Can I Go From Dark Hair to Blonde Hair in One Sitting?

Chris Williams International Colour Director at Rush Hair tells us what we need to know about going blonde from having dark hair in one sitting.

Hair stylists are constantly asked if a client can go from brown to blonde in one visit to the salon. Whilst it will vary from one person to the next, the answer is often no. All of us are individuals and so what can work for one of us won’t work for someone else. Even if your hair is a similar colour to a friend who went blonde it doesn’t necessarily mean you will be able to.

Your hair grows at an average rate of just over a cm a month. That means that if your hair is straight and reaches below your collarbone it is likely to have been growing for at least 2, probably 3, years to get that long. So the hair on your head will be a product of everything you’ve done to it over that period. Over that time it will have been affected by your health, your diet, heat styling, what shampoos, conditioners and styling products you’ve used. Pollution and any chemical processes you’ve had on it at that time such as straightening, perming and colouring will all affect your hair.

So no two heads of hair will be the same.

Now let’s talk about the colour that’s on the hair.

Any oxidising hair colour that you have had in your hair will leave colour pigments in your hair (this includes ones that say they last ‘6-8 weeks’). Unfortunately, these colour pigments cannot be lightened or changed, despite common belief, by simply popping another colour on your hair. So if you want to go blonde from brown you will need to use a ‘bleach’ to do so.

The way I’d like you to think about this process is like you’ve got a house with a large rock (the brown hair colour) in the living room. To go blonde we’ve got to get that rock out of there. There’s obviously more than one way to do this. But ideally, we want to cause as little damage to the house as possible in the process. Now we could pop a stick of dynamite under the rock and hope for the best. But let’s be fair if you do that you’re likely to take half the house (your hair) down with it. And although it may be possible to fix it up again it’s like trying to glue the rubble from the house back together, it’s never going to look as pretty at be as strong as it was before.

So it’s going to be better to chip away at the rock bit by bit, knock a piece off and take it out through the door a piece at a time so we get as little damage as possible. Now obviously this is going to be slower but in the meantime, you’ll still be able to use the living room and the rest of the house. Unfortunately when we chip away at the rock we’re going to find that underneath the brown exterior it’s orange and yellow, and although we can decorate in the meantime or put something over the rock we can’t completely cover it until the rocks small enough so you’re going to have to live with that until we’ve chipped away enough that we can completely cover it.

The other thing is until we start chipping away at the rock we won’t know how hard it will be to get it out. It may be very soft and surprise us and be quite easy to chip away or it might be really tough and take a lot more work than initially suspected and just because the initial layer of the rock was easy to chip away the middle may be much harder and take longer to chip away.

So before undergoing this process speak to your stylist and take their advice they want for you to get what you want but they don’t want you sitting in the rubble wishing you’d chipped away at the rock. Arrange your free consultation at your nearest Rush Hair salon today!

If you’re thinking of going from brunette to blonde there are several things to take into consideration when contemplating a change:

1 – Will it suit me?

If you’ve always had dark hair you may not be sure blonde hair will suit you. As a general rule look at your natural hair colour and eye colour. If you’ve got naturally dark hair but light eyes you’ll probably suit either light or dark hair. Look at Khloé Kardashian who went from brunette to blonde (overtime) and looks as good as both. If you’ve got dark hair and dark eyes, like her sister, you’re much less likely to pull off a blonde look and to look natural with it. If this is the case you may consider a balayage or ombré look where the natural colour frames the face. Also, bare in mind cool ashy blondes will suit cool skin tones and golden blondes will be more suitable for warmer skin.

2 – Condition.

I hear all the time that someone’s hair is stronger than I think or that they don’t mind if the hairs in bad condition as long as they’re blonde. But trust me the reality of poor conditioned, over-processed hair is far harder to live with than to say. It will look dull, split, straw-like, be harder to manage and style plus the colour will fade far more than with well-conditioned hair.

Re-bonding products like Smartbond by L’Oreal Professional will minimise damage caused and help strengthen damaged hair but they need to be maintained or the hair will revert back to a damaged state.

3 – Cost.

Being brunette is less commitment and expense than being blonde. The initial service is going to be more expensive and this will be the case throughout the process of going blonde. This will require regular appointments every 6-8 weeks to achieve your goal. You’ll also need to commit to looking after your hair between visits. This will require strengthening and moisturising shampoos and conditioning treatments to be carried out regularly at home.

Try using Smartbond to keep reformed bonds plus Pureology Strengthening Shampoo and Conditioner including the Pureology Moisturising Superfood Mask.

Also, consider who is going to carry out the service. It may seem economical to go for a lower level stylist but a senior stylist or company consultant will have years of experience and expertise making them a master craftsman and making the process more simple and stress-free.

To make sure that your colour last, once the process of becoming a blonde is over the maintenance visits should be every 8-10 weeks.

If you want a small colour update or a totally refreshed look, our team can talk you through the colour change steps you need to undertake in order to achieve a style and hair colour that’s rights for you. Visit your nearest salon today.