Going blonde like Barbie at Joe’s Salon

Like you, I grew up playing with Barbies. I had a ton of them, plus Ken, the horse and the killer apartment. Forget Regina George, Barbie was actually flawless and I just wanted to be her when I grew up. Completely alien proportions and impossibly perfect facial structure aside, my only problem was the hair colour. With naturally jet black hair (or so I’ve been told, it’s not been natural for over a decade), I was never, ever going to have golden locks. Or so I thought.
Having black hair is the literal bane of my life and for the last 12 years I’ve been dying it varying shades of blonde, red and purple. Don’t ask me why, I just prefer light hair to dark, there are plenty of women who look absolutely stunning with dark hair but it’s just not me. Through all the experimentation, proper blonde has always eluded me, the closest I’ve been is caramel brown which isn’t even nearly blonde enough.

So imagine my surprise when, 20 years after I was playing with Barbies, Rex from Joe’s Salon suggested a drastic colour change to shake things up – Beyonce blonde no less. After a consultation and a collective team huddle, we decided that we could make it happen and in one day too. Two weeks later, under the masterful skill of superstar hairdresser Tolga, I underwent one hell of a transition. 

Taking someone from black to blonde in one day is a massive feat, let alone someone with waist length hair – when I was caramel brown, I had a bob to make sure my hair could cope with that much colour abuse! But with the help of a lot of bleach, an additional colour on top and a lot of TLC, Tolga managed it in 6 hours with hardly any damage. I can’t succinctly explain the monumental change so I’ll let these pictures (taken 8 hours apart!) do the talking:

Six weeks on and I could not be happier with my hair and the change its bought into my life. It’s funny that a change in hair colour can have such a profound impact on your life, I feel ridiculous for typing that but honestly the ripples of going blonde have touched pretty much all parts of my life. Of course, your clothing and make up also need to change to reflect a drastic hair colour change – I’ve found that while natural make up looks good as a brunette, I need to wear a bit more as a blonde but not bright lips which were my go-to look with dark hair.
It’s much more than that though. When I look back at pictures of myself as a brunette, it feels like I’m looking at a different person, I feel fundamentally different to who I was then but I can’t quite put my finger on how or why. Blonde hair is iconic and a statement to the world; think Kate Moss, Marilyn Monroe or Debbie Harry. It’s a brave choice and people do sit up and pay attention, I’ve noticed a huge difference in how both sexes perceive me – both extremely positive. I can’t really sum it up better than this quote from Legally Blonde: “You know, being a blonde is actually a pretty powerful thing. You hold more cards than you think you do”. 
Thanks to Tolga, Joe, Rex and Shelley at Joe’s Salon for the amazing transformation!