8 rules to follow before going blonde

Blonde is everywhere you turn. So many trends, so much Instagram inspo, so many choices. Balayage, root stretch, platinum, pastel, sunlights and babylights. The choice is yours and any service in which the hair is lighted comes under the banner of blonde services in our books. Each service needs to be tailored to the hair and each look requires preparation to get the best out of your service.

So we have compiled a list of the 8 things your hairdresser would love for you to do before your blonde service.

1. Thou shall flip through Pinterest.

No matter what you have been told or assume, us hairdressers love photos, as long as the expectations are realistic. Pinterest is the hub where you can browse photos of colours that you like, things that make you cringe and the looks you aren’t game enough to try. It’s the place where you create the board of your Hair Inspo where you end up with a common theme, hence the look you are after. As long as the looks are realistic and the models have similar hair type, skin tone and texture to you then most looks can be achieved or a plan put in place.

2. Thou shall do my research.

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So you have found your blonde icon and now you need to find the right person to help you achieve this look. Get online and research. Pick up the phone and research. Send an email and research. This will help you get a vibe for the salon, their blonde knowledge and how comfortable you feel putting your hair in their hands. Check out the salon’s Instagram. Before and afters are a great way to see how experienced the salon is with the look you are after. Don’t put your dream look in anyones hands. Make sure your time and effort is not wasted on the wrong hairdresser.

3. Thou shall save up enough cash

The golden rule here is never pick your blonde specialist on price. In this case, cheap does mean nasty and a less experienced stylist with lower quality products. If you choose to go blonde you need to be willing to spend the money. Most blonde services will cost you between $150 and $350 depending on how detailed the service is. Not all products are created equally and the colour range your stylist uses on your hair can determine how light your blonde is lifted and how well your toner works. Cheap colouring products can cause damage and leave the hair brittle and dry. Make sure the salon’s blonde colour range contains either Olaplex, Fibrelex or any other plex which helps re bond the hair back together after a lightening service.

4. Thou shall throw out my supermarket products

Supermarket and cheap shampoos, conditioners, treatments, protection sprays and oils do nothing to strengthen, repair, nourish, add shine or do whatever else the bottle promises. Again cheap is cheap and supermarket products are mostly detergent and water. It’s like washing your hair with dishwashing liquid. The excess silicon in supermarket products builds up on the hair over time and can react with the bleach. This build up can cause over heating of the foils resulting in unstable processing and it the worst cases, the foils to steam. It makes it hard for the colour to penetrate through, reducing the ability to lift the colour light enough. After care with supermarket products is not recommended either as they will strip the toner out of the hair resulting in brassiness sooner than expected.

Click here to read 'WHY YOUR SUPERMARKET SHAMPOO IS PREVENTING YOU FROM GOING BLONDE'

5. Thou shall put my hair irons away….or turn them down at least.

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Typically hair irons heat to 280 degrees and you are subjecting your hair to the burn of such high temperatures. Anytime extreme heat is applied to hair, the cuticle breaks down resulting in split and broken hair. If the hair has minimal cuticle then it is extremely hard to colour as the hair is so fragile. These shredded ends will also soak up toners more as the damaged hair is searching for pigment to help it rebuild. Overuse of hair irons cause alien antennas, spiky crowns and broken hairlines. They can also burn out your toner quicker, dry the hair out and give you dull, scarecrow locks. If you want long, blonde and shiny hair then we suggest not using the irons at all. If you must use them due to your addiction to poker straight hair, then we suggest turning them down to 180 degrees (if your iron has a dial), using them only once a week and running them over each section of the hair once and slowly to get maximum results. It makes us cringe when I see people ironing their hair how they would brush it. I can literally hear the hair breaking.

6. Thou shall do treatments, treatments and more treatments.

Yes people, treatments are real and they do work. They are more than a glorified conditioner. Treatments are concentrated nutrients and should only be used once a week. We suggest once a week for 4 weeks before you decide to go lighter. This fills the hair with goodness and preps it for the lightening process. Buy a good quality blonde hair treatment and if possible from the salon that will be lightening your hair. This way the product is tailored to your hair and the upcoming service. Do I need to repeat that a supermarket treatment is not a real treatment so don’t waste your time and money. Pay a bit extra and your hair, and hairdresser will thank you for it. Now if you don’t have time to do the whole hot towel, leave on for 20 min deal, just do the treatment in the shower for 5-10 min. I always say that something is better than nothing and the treatments these days are designed for our time poor society. Alternatively, put the treatment in your hair before going to bed and sleep with it overnight. Make sure to put a towel over your pillowcase so as not to make a mess.

7. Thou shall stop my purple shampoo addiction.

We are not saying don’t use purple shampoo. There is a time and place for it and it helps keep the brass at bay longer. By the time you are due to get your blonde redone, the brassiness will be hard to kick. That is the normal cycle of hair. So soaking your hair daily in purple shampoo until it forms a dull grey colour is not doing it any favours. Remember, purple shampoo is pigmented and designed to be used once a week for enhancing your colour, not changing it. All that purple build up is then a colour that the bleach needs to break through, resulting in less lightening ability making the hair throw off a warmer tone. We suggest not using your purple shampoo for a week before your blonding appointment and let the ashiness fade out on it's own. This also gives us hairdressers and indication if we need to tweak the toner and the fading ability of your hair.

Click here to read ‘COULD YOUR PURPLE SHAMPOO BE DAMAGING TO YOUR BLONDE?’

8. Thou shall get a decent trim.

No, Rapunzel didn’t have 4 long, frizzy, split hairs hanging at the ends of her hair. If you want long locks then they need to look thick and shiny. There is nothing worse then when people tell us they want to keep all the length and that length is about to break off on its own anyway. If your hair just won’t grow then you need to read above and see tip numbers 4,5 and 6 to look after your blonde hair, then believe me it will grow. But until then, we cannot save those strings and they just need to be cut of. It might mean a trim or losing 2 inches but your hair and colour will look better if you let us get those ends off. This prevents future breakage, tangling and knots and preps the hair for a fresher, cleaner blonde.

No one said going blonde was easy and it takes time. The care of the hair is essential and if you are not willing to put in the hard yards, then maybe blonde just isn’t for you. You wouldn’t spend a fortune on buying a Lamborghini to then wash it with dishwashing liquid or leave it out in the elements to fade. Your blonde is the same. It is an asset to your look and can make you feel younger, more tanned and stand out in a crowd. So please show your blonde hair the respect it deserves. Follow us on Insta @birdiesalon

Why Toner is so Important to your Blonde Hair

What does a toner do?

This question definitely comes in to our top 5 questions that clients ask. All you know is your hair is lightening in those pretty little foil packets, it then gets rinsed out and your hairdresser says, “I’m just going to mix up your toner.” You smile, nod and agree, all the while having no idea what she is talking about but every hairdresser does it so it must be a thing. So peeps, it’s now time to take control and finally know what happens when we place that weird, cold solution on your head at the basin.

Basically, any time we lighten hair it throws off warmth. That’s what hair does and that’s the way it was designed and has done so since the dawn of time. It lifts through red, orange, yellow and finally palest yellow, which is where you want to be if you are wanting platinum, ash blonde or silver. No we don’t lift to white, as this is the point when hair breaks so we like it to hang out at pale yellow and remain on your head. This is where the toner comes in.

Basically a toner is used in most cases to counteract any warmth in the hair and create a more neutral colour as this is a much nicer look on your skin tone. It can also enhance or be used to create fashion colors but in the case of this blog we will concentrate on the neutralizing part of the toning process.

Say you were wanting platinum blonde, we would have to lift you light enough to get to pale yellow. We then would ‘tone’ or neutralize the pale yellow colour with a violet based blonde toner. This is because violet is opposite to yellow on the colour wheel. Remember grade 2 colour wheel activities where you mixed purple with yellow to make brown, or as we call it in hairdressing, neutral. This colour doesn't show up as brown but a neutral, clean, vanilla blonde.

Now let's just say your hair could only lift to orange, due to tint build up or your hair being darker naturally to start with, then we would use a blue based toner creating an ash brown colour. If we used a blue based toner over yellow hair, this would create a green or murky colour as blue and yellow make green. Again see Grade 2 colour mixing. This seems to be a common problem when people get toners in their hair as a lot of hairdressers only see ash (blue) as a universal toning option. This leaves the dull blonde look where hair lacks brightness and lightness. Another common toning faux pas is called ‘breaking the base’ where the toner used has a high level of ammonia which ends up lightening the natural hair around the foils, creating a warm or orange tinge to the overall look of the hair.

Toners can also be altered to create different tones on blonde hair. There are many ways hairdressers can manipulate toners to intensify fashion looks like greys and pinks, produce depth at the roots using a darker toner called a ‘root stretch, blend out balayage by using 2 levels of toner and using toner to initiate levels of fade when the hair is washed.

Toners should be soft, never burn and never make the hair look dull. A toner should look like a cellophane on the hair, neutralizing the colour and complementing your skin tone. They are an important part of the colour process and if done correctly, can give you your perfect blonde.

Here at Birdie we will always tone our clients blonde at the chair in front of the mirror as apposed to the basin. Firstly this is an easier process for us and cleaner to apply but we also do this to educate our clients as to what their hair colour looks like when freshly lightened and then to visually see what the toner does to their hair colour after application.

Please remember that toners fade from the hair like all hair colour does, but being a lighter tone, they are designed to last about 4-6 weeks. You may find that you need to visit your hairdresser around this time to get the toner refreshed. A violet based shampoo or conditioner will also help the colour from looking brassy.

How the humble Scrunchie can keep your blonde hair from breaking

So this week I had a hair epiphany thanks to a couple of my clients. I have educated them well in all the blonde tricks; turn down the irons and regular treatments, yet I’m still seeing hair breakage around the areas where they tie their hair up. So this is the point that I introduce you to the humble Scrunchie. The 80s icon may just be what your blonde hair needs. For those of you that don’t know what a Scrunchie is, let me explain. A Scrunchie is a piece of elastic incased in a piece of material. Colour matched to your outfit if you so choose. If you are seeing unnecessary breakage around the area that you regularly tie your hair up then let me tell you what a Scrunchie can do for you.

1. Less damage than a regular elastic- especially a rubber band. Anything grippy on your hair will pull and trap the hair, causing breakage. A Scrunchie is softer on the hair and the material stops the pull of a bare elastic.
2. A Scrunchie is way more comfortable than a regular elastic- less pulling means less headaches
3. A Scrunchie is easier to find- they are bigger and brighter so no more lost hair ties
4. They look good as a bracelet on your arm- much nicer and less suffocating than a hair elastic
5. They are much easier to remove from your hair and won’t cause knots- no catching, pulling or tangling
6. You can custom match to your outfit- if you so desire. Yes it was a look in the 80s but I’m sure it can be rocked in this day.

Some other tips to help the integrity of your hair:

• Never tie your hair up wet, even with a Scrunchie, as hair is in it’s most vulnerable state when wet.
• Never sleep with your hair in a ponytail. The movement throughout the night can cause breakage.
• Change up the location of your ponytails to move the pressure of the one area. Think of all the new looks you can discover. Life’s too short for the same ponytail position.

So in conclusion if you are doing all the right things and you still have breakage on your blonde hair then consider hunting down a Scrunchie or two.

Why are consultations so important?

Consultations are a vital part of your hairdressing service. Without them, how will your Stylist truely know what you are after? A consultation should be the perfect symphony between the hairdressing world and the client world. This is the point where magic begins. So how can you as a client get the best out of your consultation and provide your hairdresser with all the insight they need?

1. Don't be shy No we don't bite. Even though we look like we have it all going on, at the end of the day, we are human and there to service you. If you hold back, we will never know your true personality and find it hard to get information out of you. Own that shit...and be who you really are. If your Stylist puts you down or makes you feel uncomfortable, then I suggest you get up and walk away.

2. Bring in photos Pinterest photos are not lame. They help us understand what look you are after, especially if you have trouble with the correct hairdressing terms. My only advice is to make sure the person in the photo has similar hair texture and thickness to you and you are realistic about your requests. A good Stylist will tell you if it's unachievable and alternernative ways to create what you are after

3. Don't expect your hair to look like the photo. Photos should be an inspiration. Hairdressing is not a cookie cutting excercise so we can get your hair close to what you are after but there will be differences depending on your hair type and colour. Photos are also edited, filtered and lit in ways to make them more visually appealling.

4. Give clear and consistent information It's hard to consult if a client doesn't even have a ballpark idea of what they want. Similarly, if a client keeps changing their mind in a consultation, then we find it hard to plan the look you are after. Make sure you have a clear idea and stick to it. Your Stylist can steer you in the right direction if the look is unachievable.

5. Listen very carefully You show us the pics, describe what you want and ask for our opinion. Now please listen very carefully to our thoughts. If it's doable we will say so. If not we will explain the process of what is achievable. So at that point, please drop the fantasy you have ingrained in your mind and be a realist. We will explain what will suit you, set out a contingency plan and tell you how to make the most of your hair.

6. Be aware of the limitations of your hair We all have the ideal hair that we visualize having. We would also all love to ride a unicorn to work everyday but in reality, some things just ain't gonna happen. If you have fine hair, we cannot cut your hair to look thick. Embrace your hair the way it is and learn to make the most of it. Good hair is not born, it is made possible by a kick ass Stylist who works with what you have.

7. Lying only makes it worse. If you tell us hair lies, the results will show this, but we can usually figure this out beforehand anyway. If we can see black die in your hair but you swear you have never coloured it, you are not doing either of us any favors. We are not here to hair shame you. So you box dyed your hair. No need to feel guilty but we do need to know these things as colour reacts differently on pre coloured hair. Please let us know of any previous bleaching services now covered by brown dye. We will find this out when your hair snaps while coloring. Get the point! We only ask you these things to get the best colour possible and keep the integrity of your hair.

8. We talk products and treatments for a reason. This is because we truely believe in them. Not because we need to make a quota for the month. By you using good quality products, it makes our job easier and our work look better. This helps you style your hair more successfully and have a kick ass colour for longer. Treatments are a must after any colouring service. It puts the nutrients back in your hair and holds your colour longer. We all use shampoo and conditioner so why not let the person who has just spent 3 hours on your hair be the one who tells you what is best for it.

9. If you need a quote, just ask. Prices vary greatly in our industry and each salon has their reasoning for what they charge. Here at Birdie are color prices are based on time and amount of product used. If cost is an issue, please ask or come in for a consultation. We would much rather quote you, then have you feel uncomfortable the whole service. But be aware, we value what we do and in the end you do get what you pay for.

And finally...

1. Please don't ask us if it will look good. Come on. This one is a no brainer. We wouldn't do anything that doesn't suit you and if we believe it will look bad on you, we will steer you in another direction. And what kind of response were you thinking you would get anyway?

So there you have it. The hairdresser/ client experience is a sacred one and like all good relationships, is based on truth, honesty, clear communication and effort on both sides. Heres to a long and happy hair dating life.💋