Blonde is more than a hair colour, it’s a lifestyle. If that sounds dramatic and high maintenance it’s because being blonde is dramatic and high maintenance.
There’s also something about starting life as a bona fide blonde before transitioning to one from a bottle that is often accompanied by a hefty dose of denial; we inevitably always think we’re ‘naturally’ blonder than our dark roots might belie. And herein lies the problem. I identify as blonde and, therefore, by hook or by crook I am. But the upkeep means that my hair colour is frequently (every 8 weeks to be precise) pulled into focus, something not experienced by those whose genetics mean they don’t need to drop upwards of £150 every couple of months to stay light.
From the moment you decide to add that smattering of face framing highlights ‘just to lift things a little’ it kick-starts a never-ending quest of wanting more and yet only being momentarily sated. You (by ‘you’ I mean ‘I’) become immune to your ever-achromatic hair and suddenly there is no such thing as ‘too blonde’. Except there is.
'Blonde Blindness is a real thing. I hear it all the time from clients telling me they feel they are not blonde enough,' says Cetera Lamb, master colourist at John Frieda Mayfair.
'When your colour is freshly done it instantly illuminates your face, and that feeling can be addictive.'
So much so, in fact, that #blondeblindness has amassed over 53 million posts of TikTok, which is all the validation I need to know that my enslavement to the bleach is simply a phenomenon that some (many) of us are burdened with.
My blonderexia started at the tender age of 19 after an ill-fated run-in with a hair academy luring in students like myself, under the promise of creating your ‘perfect cut and colour’ at cut-price. The result, dear reader, was not the perfect colour. In fact, the unveiling revealed what could, at best, be described as a ‘dirty blonde’ but was in face more like a dark greige.
Whilst my once naturally creamy Scandi tones had already morphed into a more honeyed hue, the fast-track to brunette was jarring and I vowed to get back to my pre-teen roots from that day forth (not quite appreciating that said roots were getting progressively darker like a divergent line graph). What’s more, after having kids my base colour has somehow become darker still. And yet, I still inherently believe that I haven’t quite reached peak blonde. (I blame iphone memories for wistfully reminding me of pre-Covid blonde moments that I don’t seem to have been able to fully revisit.)
I’ve lost count of the number of well-intentioned colourists who have gently suggested adding a few low-lights or to allow some of my ‘natural’ colour to peek through in a valiant attempt to break up the beacon of bright blonde that is my hair, but one look at the disdain on my face tells them all they need to know.
So, what do colourists really think when you badger them to go blonder?
'I don’t believe there is a rule on how blonde anyone should go, I tend to think of the hair condition first and then the client's overall style,' says Lamb (who incidentally couldn’t do a ‘bad’ blonde if she tried). 'You can be as blonde as you want but only if your hair can take it. Over-processing your hair equals damage and damaged hair makes your colour looks dull, which again gives you that urge to want to be blonder. It’s your colourist’s responsibility to make sure they are not overlapping the colour as that will double process your hair. Your colourist will build up your blonde up to a point in order to give you the desired blonde but it's all about knowing when to stop and not pushing it to breaking point…literally.'
To avoid being blighted by blonde blindness, Lamb advises keeping on top of your roots rather than dragging out your appointments which then means you’re left with having to overload your hair with foils and/or balayage. 'A good pick-me-up for when you're feeling low in between appointments is to go for my signature 12 foils technique which means just placing colour around the high points of your face. It’s the perfect way to lend a natural-looking boost of brightness.'
Did I mention I’m seeing her tomorrow?
[Cassie Steer]{href='https://graziadaily.co.uk/author/cassie-steer/' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'} is acting beauty director at Grazia with over 25 years’ experience on women’s glossies.