The Dark Side

I've been a blonde my whole life (err, with a little assistance as of freshman year of high school), but after many years of repeated highlights and a trip to sunny St. Lucia my hair looked Gwen Stefani blonde in the dead of winter. Exhibit A over here is of Mr. M and I at our friend's wedding in January. It was so light and bleached out that I decided in March to switch things up and do a rich, caramel base with a few golden highlights. Sounds nice, no? Well I did just that and at first I felt all cool and edgy with my darker hair, and then...reality set in. I took a good look at myself in the mirror and hated it. 

My husband liked it, my friends liked it, my friend's husband's liked it, but I was desperate with a capital D to get back to my blonde roots. Mr. M told me I looked more like a "wife" with my dark hair. I did not take this as a compliment. I have no clear photographic evidence of my dark hair but let's just say it was one of those shades that colorists say is blonde but if you walked up to some random joe on the street and said what color is my hair they would tell you it's brown. I couldn't go back to the salon and go light because I just spent a bunch of money going dark.

So, I searched high and low for a solution and came up with John Frieda Sheer Blonde Go Blonder Lightening Shampoo and Conditioner, each of which promises to gradually lighten hair with a Natural Lightening Complex and Chamomile for a year round sunkissed look. Let me tell you, I was shocked by how much this lightened my hair without any of those crazy red tones coming through. I would say it lightened me up a good three shades over the course of two months. My hair actually looked blonde again and all was right in the world.

Fun fact: according to Wella, blonde is the most requested hair color in salons, accounting for over 50% of all color services.

Wella's new remastered Blondor line (used professionally by your colorist) includes a collection of products that transforms any kind of hair into a striking blonde. To address the need for gentleness and shine, Wella Professionals also introduces the EW Koleston Perfect Special Blondes range, a permanent crème color for high-lift blonde that also provides gentle conditioning to avoid that whole overprocessed haystack blonde thing. Click here to find a Wella salon near you so you can go get your blonde on for summer.