I told myself I'd keep the cat pictures to a minimum but let's be realistic, I know why you're all really here. Just pretend this picture is about looking at my roots!
I know I said I wanted to make this a blog about, um, life and society and stuff? But I have an accounting final on Monday and I basically haven't stopped weeping in self-pity in three days, so here's some fluffy filler to hold us all over
Looking back on this whole experience, there's definitely a ton of stuff that I wish I'd known before I jumped into it. It was kind of weird to me surprisingly easy it all was to adjust to, especially given that my hair has always been pretty neglected as far my appearance goes. That being said, I've never done something this high-maintenance before, and there were a lot of twists. Maybe a lot of what was surprising to me would be a lot less surprising to people who color on the reg, but I had pink bangs in high school and even this was a lot different. I know a ton of people who have gone lighter or blonde, but not that many people who went from really drastic, almost-black to almost-white, so there wasn't really a whole lot of info out there for me. So here's the lowdown, the 411, the inside scoop - everything I learned from going blonde.
1) You're Not Fooling Anyone
I guess, first of all, the most important thing to remember is that you're not fooling anyone. Especially if you keep your eyebrows dark (which you definitely should) everyone's going to know you're a bottle blonde. The first month I had my hair I stressed so much about my roots showing but honestly, unless they get to that weird, gross point, no one cares. No one's judging you. THEY KNOW.
People will point the change out a lot at first but eventually won't think it's weird at all, so don't be overly self-conscious about it. I started a new job and I was immediately "that blonde girl" and I kept wondering who they were referring to.
2) It Gets Kind of Expensive
Unless you're a really experienced hair-dyer, this is not something you can or want to do at home, so it's worth it to shell out for a stylist who you really trust. If you're like me, it will take more than one session to get your hair light enough - I actually just got it to the shade of white blonde I've been aiming for. That's just getting started. From there you'll need clarifying shampoo ($20 at Ricky's NYC); a really great leave-in conditioner ($25, because it's going to destroy your hair, more on that later); developer, lightening powder, hair coloring supplies, and friend bribery to touch up your roots if you're brave ($40); more stylist appointments if you're not... I know that's really not all that much, but if you're on a budget like I am, it can add up super quickly.
3) There's a Ton of Upkeep (And It Can Get REALLY Gross)
Depending on how quickly your hair grows, you can have a half inch of growth in two weeks or a month and a half. I usually eeked out about a month before it started to look gross. The part of the root where you've touched up previously is never quite as light, so your hair looks really dirty once it gets time to dye again. Touching up roots is usually around a two to three hour process, depending on your individual head of hair (and it may take multiple bleachings).
Also, although you don't have to use clarifying shampoo everyday, if you neglect it for too long your hair will yellow, so it's important to keep tabs on that. Finally, bleaching takes a lot out of your hair. In the first month or two, it's really essential to wash your hair less often - but deep condition every single time you do. If you're like me and you'll take any excuse to stay in the shower longer, this is more of a benefit than anything.
4) It's Going to Totally Change Your Hair (For Good or Bad)
Depending on how quickly your hair grows, you can have a half inch of growth in two weeks or a month and a half. I usually eeked out about a month before it started to look gross. The part of the root where you've touched up previously is never quite as light, so your hair looks really dirty once it gets time to dye again. Touching up roots is usually around a two to three hour process, depending on your individual head of hair (and it may take multiple bleachings).
Also, although you don't have to use clarifying shampoo everyday, if you neglect it for too long your hair will yellow, so it's important to keep tabs on that. Finally, bleaching takes a lot out of your hair. In the first month or two, it's really essential to wash your hair less often - but deep condition every single time you do. If you're like me and you'll take any excuse to stay in the shower longer, this is more of a benefit than anything.
4) It's Going to Totally Change Your Hair (For Good or Bad)
Like I've mentioned, bleaching really does a number on your hair. The natural texture of my hair is very, very thick and straight, with a very wavy undercoat. If I left it over night, I woke up looking something like Hermione Granger without the frizz - just poof. I knew immediately something had changed when I looked at my freshly-bleached wet hair and saw curls rather than soft waves. As it air dried, I ended up with ~beachy-tostled waves~ that I loved. Seriously though, having bleached hair is literally like having texturizing sea-salt spray in it 24/7. And although it's not exactly healthy hair, I ended up loving the style and being pretty upset when all that deep-conditioning started to work.
It did mat and knot extremely easily, so if you're into having neat hair you're not going to like it. I was going through a grunge-y phase and into wearing hats anyways, so I didn't really mind it, but it was kind of a PITA when it came time to get dressed for my business-casual workplace. These days, it's in a weird phase where it's gotten a lot healthier and returned to most of its old texture (read: it takes 8+ hours to air dry) but it's also not quite silky - very difficult to style. This means that it spends 90% of its time in a bun/top-knot. Pretty disappointing considering this is the end of it.
It did mat and knot extremely easily, so if you're into having neat hair you're not going to like it. I was going through a grunge-y phase and into wearing hats anyways, so I didn't really mind it, but it was kind of a PITA when it came time to get dressed for my business-casual workplace. These days, it's in a weird phase where it's gotten a lot healthier and returned to most of its old texture (read: it takes 8+ hours to air dry) but it's also not quite silky - very difficult to style. This means that it spends 90% of its time in a bun/top-knot. Pretty disappointing considering this is the end of it.
5) You Might End Up Changing How You Dress
This is something that is going to vary a lot from person to person, but it was definitely really important for me. Before I bleached, one of my favorite outfits was a blue gingham button up and a gray cable knit cardigan. After I bleached, I put it on and felt like Sandy-Sue. A lot of my outfits suddenly felt too good-girl or cutesy. I basically eliminated a lot of the plaid, gingham, and bright pinks from my wardrobe.
But on the plus side, outfits that used to look too basic or frumpy - like a sweatshirt and a beanie - suddenly felt cooler, more edgy, more intentional. Maybe that was just my style changing a little, but I also loved wearing more black and seeing a stronger contrast than I did when I had dark brown hair.
I'm not entirely sure why this is. I think there's a certain element of intentionality that comes with having an obviously modified appearance, but until it got to the white-blonde stage it is today, I think it also brought a lot of looks down to "basic bottle blonde girl."
Finally, when your roots come in, there's definitely more of a push to keep the rest of the look slightly more tailored and focused - they do make you look that much sloppier. This meant getting dressed for work featured a lot more collared shirts and trousers than the simple knits andsweatpants drapey professional black knit pants I usually wore.
This is something that is going to vary a lot from person to person, but it was definitely really important for me. Before I bleached, one of my favorite outfits was a blue gingham button up and a gray cable knit cardigan. After I bleached, I put it on and felt like Sandy-Sue. A lot of my outfits suddenly felt too good-girl or cutesy. I basically eliminated a lot of the plaid, gingham, and bright pinks from my wardrobe.
But on the plus side, outfits that used to look too basic or frumpy - like a sweatshirt and a beanie - suddenly felt cooler, more edgy, more intentional. Maybe that was just my style changing a little, but I also loved wearing more black and seeing a stronger contrast than I did when I had dark brown hair.
I'm not entirely sure why this is. I think there's a certain element of intentionality that comes with having an obviously modified appearance, but until it got to the white-blonde stage it is today, I think it also brought a lot of looks down to "basic bottle blonde girl."
Finally, when your roots come in, there's definitely more of a push to keep the rest of the look slightly more tailored and focused - they do make you look that much sloppier. This meant getting dressed for work featured a lot more collared shirts and trousers than the simple knits and
6) People Notice You More - For Better or Worse
So when I went blonde, I noticed right away that my anonymity kind of went away. People recognized me a lot more easily. Like most people in New York, I don't make it a point to engage with people on the street, and I'm pretty quiet at work (I usually work Sunday mornings). But as a blonde, I felt I just got more noticed, approached, remembered. It was weird at first, because one of my favorite things about life in a major city is the anonymity - I never had any trouble making friends or meeting guys, but the ratio of "Potentially Harassment?" to "How Flattering!" was better. I mean, it wasn't that bad. I'm not entirely complaining. But then, conversely, I think I also got prejudged way more - genetic Bitchy Resting Face coupled with blondness means you have to work even harder to be like, "I promise I will not to rip out your throat if you try to talk to me." That being said, I feel as though I made a lot more friends and met so many more people during this blonde experiment, and it was really enjoyable.
In sum: a really lovely, fun experience. I think most of the reason that I'm going back is because I don't want to deal with the upkeep this summer, but one of my friends just told me that French guys LOVE blonde girls, so I mean. Of course I learn that now.
In sum: a really lovely, fun experience. I think most of the reason that I'm going back is because I don't want to deal with the upkeep this summer, but one of my friends just told me that French guys LOVE blonde girls, so I mean. Of course I learn that now.
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