Reese Witherspoon Blonde

Reese Witherspoon hair — Reese Witherspoon - Photo by PR Photos

Q: Hi, I recently went to the hair stylist to dye my black hair blonde. She bleached it twice, highlighted it and used "toner" but my hair was merely orange. I went back, and she bleached it again and added toner once more. Now I'm left with a toned down light orange/yellow which is not at all what I wanted! Not to mention the color is not at all even.

I really don't like the color, but I can't afford to spend any more money at the stylist (I'm at $300+) Naturally my hair is a medium brown color and it's still in pretty good condition. How do I lighten my hair myself, so I can get to a "Reese Witherspoon" blonde?

A: I want to ask a question that may seem harsh, but is important to keep things in perspective: Can you afford to lose the hair you have?

Your story actually frightens me. I would never have promised any client whose starting color was black that she could have a Reese Witherspoon blonde color. Even if your natural color is a medium brown, it is still far too dark to promise the kind of color lift that such change requires.

You must remember that bleaching processes that lift the color of the hair also break down structural integrity, and leave the hair more and more damaged with every lightening process. Conditioning and moisturizing products can help repair signs of damage (much the way glue allows you to repair broken pottery) but the damage still exists and cannot be healed.

Based on what you have presented to me here, I cannot, with any sense of good conscience, advise you to undertake any further attempts to lighten your hair color on your own. I fear you run a serious risk of severe hair damage.

Reese Witherspoon's shoulder length blonde hair — Reese Witherspoon - Photo by PR Photos

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See also:

Repair damaged hair

Hair horror stories

How bleaching hair works

Reese Witherspoon hair and hairstyles