Keeping Your Blonde Bright: Why it Takes Extra Effort

You’ve heard it before - blondes have more fun! Maybe they do and maybe they don’t, but one thing is for sure: they need to spend more time in the salon to maintain those shining tresses. No matter your process - bleached and toned or platinum card - you need to come in every 4-6 weeks for root touch-ups in order to avoid banding.

Let’s talk about “banding” – what it is, and what causes it. Banding is the visible line that occurs when the new growth (your roots) cannot be matched to the hair that has been lightened. This is caused by allowing the new growth to go too long between touch-ups.

Believe it or not the heat from your scalp is part of the lightening process for your hair (it’s like we were made to change our hair color!) When the new growth reaches more than about an inch from your scalp it is no longer close enough to benefit from that generated heat. For most people, that puts the ideal time between touch-ups at four weeks. Keep in mind that if your hair grows faster than average it might be best to come in even more often.

When life happens and you get caught away for a bit too long between appointments, we can always reverse any banding effects, but your appointment would need to be for a color correction rather than a simple touch-up because it involves an additional process and some extra time.

Growth is not the only thing out there to dull your beautiful, blonde shine! We’re in the south, and let’s face it, September is just second summer. This means more time in the sun and those intense UV rays are not just rough on your skin – they actually impact your hair too! That’s why using a protective product before spending time outdoors is a great idea. We recommend either R+Co Suncatcher or Colorwow Pop & Lock Serum with UV protection.

Also, with those hot humid days that linger more than any of us would like, comes lifestyle choices that do impact our hair color. For example, more exposure to salt and chlorine water from pool or beach trips, more frequent washes to rinse off the sweat from all that heat - all of these things have the ability to cause your blonde to discolor. Did you know that even the minerals in our shower water can be a cause of brassiness in our hair? The more you know!

Bottom line? Keep those regular touch-up appointments on the books and don’t risk finding out if all your fun was really from the blonde after all!