For the previous three years or so, I’ve been on a quest to get the proper honey highlights. I’ve been craving one thing lighter than a caramel however hotter than your typical blonde hue. However the artwork of discovering the appropriate blonde tone for my tan complexion hasn’t been a straightforward process. For starters, virtually everybody has tried to discourage me from going lighter – from colorists to mates and even household. “You don’t want to paint your hair. Your naturally darkish hair completely enhances your thick darkish brows and lengthy darkish lashes,” my mother would say. “Going blonde will spoil your curls,” hair consultants insisted. However my favourite was each time somebody would inform me that my pores and skin was “too darkish” or “too tan” for blonde hair. As an Afro-Latina, this suggestions was unusual to me, contemplating the variety of Black ladies I’ve witnessed grasp the blonde look, from Beyoncé to Ciara and, most not too long ago, Zendaya.
After a number of years of settling for bronze or caramel-brown highlights that seemed wonderful however had been in the end not what I wished, I made a decision to discover a colorist who was keen to get me the hair colour of my desires. And to date, I’ve had zero regrets. I had the chance to attach with Kys Clark, a hairstylist, colorist, and proprietor of INK’D Kyses Style Co., primarily based within the Bronx, NY, who blocked a number of hours out of her day to service me with a full head of highlights, a firming glaze, conditioning remedy, and a vital curl lower.
Clark, who’s half Black and half Puerto Rican with naturally curly hair herself, is thought for specializing in blonde coloring and all issues curls. So, proper off the bat, I went into our digital session appointment feeling optimistic. Not solely did I admire how attentive she was to my wants, requests, and issues, however she was additionally actually trustworthy about what it could require to get me my dream colour.
When it got here to discovering a spotlight colour that complemented my pure base colour, Clark was very clear: the blonde needed to align with my hotter undertones, which is of course a mixture of yellow and pink. However she was encouraging the whole time, letting me know that there have been completely a number of blonde choices that will go nice with my pores and skin tone and options. In actual fact, for her, the concept brown-skinned women can’t go blonde is an outdated mindset.
“Getting a brown-skinned girl blonde is just not a lot of a difficulty for me,” she says. “It’s about getting the appropriate colour blonde for his or her pores and skin complexion, proper? So, there are ladies who’ve an olive undertone or ladies who’ve a pink undertone; it’s simply ensuring that it enhances them.”
Clark likes to evaluate hair well being, particularly for her Black or curly-haired Latina clients, as a result of broken curls can develop into considerably extra broken after bleaching or lightening. “It may be very dry and really porous, after which that leaves the hair very inclined to breakage due to how dry it’s,” she says. Not compromising the integrity of the hair is her primary precedence when coloring.
For different brown-skinned women who’re interested by going lighter, right here are some things Clark did to get me the nice and cozy honey highlights of my desires.
Get Your self a Colorist Who Cares About Your Hair Objectives
No matter what colour you’re going for, whether or not blonde or brunette, it’s essential to discover a colorist who not solely values your hair well being but additionally desires to get you as near your aim as potential. Hair considerably impacts our confidence, vanity, and id, which is why it was necessary for me to search out an knowledgeable who understands that. As a curly-haired woman with my fair proportion of salon trauma, it was wonderful to get reassurance that my hair is just not solely stunning however would additionally look simply as nice with a lighter tone. Clark desires her purchasers to grasp that her aim is to construct a trusting relationship with them. “Understanding that your hairstylist desires the very best for you and discovering somebody that you just really feel desires the very best for you is tremendous necessary,” she says.
Wholesome Hair is Key
Anytime you determine to bleach your hair or go lighter, it’s a must to think about the well being of your hair. That is a part of what Clark analyzes through the session side of the appointment. She lower my useless ends earlier than starting the colour remedy, after which did my full curl lower afterward. “You had a number of broken, dried ends. If I had been to paint your hair with that, it wouldn’t have been horrible, however you’ll have seen much more injury as a result of they had been already dry,” she says. “So I simply received them out of the way in which beforehand, serving to me reduce losing product, in addition to minimizing injury. Eradicating the broken areas allowed me to let bleach sit for longer with out worrying about additional compromising the hair.” She additionally made positive to do a particular remedy that restored my hair’s bonds whereas additionally deeply hydrating it.
Discover the Proper Tone and Approach
Earlier than our digital session, Clark requested me to ship her a number of examples of the colour and the approach I wished on different curly women with an identical curl sample and pores and skin tone as mine. That manner, she might higher perceive if what I wished would truly flatter me.
“When you’ve got inspirational photos, make it possible for the individual within the image seems to be such as you,” she says. “I get so a lot of my Latinas, my brown-skinned women, my African American women, who are available in with an image of a naturally blonde girl and use their hair for example, however for me, that may be very tough to make use of as a result of their texture doesn’t have the size that yours might need.”
For the approach, Clark saved my pure base and added what’s known as child lights – actually skinny and tiny highlights. However in some locations, she did a balayage utilizing a free hand-painted approach so as to add dimension to my hair and a thicker highlighted look towards my ends. For my root/crown space, she left my base extra distinguished and used a smudging approach to offer it extra of a naturally grown-out look.
Have Persistence
The toughest half about going lighter is knowing that it will likely be a course of. It’s very uncommon that you just’ll get the precise shade you need on the first appointment. My present colour is definitely a teeny tiny bit darker than the colour we had been initially aiming for, as a result of Clark emphasised that she didn’t need to compromise the integrity of my hair or injury my curl sample. Consequently, she advised me we had been going to attempt to get as shut as potential, hold the brass at bay with a follow-up firming appointment, after which, within the subsequent colour appointment, intention to get the blonde colour barely ashier.
Upkeep Is Every part
Clark emphasizes that what you do between appointments is simply as necessary as what occurs within the chair in the case of sustaining your best tone and hair well being. She really useful that I buy a blue and purple shampoo to make use of interchangeably. The blue helps fight orange and brassy tones, whereas the purple prevents the highlights from getting too yellow. She additionally recommended doing a deep conditioning masks weekly to maintain my hair wholesome and hydrated as properly.
Johanna Ferreira is the content material director for PS Juntos. With greater than 10 years of expertise, Johanna focuses on how intersectional identities are a central a part of Latine tradition. Beforehand, she spent shut to 3 years because the deputy editor at HipLatina, and he or she has freelanced for quite a few retailers together with Refinery29, Oprah journal, Attract, InStyle, and Properly+Good. She has additionally moderated and spoken on quite a few panels on Latine id.
