Ask The Experts: Blonde...Bombshell or Bomb? November 1, 2019 16:02

All blondes are not created equally: They range from warm, honey shades to cool ash blondes, each one is carefully customised for each individual and skin type.

Known in the industry for her extensive background in training and education, as well as being a Master Stylist at Morgan & Morgan Hair Collective since 2001, Jennifer Morgan @jennifer.morgan.hair is the go-to girl with any colouring conundrum and her passion and skill set are enviable in the hairdressing community.

So in this blog we ask her to give you everything you need to know about creating the perfect bespoke blonde result that to suit 

A Morgan & Morgan colourist will evaluate your skin tone to develop the perfect blonde for you—so your hair colour can look as good as those California girls with their perfect blonde hair colour.

Here in New Zealand, we seem to have a bit of a fear of warmth in our blondes. Its a strange contradiction that at the same time our clients will be asking for ash or no gold they are often accompanied with images of Hollywood stars with honey, caramel and toffee coloured hair.

I think our fear comes from a time when incorrect choice of product or over-use of bleaching products lead to raw brassy or yellow blondes. With the change in fashion and technique, and the popularity of the ombre or balayage blonde we are now more open to sun-kissed tones that look way more natural than the old-school bleached highlights.

We’ve all seen it, blondes can either be gorgeous modern and seamless like Jennifer Anniston or Gwyneth Paltrow, or they can just bomb like the ‘Girls from the Playboy Mansion’

As a colourist, to ensure I get the perfect result, I always ask two questions, “Cool or Warm?” and “Dark or Light?”

Cool or warm?

Do you suit silver or gold? If I look in your wardrobe am I going to find cool ‘beach’ tones…sand, stone, beige, white, blue, green or am I going to see warm ‘fire’ colours…gold, orange, brown, tan, orange? If you are a ‘beach blonde, your skin tone is cool and best tones are icy blondes or beige blondes that have little or no yellow or gold. If you are ‘fire’, then golden warm blondes are best for your skin tone.

Light or dark?

As colourists we categorise hair by its depth (and we have the numbering system that we quote, not to confuse you, but because we forget that you can’t speak ‘color-ese’)

Levels 2 (darkest brown) to 5 (light brown are our darks…you are technically a brunette. Levels 6 (dark blonde to 9 (lights blonde) are our lights….your are definitely a blonde

If you are naturally a ‘dark’ your skin will look better, your eyes brighter and overall you will look fresh and youthful with either a cool rich chocolate with maybe a few cool blonde accents or as an amazing redhead

To keep the looks natural I like to maintain depth and create natural looking highlights with modern antiquing and ombré techniques, then I advise the guest to have a colour glaze from the Shades EQ range applied between highlight appointments to maintain shine, richness or minimise brassiness.

It's not how blonde…but where the blonde is!

Over the years, I have gained in experience and in confidence at guiding my clients to the best blonde for them. I prefer a colour that is believable rather than straight-out-of-a-color-bowl blonde and this requires selecting the right products and the right techniques for each individual salon guest

Maintenance is critical…I know after 30 years of colouring, I can give you a great colour today but what is it going to look like in 1 week,1 month from now. Hairlines, part-lines, underneath layers have to be strategically placed to ensure maximum longevity and the most natural looking results. There is NOTHING worse than grown out roots but with the right colouring technique and product choice this can be minimised by an experienced colourist.

So many stylists skip the at home maintenance conversation, but the truth is, we hairdressers take care of our own locks with the best products available, and when we give you advice, its just because we want the same for you!. We all have clients who say their colour doesn’t last when we know that with the right care this would not be a problem.

Hair is an amazingly durable, yet frustratingly fragile fibre and the process we use to change its natural colour means that extra care is needed if you want your hair to shine. This is more important with blondes than in any other hair colour. Blonde hair (generally speaking) tends to be finer and therefore is already more fragile than our raven haired sisters! If you think about hair texture like you would think about rope…fine hair is like a piece of silk, medium hair is string and coarse hair is rope! If your hair is fine, you are already dealing with a delicate fire and making sure you keep it strong it vital to getting a great colour result.

We are so lucky now we have amazing new technology (like Fibreplex) to ensure that we can maintain the integrity of the hair even through the more extreme lightening services. It minimises stress and allows us to create lighter, brighter hair, richer more balanced colour and reduced colour fade, at the same time, improving the overall health and strength of our client’s hair. 

Schwarzkopf have a whole range dedicated just to the fairer heads – Blonde Me has salon products to create the colour and then take home to keep it looking fresh.

When you book for your ‘blonde’ appointment, take heed of the advice of your colourist…they really do have your best interest at heart.

Go on, get gorgeous blonde hair colour, all without sacrificing your hair health.

For more great blonde inspiration…click here