Ahhhh.. let's tackle the big elephant in the room. Blonde at the salon VS blonde at home.
I have gotten this question time and time again (as I'm certain every other stylist on earth has). And, let me tell you, it's a very valid question. So let's go over it.
Let's breakdown what being blonde really means first.
When you want to go lighter to any degree, you (most of the time) use lightener. What lightener does is remove pigment from the hair. If you're brown, it takes that pigment completely out. That's why, before your toner, your hair may look super warm or yellow/orange. It's because the lightener removed all of your pigment and exposed all of your underlying pigment within your hair shaft.
So, what does the toner do? Toners have many benefits, but its main function is to correct those warm underlying exposed pigments after lightener.
This is when lighting comes into play.
Light reflecting VS light absorbing:
Let's define a term before diving deeper:
Color: The amount of light that a surface reflects or absorbs.
So every time you color your hair, you have the ability to reflect or absorb light. This being said, pale colors reflect the most light, meaning the more blonde you are, the more your tone may change based on the lighting around you.
Think of a piece of white paper. That paper will look like two totally different colors in natural sunlight VS inside the locker room at the gym (you're more than welcome to test this out).
So which tones do what?
Warm toned blondes (like golden colors) will feel the brightest, as warm tones reflect the light.
Cool toned blondes (like icy and ashy colors) will feel the darkest, as cool tones absorb the light.
Most salons have incandescent lighting, which is the most natural form of fake lighting. Paired with this, most salons tend to have a lot of natural sunlight peering though to aid in true toned coloring. Whereas, in your bathroom at home, its in an enclosed area with either very little to no natural sunlight. Your bathroom may also have warm lighting, which severely alters the true tone of your hair. Have you ever put on a full face of makeup and then pull down the mirror in your car and your face doesn't match your neck? Thats probably why.
Even when you google, "Average bathroom light bulb color", the results 'warm white light' pop up in big bold letters. This tone has become an average standard in most households.
How can you fix this? To start, you can buy some natural daylight bulbs at your local store to replace your warm ones in your bathroom. Although this definitely helps, there is still very little to no sunlight in a bathroom, so the reflection isn't going to be perfect but it is certainly a step in the right direction.
All in all, I always recommend using natural sunlight as your alibi when juding your hair color. This is when you're going to get the most true-to-tone results for your blonde.
Any questions or comments? Leave them below! I'd love to continue this discussion.
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