How To Maintain Blonde Hair Without Damage

Ah, the early 2000s—the era of male child bands, MySpace, mirror selfies, and hair that was colored in your basement sink with a bottle of bleach and peroxide, à la Christina Aguilera and Beyoncé. (Hey, hindsight is 20/20, right?) Merely the damage from dyeing your hair several strands lighter can exist severe, especially if you don't know what to ask for, how to prep your pilus, or how to take care of it afterward. Not to mention, many wannabe blonde bomshells are constantly in search of a manageable at-home solution. To help you out, we chatted with celebrity hairstylist and all-around pilus guru Kristin Ess to detect out exactly how to bleach your hair without dissentious ittoomuch—and how to maintain the wellness of your newly bleached hair in the long-term.

one. Be Realistic About Bleaching Your Pilus

No matter what, going platinum blonde will damage your hair to an extent. Sorry. Lightening your hair to white-blonde levels requires the use of either hydrogen peroxide or bleach to create an irreversible chemical reaction in your hair cuticle, explains Ess. And though the formulas used in salons are gentler than what you'd find nether your sink, they're all the same going to leave your hair somewhat dry and damaged, particularly if you're starting with dark or coarse hair.

"The darker your natural hair color is, the more than pigment y'all'll need to remove to go to a platinum level, which requires a harsher process," says Ess. "It's besides harder to remove pigment from fibroid strands than fine strands, then know that there's just so much y'all can do to forbid damage if you accept dark, coarse hair."

2. Invest In a Skillful Bleach Formula

That $xx bottle of "non-damaging" and "magical" bleach you found on the internet? Run. Fast."When it comes to bleaches, you 100 percent get what you pay for," says Ess. "Not all formulas are the aforementioned. Y'all desire to use higher-quality, less-damaging bleaches that have nourishing additives, like Brazilian Bond Builder, to help preserve the health of the hair."

These formulas are going to cost you more, certain, "merely if you want to keep your hair potent and good for you, it's all very, very necessary," Ess adds, especially if you're not cool with hardcore breakage, dryness, frizz, and flyaways.Though prices can vary profoundly per salon and location, you should await to pay upwards of $150 for a expert bleach job.Hey, beauty don't come cheap.

Shop Our Favorite Calm Bleaching Supplies

HiMo Professional Salon Pilus Coloring Dyeing Kit

Schwarzkopf Blondme, Premium Lift 9 Plus

FRAMAR Pastel Pilus Clips

Arctic Fox Bleach, Please Complete Hair Lightening Kit

3. Find the Correct Colorist

If yous're willing to await for a salon visit, Ess strongly recommends splurging for the best colorist yous tin can find—whether that'southward via discussion of oral cavity or Yelp reviews—rather than trying to find the salon with the cheapest price (since cheaper normally ways harsher formulas).

"Find a hair colorist you lot trust implicitly to give you the best of the best," says Ess. Or, at the very least, find a colorist with skilful enough reviews (and pretty enough Instagram photos), that you lot feel confident in their abilities."He or she is probably going to be more expensive, but that's considering information technology costs colorists more than to get you lot the skillful stuff.Platinum blonde pilus is an investment if you desire it done correctly."

iv. Deep Condition Your Pilus

"The darker, coarser, or curlier your natural hair is, the more conditioning y'all're going to demand both before and after bleaching it," says Ess. To assistance mitigate the damage, she recommends slathering on a deep-conditioning mask, like theWella Enrich Moisturizing Treatment or her ownKristin Ess Strand Strengthening Moisture Mask (trust me; it's genuinely a good mask), over your dry hair every night for the calendar week before and after your date, in addition to using a weekly bond-repairing treatment.

"If you're going platinum blonde,you demand to use a production that helps repair and strengthen the bonds in your hair fibers," she says. Aye, that all sounds similar marketing jargon, but these salon-level treatments, similar the cult-favorite Olaplex Hair Perfector No. 3, really do help toughen up and protect your hair.

To employ it at habitation, only comb a palmful of foam through your damp hair, go out it on for as long as possible (overnight with a shower cap is all-time, but at least 30 minutes, if that's all y'all have time for), then shampoo every bit usual.You'll detect softer, shinier hair afterward i use, and significantly less breakage with consistent use.

Store Our Favorite Hair Masks for Blonde Hair

Kérastase Elixir Ultime Mask

Kristin Ess Strand Strengthening Reconstructive Wet Mask

Olaplex No. three Hair Perfector (3.3 fl. oz.)

Wella Enrich Moisturizing Treatment for Coarse Pilus

5. Book a Touch-Up

If lightening your hair damages it, you should probably wait as long equally possible betwixt touch-ups, correct? Incorrect. "In order to continue your hair color perfectly even and consistent, you want fairly minimal root grow-out—ideally less than an inch," says Ess."If you wait as well long between touch-ups, you risk getting a 'band' of slightly different shades of blonde effectually your head,which will require a full-on, all-over bleach job to correct." Andthat is severely damaging.

"If you're getting a bleach and tone—a.chiliad.a. going platinum—make an appointment before you leave the salon for a impact-upwardly in four to half-dozen weeks so y'all don't forget," recommends Ess.

6. Invest In Purple Shampoo

Considering you'll accept already sunk a ton of time and money into your hair past the fourth dimension you lot're washed, we're guessing you lot'll desire to keep your color every bit bright and shiny as possible, right? Enter: regal products—i.east.shampoos and conditioners infused with purple pigments that assist counteract the brassy tones that naturally develop in blonde pilus.Once a week, use them in place of your usual shampoo and conditioner to keep your color rich and clear.

Hey, nobody said platinum was a low-maintenance or cheap hairstyle, simply if y'all want your gloriously blonde hair to expect less like a walking early-aughts MySpace photo and more like a Blake Lively pilus commercial, then we advise following all of the above to a T, without cutting corners. Your hair volition thank you.