If blondes have more fun, they deserve that. Being a blonde is hard work and, honestly, not always fun. Editor Trudi Brewer and style director Louise Hilsz share the best brass-fighting products for blondes and their tips on taking care of your colour.
The process of being a blonde is costly and ongoing. First, it involves removing your natural colour pigment, and this generally goes through three shades red to orange and then yellow. Of course, post-salon, your hair looks fabulous, but that changes as your hair grows and the blonde is exposed to daily aggressors like hard water and UV rays. However, you can live your best blonde life by arming yourself with an arsenal of colour-saving products. Read on to learn more about how we care for our blonde colours.
Trudi Brewer’s blonde
Every six weeks, I put my hair through a three-hour colour service. First, a full-head tint to cover the grey adds body and shine to my lack-lustre grey roots, and then every second visit to the salon, I also have highlights to add light and shade through my honey-coloured blonde to break up the all-over colour at the roots. It’s when I have the highlights that my hair needs a moisture boost for shine and to keep the frizz at bay and the shine. Here is my Schwarzkopf Professional BlondeMe routine.
The essentials
Purple shampoo is a must for me to maintain a creamy blonde to fight the inevitable brassiness. I look for violet-toned shampoo to neutralise those unflattering yellow tones. Using a purple shampoo, every few washes will brighten your blonde and help keep those brassy overtones at bay.
Schwarzkopf professional BLONDME - Cool Blondes - Neutralizing Shampoo, $38.
Not all purple shampoo is created equal. This one offers multiple benefits. It cleanses the most delicate coloured hair and boosts its strength with clever 3D bond creation technology (the bonds in your hair determine the strength and resilience of the hair). Also, the velvet flower protein complex helps repair those damaged hair bonds. Finally, the violet pigments neutralise yellow undertones in seconds.
To use: Wash the hair weekly with this shampoo to keep your colour looking ti’s best and boost nourishment at the same time.
Tip: If your hair is fine and coloured, invest in a Raindrops Shower Filter. This will eliminate the nasties, including chlorine (the culprit for drying the hair, algae, iron, copper and lead traces from harsh water.
Add extra moisture
Blonde hair is lightened hair with bleach or high-lift tints. During that process, the cuticle (outside layer of the hair) lifts and the bonds (these determine the strength of the hair) inside the hair are weakened to remove the pigment. So it’s often dehydrated and weakened by this process. To amp up the conditioning benefits, a weekly mask will help add protein to the hair, strengthen and boost shine.
Schwarzkopf professional BLONDME Cool Blondes Neutralizing Mask, $40.
Blonde hair lacks shine, and because it’s porous, the colour needs toning to stay bright and fresh. The cool purple pigments in this mask visibly brighten the colour. At the same time, that 3D bond creation technology repairs damaged hair from the bleaching process, giving hair better strength for daily wear and tear. While the protein complex nourishes hair from the inside out.
To use: Apply to damp hair, comb the mask to the ends, leave it on for ten minutes, and then rinse. Use weekly.
My best hair accessory
Schwarzkopf professional BLONDME Cool Blondes Neutralizing Spray Conditioner, $38.
When heat styling, my simple strategy is to prep my hair with a leave-in conditioner. This is your toning, shine-boosting spray all in one. Stacked with vitamin B5, that clever 3D bond creation technology, and violet pigments that neutralise brassiness, this is the leave-in conditioner you spritz on and then blow dry.
To use: Shake well and then spray on damp hair, then style or use on dry hair to reignite your style.
“Get into the habit of wearing a hat to protect your blonde colour from the unwanted effects of those UV rays. The strength of our sun will dry out our locks and strip out the hair colour leaving it with a brassy, undertone post-summer.”
Louise Hilsz's blonde
With a full head bleach, every four weeks to create my creamy blonde hair it needs rich conditioning treatments to nourish my scalp and give it shine. I am used to the scalp burn from a full head bleach, and my scalp is often tender for a few days after my colour. Day to day, I rarely use shampoo; I rinse my hair and add a generous dollop of conditioner, followed by shine spray and hydrating styling cream to add definition to my cropped cut.
The essentials
Schwarzkopf Professional BLONDME All Blondes Rich Conditioner, $38.
First up, I love the smell of this conditioner; it’s creamy floral that lasts in the hair all day. Like the rest of the Schwarzkopf Professional BlondMe range, the 3D bond creation technology helps restore the feeling of fullness to my hair post-colour, and the cashmere extract is ultra-hydrating. But it’s the marula oil that ensures my blonde colour and has a brilliant shine.
Add Extra shine
Schwarzkopf professional BLONDME All Blondes Rich Mask, $40.
Often I use this mask as my ultra-rich conditioner. It’s also excellent for soothing my scalp post-bleach. It leaves hair silky soft to the touch, and once again, the smell is divine.
To use: Massage into damp or dry hair, leave it on for ten minutes, and then rinse with warm water.
Shine & definition
Schwarzkopf professional BLONDME Blonde Wonders Restoring Balm, $38.
The go-to leave-in hair balm that guarantees me 24h anti-frizz, it also offers heat protection when I am using a hair dryer, and as a summer essential, it has a UV filter to protect my hair from yellowing in the sun.
“Invest in a silk pillowcase. Cotton rubs against the hair and causes frizz. Also, silk absorbs less moisture, which means your hair stays hydrated, which means healthier-looking hair.”
A nourishing mask that adds colour and shine.