You know, it really is the best of both worlds when your bestie also happens to be your out of this world hair stylist. Bethany is my full service hair color and cut gal, which makes appointments really just 5 hours of laughing, drinking coffee, and hanging out while she happens to be doing my hair. What I didn’t know when Bethany started doing my hair was that I would be stopped by total strangers in public asking who does my hair or the dozens of DMs a month I get asking about my cut and color! Bethany has nailed the bright ash blonde/blunt cut of my dreams, and we are telling ALL today. Whether you’re a stylist yourself or a customer looking to show this to her stylist, Bethany is giving you every little detail for how to achieve my cut and color! I naturally have a warm hue to my hair, so it’s always important to take that into account when looking to get a certain color for your own head of hair!
Follow Bethany here
Q&A With Bethany
Hair Color Formula:
For Hannah’s ice blonde look, I use Redken lightener Flashlift with Bonder Inside. I love this lightener for 2 reasons…it gets a great amount of lift (especially when in foils!) in each hair session, but also has a protective bonder built in! Essentially it has Redken’s form of Olaplex built into the lightener. Win-win! After I am done lifting Hannah’s hair and rinsing her product out, I ALWAYS tone to achieve the icy look. I usually do the same formulation every time too! The only exception is when Hannah is pregnant in which case I need to add more violet into her toner formula to counteract any remaining gold tones. I always use Redken Shades Eq and we usually use equal amounts of 09p, 09t, 09v, and then a little splash of 09b. Then an equal amount of developer and VOILA, there is Hannah’s formulation! Remember this will not work for everyone! Hannah is natural level 7-8. Find a good stylist who is comfortable and rocks with blondes!
Hannah’s Foil Placement:
I always do a full babylight on Hannah’s hair! When Hannah is done, she has a full head of tiny foils everywhere! And I always do extra fine back-to-back babylights around the face to achieve an extra bright look for all her photos!
Up-Keep for Icy Blonde:
I recommend Hannah alternate purple shampoo with normal shampoo, and once a week use a silver depositing conditioner. We LOVE Celeb Luxury Viral Silver Color Care Conditioner to keep up with that icy tone.
Hannah’s Cut:
For the past year, I have done a blunt cut “lob” on Hannah. It adds great fullness to her hair! Sometimes I pick the top crown layer up vertically and point cut a few texturizing layers into it to add some variety when she curls her hair, but they’re always light textured layers!
Inspiration:
Always bring in at least 3-5 photos for inspiration for your stylist for color! Allow your stylist to talk you through the process and expectations! Make sure you find the tones and colors you love in each photo and vocalize that to your stylist! Your stylist can then figure out if you want ashy, neutral, platinum or warm tones to your blonde OR if you are needing some lowlights to add further dimension! Then I suggest 2-3 photos of what kind of cut you are wanting. Your stylist can see if you are eyeing a blunt cut look or light textured layers or heavy layers! Inspo photos are ESSENTIAL for us! Also, make sure you have a stylist who can keep it real with you! Don’t find a stylist who will promise to take you icy blonde on your first appointment. Even with Hannah being a natural blonde, it took me 3 sessions to get her icy! I always under-promise and over-deliver. Find a stylist who will do the blonding process SLOWLY to keep the integrity of your hair.
Over Processed Hair:
Find a stylist who sells Olaplex products and use Olaplex #3 treatment weekly to help repair the broken bonds in your hair. The hard truth is fried hair cannot truly be repaired fully. My advice is to get a good cut or, if you want to gradually get the unhealthy ends off, go every 6-8 weeks and get a good trim. Finding the right stylist to care for your hair is KEY! A good stylist won’t compromise the integrity of your hair! This goes back to a stylist who can “keep it real”!
Toning Frequency:
Every person is different! I sometimes will refresh Hannah with a toner before we touch up her roots with lightener. Usually with icy blonde you need to re-tone every 4 weeks. If you’re starting to see yellow and gold tones, even with using purple shampoo and silver depositing conditioner, reach out to your stylist to get a refresh with a toner. Especially in the summer when its warmer and you’re swimming. Swimming in pools and intense heat will sometimes strip out toner a lot faster than normal.
Beth’s Favorite Hair Products:
I have 2 front runners! My 2 favorite hair products are Moroccan Oil and Amika Undone Volume and Matte Texture Spray! Moroccan Oil is good for all different types of hair! It adds moisture and heat protectant. And it smells amazing! Amika Undone is my favorite texture spray because it isn’t heavy but adds enough dry grit to hair to help with that lived-in, messy but not too messy look. I love to flat iron wave or curl hair and then spray a good amount of Undone all over the hair and brush through or finger-comb it through. Plus, it smells like heaven too!
Breakage:
Turn down the heat, baby! Turn down the heat on your blow dryer, flat iron and curling iron. Even better, skip the blow dryer and let your hair dry naturally. If you’re dealing with major breakage, Olaplex #3 is amazing! And if you can go a few extra days between washes, DO IT. Dry hair and heat is a recipe for damage.
Fav Dry Shampoo:
I have 2! My absolute FAVORITE is Living Proof. It actually cleans your hair! It’s amazing! But it does come with a hefty price tag. If you want a good budget one, Batiste is the way to go! And Batiste has a light formula and even colored ones for darker hair.
Post-partum Hair Loss:
Oh baby, do I understand this! Post-partum hair loss stems from hormones. Because of this, you cannot truly prevent it. However, you can arm yourself with good nutrition and great vitamins to help your body through this transition. I suggest collagen, biotin and a great prenatal vitamin! Always make sure to check with your doctor first on what supplements they suggest. And, of course, if you get that gut feeling that something is “off”, make an appointment and talk things over with your doctor.
Leave a Reply