I sometimes wonder what’s so great about blonde hair anyway.  I mean – it’s a pain to get and worse to maintain.  It’s the only color that will look bad (roots!) a week after coloring.  Yet, it’s highly revered (at least in American culture). 

I’m pretty sure it’s a safe bet to blame Marilyn Monroe and her movie titles such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.  (That movie especially gave blondes a bad name…a guy lied to her about his identity the whole movie, she finds out at the end an instantly forgives him and they ride off – penniless – into the sunset.)  Blondes are glamourous and fun.  However there is a downside to being blonde.

1. It’s a pain to dye your hair blonde.  In fact, almost impossible unless you have naturally light brown hair that has not been previously color treated (I know you’re saying “omg I knew so and so how had dark hair and dyed it blonde blah blah.”)  You can bleach dark hair but you cannot dye it blonde (at least not until it’s been bleached).  Of course once it’s bleached blonde dye will likely not stick to your hair.  So if you wanted a more natural blonde it is a real pain (short of having lighter hair and using dye). 
2. Once you’re blonde, as previously mentioned, you’ll have terrible roots in 1-3 weeks.  Most people go at least 4 weeks between dye jobs.  So you’re gonna look weird most of the time in your dye cycle.  You could dye more often, but if your hair is dark enough that you have to bleach it (medium brown or darker) then you risk severe hair damage unless you ONLY bleach the roots, which is a big pain with long hair.  If you keep your hair short (chin length and shorter) you can get away with dying and bleaching almost as much as you want.  I did that for several years in college. 
3. Blondes no longer look blonde once product is in your hair.  So if you use hair spray, gel, leave in conditioner, some shampoos and conditioners, etc you will look like your hair is darker than blonde (think wet hair).  However, I must say I highly reccomend John Frieda’s line of Shear Blonde products.  They are a little pricey (just slightly above prices of Pantene and Herbal Escences and the like) but they are worth it if you want your hard hair work to show.
4. While it is considered a desirable hair color, some people will mock you and call you stupid (they don’t make blonde jokes because people don’t use them).  However, if you have a good sense of humor this is not a major problem. 
5. If you hair is previously dyed (red is the worst, but black and brown can linger as well) you WILL NOT be able to bleach it out.  You will have orange hair.  Personally, I’ve gone from blonde to red so many times it’s ridiculous so I rather like the orange tips I get doing it, but if that bothers you DON’T DO IT.  You will not be able to get the red out.  Period.

So knowing all of that you still want to go blonde?  Yah I do too.  So you can follow me with my sucess and lack there of in an effort to go blonde!