Are you Blonde? Share your tips and tricks (natural and bottle welcome!)

[shelleybean]

Another blondie checking in. I have to agree with Flaxen that almost all blondes are trying to retain the brightest version of their particular color. Myself included. It can be challenging as a lot of things that are healthy for your hair can darken even just too much conditioner will do it for me. I am most horrified by my hair when it looks too dark to me because of over conditioning and tend to want to throw a bag over my head when it happens, though I doubt anyone else would notice or think I'm "not blonde" when it looks that way.

Things I do for my hair...wash fairly regularly, greasy roots means dark hair for me and it is impossible to hide without actually covering it with a hairband or scarf. I try to condition in stages as well, I use conditioner in the shower but follow with a light leave-in that doesn't cause darkening for me (BWC leave-in at the moment)mostly on the length. I find this helps a lot with the overall condition. Camilia oil is really fabulous stuff and I'm so glad folks started talking about it here recently. I find I can put much more of it in than I can other oils with very little greasyness. I also do overnight conditioning of my sleep braid. Usually with the camelia oil, focusing on the tassel and smoothing what's left on the outside of the braid.

I think most of the LHC haircare advice works for us blondies except too much of a good thing can really affect our color more than it would a brunette or red-head.

I was really surprised to see you go away from the henna but your natural color looks lovely. It definitely works with your coloring though the henna did too. Your very versatile.

[julya]

As a child I had the palest blonde hair. It started to darken in middle school, and now it's at the dark end of blonde. I am not super attached to having light hair, but I too would like to find a routine that suits my hair color.

WO, CO have produced darker looking roots, which makes my hair appear dirty. I want to try my hand at herbal washes, but I am nervous about staining my hair.

[spidermom]

Compared to most of you who posted here, I am brunette. But I do have my blonde moments:

I don't do anything to my hair but CWC with diluted shampoo, occasional deep moisture treatment, regular trimming, and oiling. It has always had red and gold tones, but I made it look a lot more ashy with a senna mix awhile back. The color comparison is in my blog if anyone cares to look. It's back about 6 entries ago; good photos.

[Rini]

Ah the darkening problem that Goldilocks, Flaxen and Shellybean were all talking about......I have that too! I didn't realise how using certain oils or products will make such a difference to how light/dark your hair appears until now You really notice when you are stretching the time between washes don't you? And I find if I don't comb my hair, it is quite a lot darker than if I comb it. Weird!

Flaxen, I'm interested in your Indian herb washing experiment. I hope you will keep us updated. I have a good collection of Indian herbs (and a good collection of Saris.....but I digress!) and have not experimented with them since I was a redhead. Might be worth looking into again though.

Spidermom, I looked for the Senna pics in your blog but could not find them? I would love to see the colour difference. Intriguing about it making your hair ashier....sounds like something I should try too!

[Speedbump]

Rini, I am a natural dark blond who has never colored, and the main challenge I face if I want to keep my color "natural" is minerals in my water depositing in my hair. I have hard water here, and the iron and manganese in the water tend to give me a reddish-brown cast after a while. I start really noticing it after about a year.

I usually do a super-clarifying shampoo/treatment once every couple of years -- or if it's really bad, once a year. In the past I used Aloe Rid shampoo and treatment, but they got rid of the shampoo. Now I use Aveda Detox shampoo with the Aloe Rid treatment after. Then I will spackle on a super-rich conditioner like SMT afterward and leave it on for a good half-hour before rinsing. I might also need to use a leave-in for a couple of weeks after doing this big clarifying treatment.

It sure works though! All of the red-brown goes away, and my hair looks markedly more blond than it had before, at least to me. And since I'm the one who cares, that's what counts.

Also, Spidermom, I have always considered you a dark blond.

[spidermom]

It was a pretty interesting shade change so I'm going to attempt to copy/paste pictures here.



I used a product called "Smooth Move" in my hair because I'd heard of the conditioning properties of senna. It gave me such cramps that I knew I'd never drink it as tea again. I cut open the tea bags, mixed with conditioner, gooped it into my hair, put a shower cap over it, put a wool hat over that, and left it for about 2 hours. It took a soak in the bathtub to get all the particles out of my hair.

[LadyMoon11]

That's quite a noticeable color change, Spidermom. Looks like it definitely toned done some of the reddish hues.

Is this Senna the same plant as Cassia?

[justgreen]

I usually do a super-clarifying shampoo/treatment once every couple of years -- or if it's really bad, once a year. In the past I used Aloe Rid shampoo and treatment, but they got rid of the shampoo. Now I use Aveda Detox shampoo with the Aloe Rid treatment after. Then I will spackle on a super-rich conditioner like SMT afterward and leave it on for a good half-hour before rinsing. I might also need to use a leave-in for a couple of weeks after doing this big clarifying treatment.


.

Hey Speedy!
WE have the shampoo here at both wally world and Walgreens.

[spidermom]

That's quite a noticeable color change, Spidermom. Looks like it definitely toned done some of the reddish hues.

Is this Senna the same plant as Cassia?

I am not positive, but I believe it is. Same family of plants, anyway.

[Carolyn]

Hi Rini I'm coloring and high lighting mine to cover my silvers and keep up with that sun kissed look I loved in years past. When I use vinegar, I always use white vinegar. I never use ACV as it really does add red tones in my hair. I want to stay very ashy blonde. I'm also fond of the blue and violet shampoos and conditioners. I try to use them maybe once a week and it seems to help keep me ashier and away from the gold and red tones. I add a few drops of bluing to my version of the HALO rinse. I don't know if it does anything but I don't think it can hurt.