Christina Aguilera Hair Color

Christina Aguilera's white hair
Christina Aguilera - Photo: Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock
Q: Hi, my hair has blonde foils in it and has done for years now, but I can never seem to get it as light as I want. It turns out more of a medium yellow blonde, while the look I want is a much lighter blonde more like a white even like Christina Aguilera's hair color.
 
Will a white hair toner after bleaching achieve this look or can you recommend something for me? My hair is naturally light brown with blonde foils. Please help me.
 
A: First of all, let me say that I do NOT advocate any woman attempting to lighten her hair to the lightest shades of blonde unless she is already a naturally pale blonde. In order to achieve the color you want, you will have to disperse virtually all the pigment in your hair which can easily result in damaged hair. By damaged hair, in this case I mean destruction of the protein bonds which give the hair structural support.
 
If you want to reach this level of hair color, you should really consult a stylist/colorist so that he/she can evaluate the condition of your hair before attempting to lighten the hair to this point.
 
My primary concern is that given your statement of having repeatedly lightened foil highlights, your hair may not be able to withstand severe lightening processes. That being said, I can offer you some information about lightening the hair, balancing the hair color and about the “white toners” you referenced:
 
It is not uncommon for a woman to find that bleaching the hair results in yellow tones in the lightened hair. The melanin in the hair comes in two forms – pheomelanin (imparting yellow and red tones) and eumelanin (imparting brown to black tones) - and as these pigments are dispersed, often the more predominant pigments become more pronounced as the complementary pigments are dispersed. In fact, the lightest safely attainable shade of hair color is pale yellow.
 
Hair colors like platinum blonde and similar “white-looking” shades achieve their “whiter” tones through the use of haircolor formulas with base colors of a violet hue to counter-balance the yellow of the lightest bleach-attained shades.
 
The white toner you mentioned is actually the same sort of product. It uses a violet shade to counter the yellow tone of the bleached hair.
 
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See also:
 
How to color hair
 
The 10 hair color levels
 
Where does the color go when you bleach hair?