How to Keep A Cool Hue True
Golden blonde, on me, is a no: It makes my pinkish skin appear ruddy and my blue eyes look grey and tired. After years of experimenting with a spectrum of hues, I've determined the best color for me is a beigey-cool, "Swedish" blonde.
In New York City, I had some amazing colorists work magic on my mane: Rita Hazan, Marie Robinson, Sharon Dorram, Kyle White, Stephanie Brown and the single-monikered Zoe at Bumble and Bumble. I also had little to no trouble maintaining my cool hue between salon appointments. Some say New York City has the country's most drinkable water; I believe it also boasts the best water for beigey-blondes.
Ann Arbor, however, wins no accolades on this account. Upon moving, we quickly found that a filter is a must for both drinking—and hair washing. Within a month of settling into our new house, my hair color had become orangey-yellow, the result, we believe, of staining from an abundance of minerals in the water. So, with the help of Zoe in New York and my new Michigan colorist, Caroline, I devised this anti-brass, at-home regimen:
Get a filter for your shower head
This was probably the most important step for me; I noticed a difference in my hair's tone within a week. We bought the Sprite Solid Brass High Output Shower Filter in Chrome ($79; bestfilters.com) to coordinate with our chrome Kohler shower head. Note: You must replace the filter's cartridge annually with the Sprite HOC Shower Filter Replacement Cartridge ($24; bestfilters.com).
Use a purple shampoo twice a week
I wash my hair four to five times a week, so this translates to using a purple-toned cleanser roughly every other shampoo, or twice weekly. I find this helps keep brassiness at bay—at least for the first six to eight weeks post salon color. In my shower now: R+Co Sunset Blvd Blonde Shampoo ($29; bluemercury.com).
Add a purple conditioner as needed
I stretch the time between salon appointment to nine or ten weeks and limp through weeks nine and ten with a combination of my Color Wow Root Touchup Powder (read about that here) and a little extra purple power in the shower. I like either Redken’s Blonde Idol Mask ($21; ulta.com), Oribe Bright Blonde Conditioner ($46; oribe.com) or Shu Uemura Color Lustre Cool Blonde Shades Reviving Balm ($58; birchbox.com).
Gloss twice a month
I use John Freida Colour Refreshing Gloss in Cool Blonde ($13; ulta.com), a purple-tinted, at-home gloss, every other week. If you do nothing else from this list, try this. Trust me; it's life, or at least, locks-changing.
Scrunch in a little tinted mousse
Once or twice a week, after shampooing and conditioning, I will finger-comb in a golf-ball-sized squirt of lavender-tinted Color Wow Brass Banned Mousse for Blond Hair ($24; colorwowhair.com). It doesn't make my hair stiff like some other mousses, but it does proactively minimize yellow tones.
