BRUNETTE BALAYAGE

Blonde specialist. Certified blonding technician. BLONDES +...

If she’s a stylist working outside of a major city, my guess is she has a major weakness for the sisterhood of the golden locks, and at least one of these aforementioned titles leads her IG bio.

On a practical level, I get this. Taking the plunge and going dark requires little work beyond the dying itself. Once the deposit color is…well…deposited, you are dealing with your typical blow dry appointment, and even that is optional. From a hairdresser’s perspective, there isn’t a need to publicize one’s light-to-dark abilities. Any stylist with basic training can do it. In fact, your kid sister can do it. Your brother, mother, father, bestie, …you! You, yourself can swing by your local drugstore, snag a box of Brownie Brunette colorant and go to town with your tresses, or so the narrative goes.

Going lighter, however, is a whole other story. This should come as no surprise since bleach, our central player, is an extreme chemical, capable of causing severe damage. To combat the hair frying, stylists spend hours upon hours adding pre-treatments and potions, toners, and color correctors to protect the hair while bumpering the slow-moving bowling ball of temperamental pigments along to the end zone. I also want to stress that if your hair bends closer to cocoa than khaki, you can kiss the dream of walking out of the salon with the final product goodbye. You are looking at multiple “color lifting” sessions stretched over the course of several weeks (sometimes months…no, I am not joking).

So, I get it. Achieving a *healthy* blonde takes—I am sure—a significant amount of practice and skill. Not every cosmetologist has the know-how to accomplish this, and so the ones that do want their expertise front and center where the potential client can spot it.

However, as a member of the dark mane club with more than my fair share of horror stories when it comes to dye jobs, there is something I feel I need to speak on.

Brunettes need specialists too.

Far too many of us have had to suffer through “tiger” experiences with most opting to never dabble in the multi-dimensional colors game for fear of suffering the same fate. I was one of the braver ones. Despite the warnings of my fellow brown-haired classmates (few as they were), I remember eagerly going into the salon for subtle highlights. What could go wrong? My stylist and I settled on a color, and four hours later I had the final result. It looked a bit harsher than I was expecting, and certainly did not match the color we envisioned, but I was sure that I would grow accustomed to it in no time. The unexpected shade made me chuckle, but at least it could be classified as a natural color. After a couple of weeks, the laughter turned into shock. Is it getting…oranger? My friends weren’t shy to confidently affirm my suspicions. Yup, hot orange. Like flaming Cheetos, I recall one saying. A few showers more, and I had reached tiger status. Rawr.

What I, amongst a sea of other brave brunettes, had solidified was simple. Putting color “A” on top of color “B” does not give you color “A”...it gives you color “C,” their hybrid baby. Blondes rarely have to worry about this because their fair hair mimics the role of a blank canvas. Ours does not. Bummer.

Since my mid-teens, I had decided that I would only place my trust in stylists specializing in dark hair for my dying desires, only to find that there were none in my suburban city…or the cities surrounding it, or the cities surrounding those. With the increased reliance of social media as a marketing tool for independent business owners, your scope goes global as fast as your fingers can type and scroll. Yet, still, only a few advertising their brunette color care. I think one was somewhere in California (thirty-six-hour car trip anyone?), and the other in Ireland.

Almost a decade later now and I have found myself a stylist with a concentrated focus on brunette dying procedures. In short, she is awesome. A true miracle worker who understood my apprehension the first time I sat in her chair and discussed fixing my current situation, and going for a smoother balayage. The first thing she sarcastically mentioned as she ran her fingers through my defeated locks, was whether I was going for an orange look when I started. She knew I—like the majority of her other clients—was not. “Color on color is a bit of a balancing act. One slip, and you’ll get orange every time.”

This should not be a fate all brunettes have to suffer through until we inevitably ditch our jobs, and abandon our families in search of the elusive certified brunette technician. My modest plea is that more cosmetologists realize their potential for superhero status, coming to our rescue with the magical knowledge of color-mixing equations. As for those that have heard the call and taken up the mantle, my message is this: Go forth and multiply.

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BENEATH YOUR MASK

Nourish Skin & Hair Serum

This blend is extremely effective at balancing moisture levels & restoring elasticity to skin and hair while protecting them from environmental stressors. Supercharged with a potent cocktail of pure plant and essential oils, Nourish brings new life to skin and hair as it naturally heals imperfections and resolves underlying issues.

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VIRTUE

Colorkick De-Brassing Shampoo

A gentle, sulfate-free shampoo made from all-natural colorants to tone, neutralize, and brighten all shades of natural and color-treated hair.

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R+Co

GEMSTONE Pre-Shampoo Color Protect Masque

Rescue compromised color-processed strands with this nourishing pre-wash treatment.

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CHRISTOPHE ROBIN

Shade Variation Mask Ash Brown

A nourishing and color-correcting mask that enhances ash tones in natural or color-treated brown hair and neutralizes brassiness

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