Celebrity Hair

A lot of my job, some days, is explaining to people that whatever celebrity photo they're showing me for how they want their hair done isn't even the celebrity's hair!!  They have extensions, full wigs, extra pieces added on for fullness when their hair is up, you name it...they've got it.  I hate bursting people's bubbles, but, COME ON, PEOPLE!!

The other thing I see, because I troll the gossip sites, is the god-awful color these people sometimes have.  I get why they want their hair to have "hot" roots and cool ends...totally get it.  Brittney Spears is a prime example of all of this.  Not only does she have orange roots & white ends while trying to be platinum blonde, she's also got extensions because her hair is baby fine and on the thin side.  (if you pull up her "Baby one more time" album cover, you'll see her real hair).

Why they want the hot roots:  Brittney, currently, is on television.  The stage lights that shine on her while she's sitting at the judges podium for X-Factor cast a "cool" shadow, therefore, when you see her hair, it looks reasonably even in color.  When you get the random photo in the gossip rags of her in natural light, her regrowth is down right orange.  I suppose her stylist/colorist is probably thinking it'll cause less damage to her hair by not taking the entire head of hair all the way to pale blonde.

Here's the thing.  Using a lightener and 20 volume isn't any more damaging to your hair than using high lift color and double 40 volume.  In fact, it's less damaging, because you're using a developer that's meant for your scalp, and a lower volume developer in the first place.  Quite frankly, double 40 volume BURNS on your scalp.  And, I don't know about you, but I'm not okay with my scalp getting chemical burns!  While 40 volume lifts higher, it also sits longer on the hair to start with, opening the door for more damage, particularly in hands that have less experience that others.

The other thing about lightener & 20 volume VS high lift color & double 40....Both can expose that wonderful orange color.  However, you stand a better chance of eliminating it with proper timing with the lightener.  You can leave high lift color on FOREVER and it will still only expose the "warmth" in the hair, not eliminate it.  Why??  Because, you have to have the "perfect" conditions for high lift color to work:  nothing thicker than medium texture hair and nothing more than medium density hair.  Anything beyond that, and it won't work...hence the orange.  All hair color (as opposed to lighteners) are made to work with medium texture & medium density hair.  Which, I'm here to tell you, you don't run into terribly often.