Mythbusting: Blondes have more fun

Western beauty has a love affair with blonde.

And why not?

The many varieties of light or fair hair colours are striking and attractive.

But there’s no doubt, they are comprehensively overused.

And misused.

In the hands of a talented hair colourist, a well-selected shade of blonde can look lovely.

But this exercise is about considering how blonde stacks up against a natural beauty.

Let’s bust some myths about blonde!

Blonde can mean different things to different people.

There’s an infinite range of golden, caramel, strawberry, platinum, champagne, honey, ash and sandy tones.

Here are a few examples most people would agree are forms of blonde, and fall somewhere on the scale of colour I’m referring to in this conversation.

Warm blondes

Cool blondes

In adult humans, natural blondes are rare.

Yet there’s an ocean of blonde out there.

Blonde has been so normalised we don’t always notice or understand when it isn’t working.

What’s really unusual is convincing blonde - colour that balances against a person’s natural hue, chroma and value.

This raises a lot of complex social questions.

Why do we love blonde so much if it isn’t always our best choice?

What effect do we believe blonde is having on our appearance?

And what is it about natural hair we aren’t valuing?

We could dive down a rabbit hole of stereotypes, power imbalances and cultural narratives.

But this is already a long post so let’s focus on themes of natural beauty.

The idea of blonde

If you’ve looked in the section about celebrities, you’ll notice there seems to be a pattern of blonde across some seasons.

Yes, blonde occurs more often in some palettes, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only natural hair colour, nor even the most common.

When we look to celebrities, the concept of “real” blonde can be distracting.

Most people we think of as blonde aren’t, even if they look pretty great.

Instead blonde is a signpost for glamour - often at the expense of other colours, particularly light browns.

I hear it all the time:

Dull.

Flat.

Drab.

Boring.

And the worst one of them all:

Mousy.

Add to this many versions of red that apparently need to be “fixed” with a more appealing colour.

Don’t even get me started on grey - it deserves a post all of its own.

Our social concept of the term “brunette” is usually reserved for hair that is undisputedly medium to darker in tone.

We have a label for lighter blondes, a label for most reds.

But other than “mousy”, we seem to be missing terms for the space where blonde meets brunette.

We need more flattering language to appropriately reflect the beauty of this in-between colour scale.

Because it is beautiful.

“Mousy” erodes this truth and reinforces feelings of inadequacy.

Our fixation with punishing redheads for their natural colouring is equally bizarre.

We accept obviously dyed reds, rose golds and coppers but have a thousand nasty names for the real thing.

Despite prevailing beliefs, no natural hair colour needs correcting to make you attractive.

It’s ridiculous we even make people feel that way.

If you view your hair in these terms I cannot reiterate enough how mistaken you are.

There’s an avalanche of pressure out there for us to conform to conventional beauty standards, so this isn’t a criticism.

We are all subject to forms of broad social bullying on some level.

We learn to be cruel to ourselves, to reject our natural appearance and endlessly labour for society’s ideals.

Deriding red, grey or pale brown hair is body shaming.

I want to encourage all of us to adopt a more generous perspective.

A reminder of real

Although deep down we know that most celebrity blondes are manufactured, it’s important to remind ourselves sometimes.

Especially because for many of these famous folks, we have seldom seen them any other way.

Let’s start with Exhibit A, Russian model-actor Sasha Luss.

This is a pretty typical look for Sasha.

And it’s quite convincing.

It’s how we might expect the stereotype of a Light Summer to present.

But something is ever-so-slightly off.

The subtle discord is deliberate.

It’s creating a very particular illusion.

Sasha is actually a lot warmer - and a lot less blonde - than she appears.

Here we can observe Sasha’s natural level of pigmentation evenly distributed and in total harmony.

She looks a lot like a Light Spring.

Maybe Sasha was very fair in childhood but this is almost certainly much closer to her natural hair colour now.

Sasha has plenty of dimension here with the result very natural and real, skipping the artificial drama of the previous image.

This look is grounded, not heightened.

But it’s also not Sasha’s go-to styling choice.

Already ultra-light, Sasha usually loads up on cool-toned blonde to create an edgy, striking look.

It washes her out a bit, giving a chalky rather than rose-petal effect that makes her seem slightly flat and quite otherworldly.

This is important for models and people in similar industries because crafting a unique or memorable look is a crucial selling point.

These folks are constructing fantasy so natural isn’t always the priority.

It’s an interpretation of beauty from a different playbook.

Blonde vs Natural Round 1

Consider these celebrities wearing blonde compared with a colour that’s probably closer to their real hair.

I’ve tried to find examples where the blonde is not entirely out of range.

Yet even so, you’ll still see how altered they become.

Attractive people will still be attractive no matter their hair colour.

Great styling, a celeb’s appeal, our own beauty beliefs - all of these play a part in how much we like the result.

Try to look beyond these distractions.

We’re used to the blonde effect but is it equally as believable as a more natural colour?

Is it an improvement?

What’s gained?

What’s lost?

Natalia Vodianova

Sheryl Crow

Charlize Theron

Rachel McAdams

To me the gains are around exercising choice or exploring fashion, perhaps some borrowed drama.

What’s lost is balance and a special kind of magic that’s unique to each of us.

The examples I’ve given here aren’t perfect but aspects are working.

So what does blonde look like when completely off course?

Blonde vs Natural Round 2

Plenty of celebs opt for going lighter, often with results that are less-than-flattering.

To be fair, I am sure they are under loads of pressure to entertain us with their fashion choices, avoid looking “the same” for too long, and stand out in a ferociously competitive industry.

Contrary to what we often believe, blonde can create the opposite of lift.

It can be jarring, wig-like and even ageing.

Here are some examples where the chosen blonde is in active conflict with the person’s natural colour harmony.

Again, what’s gained?

What’s lost?

Julia Roberts

Claire Danes

Zooey Deschanel

Nicole Kidman

Celebrating Mousy

Rejecting a whole range of hair colour as unattractive is social conditioning.

It’s also weird because it’s completely untrue.

All natural hair colour is unique and beautiful, and that includes the dirty blondes and light browns we label “mousy”.

If I see someone with hair in this range, with all it’s fascinating dimension and personality, I make a point to compliment them.

Because how can this be considered boring, dull or uninspiring in any way?

I see delicate, moody, elegant, earthy and balanced.

In fact, I think this broad range of warm and cool hair is particularly compelling because we see it so rarely.

People really, really want to mess with it.

Sure the hair in these examples might be dyed too, but it’s in the right range for these women.

And it’s a hell of a lot more interesting than ill-fitting, root-to-tip blonde.

If this is mousy, it should be celebrated.

Likewise the allure of red.

Honestly, this is just breathtaking:

Hair is who we are

Hair can become an integral part of our identity.

When we hear people claiming their blondeness this is often the true quality being described.

Many folks who have been dying their hair for years may never have seen their natural adult colour.

Half an inch of regrowth doesn’t really offer proper perspective!

Some people feel more comfortable as a blonde, more true to themselves.

No problem.

But think about why that might be.

What’s at the core of this preference?

Your hair should serve you, not the other way around.

Blonde is not always youthful.

It’s an expensive, high maintenance choice that can quickly lose it’s professional finish.

A single block of all-over colour is never the most flattering or natural-looking option, even for someone who can carry blonde convincingly.

Are you hiding behind a stock-standard blonde because you don’t believe your real hair is beautiful?

Have you been locked in a blonde room for years and you’re not sure how to get out again?

Some people will never make believable blondes - no matter the talent of their hair stylist - and that’s totally ok; just think about the reasons you are fighting against your natural colouring.

If you enjoy being blonde, but also want to embrace natural beauty, maybe there are more suitable options.

Think about your value level - perhaps a richer or lighter blonde is better for you.

Are you warm, cool or neutral? Maybe your current blonde is too yellow or too platinum for your hue level.

How about highlights or lowlights, a touch of ombre or a blonde feature instead of the full head?

Natural vs Blonde Round 3

When blonde works well it’s bloody beautiful.

But it needs thought and care, and not move too far from the original colour.

Here are some examples where, in the context of natural beauty and colour harmony, I think blonde is well played.

Rachelle Lefevre

I’m not sure if this red is Rachelle’s natural hair colour but it looks pretty believable.

A possible True Autumn, her smart choice in blonde is a rich, very warm copper-gold.

Rosamund Pike

Two beautifully executed, multi-dimensional hair colours with the right warm-cool notes and value level for a Light Spring.

Rosamund looks balanced and convincing either way.

Beyonce

Beyonce changes her hair all the time and wears lots of wigs so who would really know her natural colour?

It could be something like the hair in the first picture.

I suspect Beyonce is also a True Autumn so cue some warm, caramel highlights while keeping the all-important depth - very flattering.

Hayden Panettiere

Beautiful golden brown or beautiful yellow blonde?

True Spring Hayden is nailing both.

Note: I suspect this first colour is similar to a young Charlize in the image I used earlier.

The final word

I actually really like blonde.

I think we just need to re-evaluate our obsession with it and stop believing it’s always attractive, always the best option, always better than your natural hair.

Whatever your real hair, it’s going to have the perfect variation of colour, depth or lift, dimension and personality for your pigmentation.

That doesn’t mean that for some people, a version of blonde can’t look nice.

It just needs a lot of good judgement.

Absolutely, blondes have fun.

But so does everyone else.