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Whilst it’s still up for debate whether Gentleman prefer blondes, one thing is for sure: blondes go brassy. Even the cleanest, purest, most virginal blonde is susceptible to that ill-fated copper tinge – whether you throw natural gold or not.
For those endowed with flaxen locks (from the salon Hairy Godmother, of course), there is simply nothing worse (in hair land, anyway) than leaving the salon – squeaky clean and swaying like a Pantene commercial – to somehow arriving at the brassy Gates of Hell just one wash later. However, fear not brass-inducing blondes, there are tips and tricks to forestall operation copper.
For your creamiest, dreamiest ‘do yet, superstar colourist, Michael Kelly (aka the only man I let trust with my hair colour and that is a BIG feat) shares his ultimate tips to banish the brass – for good.
USE A DEMINERALISING SHAMPOO
Blondes are so bright and light, they’re quite porous, like a sponge. You leave the salon with really clean, bright, creamy hair and then by the time you’ve washed your hair with something like dodgy water, or you’ve been outside in pollution, the hair absorbs everything. You need a clarifying, demineralising shampoo to remove all the impurities and keep the hair bright.
PUT AWAY THE PURPLE SHAMPOO
Purple shampoos can often be really abrasive on the hair, they’re quite dense and heavy. So if you have fine hair and do a purple shampoo, it goes very ashy and very flat. If you are to use it, it has to be pale, like a lilac, never a dense purple.
BUT…DON’T THROW IT OUT
Here’s the trick – if someone does have a purple shampoo at home, don’t throw it out, add it to your normal shampoo (like a cream based shampoo). That dilutes it down – treat it like an artist’s palette.
USE A PURPLE CONDITIONER
But, you must follow it with a purple conditioner, or a violet / lilac treatment, because this will actually help keep the colour cleaner for longer. In hair colour land, purple counteracts yellow, yellow is all those colours people don’t want to see, like brass and gold. So, there’s no other way to beat brass than using a purple conditioner. I love the Christophe Robin Baby Blonde – I think it’s stunning. It also acts as a beautiful hydrant for the hair. When you do a treatment like Baby Blonde, you actually want it to be a treatment also – you don’t want to be just fixing the colour, you want to also be fixing the condition, beaause healthy blondes hold colour the longest.
PICK YOUR PURPLE WISELY
For those with very porous or damaged hair, the violet should be more like a very pale lilac, as oppose to a strong purple. You don’t want a dense pigment, you want a light pigment.
dON’T FIND THAT POT OF GOLD (OIL)
Use oils that aren’t yellow based. You know how a lot of hair oils are gold in colour? When people put these into the hair, and the hair is pervious, it holds on to the colour of the oil. Then they blow dry it, which cements it into their hair further, then they do a tong, and they burn it into the hair even further. And it’s just getting yellower, and yellower, and yellower. You keep compounding it every single time. I would use the new Shimmer.Me by Kevin Murphy – it’s like a leave-in for blonde protection. It actually has a violet tinge to the spray, and it’s next level. It’s so good.
DON’T OVERCOOK YOUR OIL
Don’t over-style hair that already has an oil in it. You know when you heat up oil in a pan – imagine when you’re cooking – oil goes in, and the longer you leave it in the pan, the darker it gets. It’s the same thing on your hair. If you’re putting too much heat on oil, you’re actually over processing the product in the hair and it tarnishes, becoming orange.
MAKE FRIENDS WITH A BLONDE SPECIALIST
I think this is a no brainer and I always say this – go to a blonde specialist. Don’t go to someone who doesn’t understand blondes.
SHOP THE LOOK
Christophe Robin Shade Variation Care Baby Blond, $60. SHOP NOW
Kevin Murphy Shimmer.Me Blonde, $43. SHOP NOW
Kérastase Touche Chromatiques – Cool Blonde, $75. SHOP NOW
