HOW TO GET AND MAINTAIN ICY BLONDE HAIR

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!!! I am FINALLY doing my hair post. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you either just stumbled upon this post on accident or you’re new to following me on Instagram. And in that case you’re probably not wondering why this took so long. The real answer is two-fold. One, contrary to popular belief, finding someone to help me take photos is actually quite hard a lot of the time. (While it would be highly ideal, no I do NOT have someone following me around 24/7 taking cute pics of me. 😛 ) Secondly, a few of the times I did think about taking the photos and have help, my hair was on day three or four and not the most photogenic.

Alright. Let’s get to it. One of my most asked questions on Instagram and in real life is about my hair! And it’s one thing I can say I can actually educate you on with confidence. I have been a hairstylist now for over twelve years, currently work full time in a salon, and I can hopefully help you out with some of your hair questions. Most of my clients that come in (as well as you all!) seem to want that pretty icy blonde that you see all over Instagram and Pinterest. And there’s a few things you need to know. So here we go!

1. IT TAKES TIME TO ACHIEVE ICY BLONDE

I cannot stress this enough. You may have to pay several visits to the salon before you can get the desired result. It all depends on what your hair is like when you come in and what your stylist has to do to get you there. I am a natural blonde myself, and it took ME three times of bleaching my hair to get the tone I wanted. Part of this was the stubbornness of my hair, and part of this was my wanting to protect my hair as I lightened it.

2. IT TAKES MONEY

This kind of goes along with my first point, but obviously if you are having to pay multiple visits to the salon, it’s going to cost money. In addition to this, however, you also want to find a stylist who can get you the results you desire. I cannot tell you how many times people have come to me to get their hair fixed as a result of trying to save money. A good stylist is going to be worth their price. And know that they have spent time and money improving their skills, so they are probably worth it!

3. IT TAKES OLAPLEX

If you have never heard of Olaplex, it is something stylists add to bleach (and sometimes color) to protect your hair from damage. And is mostly responsible for the fact the icy blonde hair is even a thing that is possible. Usually my clients that come in wanting icy blonde already have bleach in their hair, and in order for me to be able to try to re-lighten that already bleached hair, I HAVE to use Olaplex. It rebuilds the bonds in your hair and allows you to be able to push your hair beyond its normal limits without damage. You can read more all about how it works here. I highly recommend finding a stylist that uses Olaplex to insure that your icy blonde hair stays healthy! (Because of the cost of the product and the amount of time it adds to your hair service, Olaplex does generally add a cost of $30+ to your bill.) Also, you guys. Be ok with haircuts! Not drastic ones but you are definitely going to need to trim an inch maybe two! But in my opinion, better healthy, pretty icy blonde hair.

4. IT TAKES PURPLE SHAMPOO

If I didn’t use purple shampoo, my hair would just be a light yellowish blonde but not that icy tone. To maintain it you have to use a purple shampoo. Depending how icy you want to be, you may need to use it every time you wash your hair. Personally, I use my purple shampoo every time I shower. I start by washing my hair with my regular shampoo (THIS is the best. Pricy but lasts forever!) and then I use my purple shampoo and let it sit for up to five minutes while I shave. (Occasionally if I feel like my hair has gotten too gray looking, I’ll skip the purple shampoo on my next wash.) My ALL TIME FAVORITE PURPLE SHAMPOO is Blndn. A lot of purple shampoos are drying or too pigmented or not pigmented enough, but the brightening shampoo from Blndn is amazing! I first found out about them last year when I worked with them on a blog post, and now I buy the shampoo for myself and tell all of my clients to get it because I love it so much! If you use the code CHRISTINE20, you can get 20% off of your purchase!

Another important thing to mention when talking about purple shampoo is that your hair must be blonde enough for the purple shampoo to actually work. If you watched on my Instastories last week, I showed you how I still have some yellow blonde on the underneath of my hair, and even though I use the same purple shampoo on it, it doesn’t change the tone of that hair. So in order for it to actually work, your hair needs to be light enough. Think inside of a banana as opposed to outside of a banana. Or look at this photo to see a good example of yellow blonde and white blonde!

Lastly, even though you may pay extra money initially to get your icy blonde hair, I have found that all of my clients who I use Olaplex on, and then they go home and maintain with purple shampoo, they do not have to come in as often. A lot of my clients go four plus months without getting their hair done! (This is my clients that do not have grey and generally have a rooted blonde or balayage style color. This obviously changes if you are platinum icy blonde all the way up to your roots.)

5. IT TAKES BEING REALISTIC

Ok, this might be something you don’t want to hear BUT you need to. You need to realistic with your expectations for your hair! As much as it may appear like it, we stylists are not magicians! If your hair is naturally super dark or has been dyed a dark color for a while, there is a good chance it will take extra long to get you icy blonde or may not be possible without a drastic cut or damage. Hopefully your stylist will be able to communicate this with you up front so you’re not disappointed. The same can even go for a natural blonde who already has damaged hair when they come in or have hair that your stylist thinks won’t be able to undergo the process needed to achieve the results without damage. Just find a stylist who you can trust and know that they are probably doing their best to give you what you want but also want to be realistic too!

Phew. Ok, I think that covers mostly everything I wanted to say! PLEASE. If I forgot anything or you have any questions, feel free to email me! If you’re in the area, come see me! @moxiedoeshair

xoxo,

Christine

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