Katy Perry wears the title of “Color Chameleon” better than anyone else in Hollywood. Her strands withstand multiple color changes per week—it’s currently a blueberry-violet tone—yet it always looks bright, healthy and completely brass-free when she reverts back to her baseline blond. How? When I recently sat down with her hairstylist Rick Henry, the man behind all of these rainbow-bright hair colors (he’s also a Joico celebrity stylist), he told me the one rule Perry always follows (and the one all blonds should cling to): “Use styling products that are clear with no hue to them.”
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“Blonds should avoid any products or oils with any type of coloration to them,” he says, adding that whenever oils or products with a yellow, gold, brown or bronze cast are applied to blond strands, the hair picks up the hue and turns a degree of brassy. Basically, outside of the shower and hair color, every product applied to the hair should be clear (even those natural oils that claim to be safe for colored hair). “These products can also make blond color dull,” he says. This is only heightened when a blow-dryer or hot tool is taken to strands afterwards (he describes this as sealing the product’s color into the strands.)
Instead, look for crystal-clear products—Henry (and Perry’s) go-to is Joico’s Blonde Life Brightening Veil ($19), a multitasking shine-boosting and protecting spray. If you’re not sure whether the formula is clear, spray or apply some to your hand to make sure and say goodbye to brass for good.
