Work It. Do It. Tone It. Treat It.

Every summer, soon-to-be blondes hit the bottle to get perfectly sun-kissed tresses. And each year come fall, just when it’s about time to swap jean shorts for flared denim and crop tops for knitted sweaters, salon-goers with every hue of hair start dreaming about different colors.

But, do autumn’s traditionally deeper shades mean giving up the blonde? And, how to ensure fair hair retains its radiance—even after months of swimming and fun?

Here are our tips just for blondes on how to embrace your fall style transition while keeping locks looking (and feeling!) fresh.

Transitioning To Fall Blonde: Tone It
“Summer-blonde” is bleached, tousled, fun, and a little faded. But, as temps cool and that golden, sun-kissed glow leaves your skin, so does your complexion’s ability to carry the shade you may have started the season with—or some of the brassiness that invariably pops up after long days spent outdoors.
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To avoid looking washed out, consider a seasonal hair makeover. Your first step in transitioning from summer-blonde to fall-blonde is selecting the right toner.
Most of you who already color or highlight your hair blonde will be familiar with toners—usually, colorists apply them all over as the final step in the process in order to tone down brassiness and sort of help all of the tones in your hair to harmonize together. They're gentler (semi-permanent instead of permanent color) and deposit pigment instead of lighten, so you don't need to worry about damaging already-colored hair.

Are you a blonde who tends to get white and ashy after lots of time in the sun? Consider asking for a light-golden-blonde toner. It’ll help to produce a beautiful, buttery appearance that also restores richness and shine.

Very light blondes who are also fair-skinned with pink undertones in their complexion would be better off skipping the golden hues (which could make rosy skin look flushed) and going straight for lowlights. Consider asking your colorist to do a subtle dark-blonde lowlight on the top layer of your hair, which is where the sun usually does the most damage.

The result? A sandy blonde shade with tonality and depth that creates contrast between your skin and hair—while the deeper shade simultaneously enhances light eyes even more.
How else can you protect a good blonde from going brassy? Go forth and get yourself some purple shampoo (and conditioner), stat!

When hair is colored or lightened, a little rainbow of color molecules (red, yellow, blue) are deposited in the hair cuticle. Because they're the smallest, it's the blue ones that go MIA first— leaving you with mostly red and yellow.

And you know what those shades produce? Orange!

Being the opposite of orange, purple shampoos and conditioners are literally a color saver for blondes. Their violet pigments shut that brassiness down, keeping your color at its fresh-from-the-salon glory.
Keep Your Blonde Healthy: Treat It
Maybe you were the victim of overzealous heat styling (it's happened to us all); maybe you tried to DIY with home colour and failed (also been there!); or maybe a summer of sun has simply taken its toll.

Whether for prevention or repair—here are a few tricks we keep up our sleeves to ensure your blonde locks stay looking extra healthy.

Clarifying: Crystal Gel Treatment by Malibu
Chlorine, minerals, and hard water add buildup that can affect how well your hair takes to lightening.

Enter Crystal Gel Treatment by Malibu! This one-time treatment rids hair of minerals, medications, and other color-blockers so that bleach doesn’t have to stay on as long to get your desired lift. Available as a pre-color service for optimal results, or just as a detox for your hair and scalp, Crystal Gel Treatment will leave your hair easier to style and softer to the touch.

Repairing: Protein Treatment
Are your ends breaking up? Try a protein treatment! Applied to hair after your color is washed out, (while you’re still in the shampoo bowl), protein treatments are similar to a deep conditioner—strengthening your hair without changing the color.

Rebuilding: Wellaplex Strengthening Treatment
Going blonde damages hair by eating away at the bonds and amino acids that keep strands intact. But Wellaplex—a two-step process to rebuild and perfect the hair’s structure—lightens hair with less damage, and is quickly becoming known as the single salon treatment all color addicts need.