the game. Today we’re going to play “pick that color” and find the one that’s right for you.

Show Us Some Skin

No! Put your clothes back on! Looking at your face will do nicely, thank you. :). And exactly what are we looking for? We’re looking to determine your skin tone. This is done by seeing which underlying pigment is present in your skin. Most people fall into four main categories—pink undertones, yellow undertones, olive undertones and brown undertones. So let’s see how you decide which one you are:

Pink skin tones: Mirror, mirror on the wall you’re the fairest of them all. In plain language this means you will have very pale skin and often have a pink-y tinge to it. Chances are you’re a redhead or very pale blonde and your skin burns faster in the sun than bacon on a hot griddle.

Yellow skin tones: This is most Caucasian skin tones but can also be those of Asian decent or people of a mixed race background that includes Caucasian. You most likely have dark blonde to medium brown hair if Caucasian and a have faint beige or yellow tint to your skin.

Olive skin tones: You most likely have olive skin tones if you are of Mediterranean or Latino decent or a fair skinned African American. You’ll have naturally dark brown to black hair.

Brown skin tones: This last skin tone is reserved for those of African American decent, Indian decent or Middle Eastern decent.

OK, that’s an awful lot of talk about skin in order to choose a color for your hair, isn’t it? It may seem unrelated but if you’ve ever seen someone with colored hair and their face and hair looked horrible—like they didn’t “match” it’s because they didn’t pay attention to their skin tone. Now you don’t want to go around with a mismatched face and hair do you? We thought not. All right…next step is choosing the color group.

Hair color, like skin tones comes in groups but thankfully this time we’re only dealing with two main ones. Those two color groups are the cools and the warms. These colors are determined by their underlying pigment, just like your skin tone was. Cool hair colors will have a blue/violet base to them such as burgundy reds, eggplant, ash blondes or ash browns. Warm hair colors are rich coppers, auburns and golden blones/browns for example and these will have yellow undertones. So let’s now pair up your skin tone with the color group that suits you best.

Cool hair colors: You’ll look best in cool hair colors if you have olive or pink toned skin. As a test you are likely a person who looks good in the colors purple, pink and blue and prefer silver jewelry over gold.

Warm hair colors: Warm hair colors are your thing if you have yellow or brown skin tones. As a test you are likely a warm hair color person if you look good in the colors brown, burnt orange and khaki green and prefer gold to silver jewelry.

All right! By now you should know your skin tone and whether or not you should be aiming for cool or warm hair colors. As the final step below is a list of common hair colors in both categories to help you choose the right shade. If you’re coloring your own hair and finding the right hair color for you from a box pay close attention to the names of the colors and look for words like ash (cool), golden (warm) violet (cool) and copper (warm). When in doubt look for hair colors with the word “neutral” in the name as they won’t have a lot of blue or yellow undertones and should suit any skin tones.

Warning: Don’t confuse the words “neutral” with “natural”. “Natural is usually indicative of a cool shade of hair color.

Cool Hair Colors to Choose From:

• Any shade of ash blonde
• Any shade of ash browns
• Any shades of brown with the words “cool” or “natural” in them
• Burgundy or eggplant reds
• Blue black

Warm Hair Colors to Choose From:

• Any shade of golden blonde
• Any shade of golden brown
• Most reds except the burgundy/eggplant or violet ones. Look for words like “golden red” “copper red” “auburn red” “spice” and most “intense” reds are all right as well.
• Natural black

As a final piece of advice, if you’ve never colored your hair before we recommend sticking with hair colors that are within 2 to three shades darker or lighter than your natural hair color. Your roots won’t show as quickly and you’ll be less likely to look washed out from too dark a hair color. When in doubt about finding the right hair color choose a shade you want and color your hair with a semi-permanent version of that color. This way you’ll know if the color suits you but if you get it wrong it will wash out within three to four weeks.

Phew! That was a long one! If you have any questions about finding the right hair color (and who could blame you?) please ask them in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them.

When many people think of the term “coloring their hair” they automatically think of permanent hair color and the upkeep it requires. Now I understand that some of your might not be into coloring your hair every four to six weeks to avoid roots but that’s where temporary hair color comes in. With these easy to use and commitment free hair colors I’m going to show you why there’s no excuse not to be using them and the benefits of playing with temporary hair color.

It Looks Great

Let’s face it—colored hair, if done properly, just looks good. It adds shine, depth and vibrancy to Mother Nature’s otherwise blah shades of hair. No matter what your natural hair color is you can make it better with the addition of some faux color enhancement.

Want to be bold?

Bright reds, deep mahoganies or black cherries are hot right now. Make a style statement by choosing a notice me color and showing it off. A bright or bold color and elevate even a simple hair cut to diva status and create an impact and the best part of temporary hair color is it fades away and you can either refresh it or pick a totally new color the next time. This is perfect for those commitment-phoebes who hate to stick with one thing for very long.

Keep it Subtle

Using temporary hair color doesn’t mean you have to stray very far from your natural hair color. Choosing a shade close to your own can simply add depth or undertones to your natural hair color that weren’t there before. For example, if you’ve got the dreaded “mousy brown” hair color but don’t want the upkeep of blonde highlights to enhance it, go the other way and choose a temporary hair color that is one or two shades darker than your own. A light golden brown will play off the gold that’s already present and enhances it. Want more of an impact? Try a chocolate brown for added depth. This is great contrast against lighter skin tones and blue eyes that many people with naturally mousy brown hair have.

It Benefits Your Hair

Now here’s where you’re probably thinking I’m full of bull, but using temporary hair color is actually beneficial to the overall health of your hair. Unlike permanent hair colors, temporary colors contain no ammonia or peroxide that can damage the hair. Instead they simply coat the hair shaft with a darker color (you must go darker—temporary colors can’t lighten) and reflects the new shade. It is this coating affect that makes temporary hair color worth its salt.

Acts as a Barrier

The coating of color helps protect your hair against styling damage caused by blow dryers, curling iron and flat irons. Repeated exposure to heat can dry out the hair but temporary hair color helps coat and seal the hair’s cuticle, keeping moisture in and damaging elements out.

It Plumps the Hair

Those with fine, limp hair take note—temporary hair color makes your hair thicker and easier to style. The coating the temporary hair color provides essentially fattens each strand making it thicker and fuller. This coating also gives baby fine hair some “grip” which means you can style it easier and the style will stay longer. Even if you hate hair color those with fine hair that won’t behave should find a perfect match to their natural hair color and use it monthly to plump and protect that fine hair.

Well, there you have it. Surprising but true reasons why you should be using temporary hair color on your hair. Do you use temporary hair color? If not what’s holding you back? Give me your best excuse for not using temporary hair color and let me see if I can change your mind.