My hair is getting plenty white lately! As you know, I’m all about toning in my quest for the perfect platinum: purple shampoo and conditioner, Manic Panic’s Virgin Snow, etc. I’ve had a few blue chunks in my hair more than once as result of overzealous toning, to the delight of my Len D Outlet customers. (“Where’d the blue go?!” They’ve been asking.) I was always a bit reluctant to try the Big Guns of Toning, Wella’s White Lady. A few days ago, I had the balls to do it. 

White Lady, available at Sally for about $5, is toner of the highest order. You mix one bottle with two parts 20 volume developer, apply to your head in a plastic color mixer bottle and it turns violet. Pretty! (Side note: I look pretty OK with purple hair.) All the info I gleaned from various internet sources said DO NOT leave it on longer than ten minutes, so I went about eight, then washed and conditioned with my Perfect 10 Mask. The result? Perfect pale, shiny, healthy-feeling blonde. (Said perfect blonde hair is currently twisted into a permanent topknot as reaction to the 100 degree weather Minneapolis is having. Loving it, though.)

My hair is finally at the desired color: platinum blonde. It took a few dye jobs, a lot of toning and plenty of Kerastase Elixir Ultime and deep conditioning to get this far, and I’d like to share what I’ve learned about this much-coveted hair color I call my own.

Platinum Tips, Thus Far:

1. Buy a toning shampoo. Purple shampoo is a necessity if you’re going this light. Otherwise, your hair tends to get a little bit yellow, which is NOT pretty. All those girls I see with the yellow bleach-blonde hair, please go get a bottle of Clairol Shimmer Lights. I don’t shampoo that often (usually every eight days), so I always tone. Occasionally I will throw a Manic Panic Virgin Snow toning treatment into the mix for about a half hour. Don’t leave purple shampoo on for longer than about four minutes or your hair might turn blue.

Recommended products: Clairol Shimmer Lights shampoo and/or conditioner, available at Sally Beauty Supply; Pravana Pure Light shampoo for sulfate-free toning; Manic Panic Virgin Snow toner

2. Get trims. Bleaching is bad for your hair, obviously. I have been bleaching my roots every six weeks, but this time I redid my whole head. Certain layers were incredibly fried. So make sure to get trims often; I do mine every time I touch up my roots.

3. Deep condition. A lot. Fried hair needs love. At least twice a month, I deep-condition my hair, and by that I mean the whole shower cap/hot towel/shower steam deep condition for at least half an hour. An occasional salon treatment never hurts either. I’ve been trying lots of different masks and conditioners; this is what has worked for me.

Recommended products: It’s a 10 Miracle Hair Mask, Kiehl’s Olive Fruit Oil Deeply Repairative Hair Pak

4. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize from day to day!  I have been coating my hair with Kerastase Elixir Ultime and Jonathan Overnight Oil treatment, then twisting it up into a coil and leaving it to soak for a day or two. 

5. Watch what you put in your hair. Certain products can deposit color and contribute to that dull yellowing. Plenty of hair companies make platinum-friendly hair styling aids, from Redken to Pureology. I try not to use hairspray if I can help it.

6. Platinum hair attracts attention. Don’t dye your hair this light if you’re not willing to deal with the attention it can attract. It carries with it an Old Hollywood, glamorous appeal, and people respond to that.

7. Keep it healthy from the inside, too. I’ve been taking both prenatal vitamins and Evening Primrose Oil supplements to help my distressed hair.

8. Work with your hair’s natural texture. At first, I was wearing my naturally wavy hair pin straight. As my hair gets lighter, I heat style less and less. Try your hardest not to heat-style too much, because that zaps your hair’s moisture content. 

As I said before, my platinum hair is a work in progress. Any tried and true tips for me? 

I’ve already got cotton candy pink Manic Panic in my under layers and a streak of neon yellow, so what was a little more color in this mess of hair I call my own? I had wanted to add some pink to the top but wasn’t 100% ready to commit … plus my cousin’s getting married on Saturday and I know my mama wouldn’t love a daughter with hot pink highlights in family pictures. 

Enter my MAC Magenta Madness pigment (remember it from this?) I shook a little onto my hand, dipped a blush brush into it and applied it into my hair. Easy! I added a spray or five of my Bumble and bumble white hair powder and smashed it all up into a twist. This is the “work appropriate modern Marie Antoinette,” I should think. I was a little worried the pigment would stay in post-wash because my hair is so porous from all these bleachings, but it washed out. Too bad, because I’m into it.

Better picture via cellphone. Excuse the bra.

This ignited a passion for MAC pigments. I marched over to my girl Masha at Nordstrom the next day and bought Cornflower Blue, which will be adorning my ends come tomorrow, and Tan, which I am currently applying like bronzer. (“You’re glowing! Your skin is shimmering!” said Ian …. if a guy notices, you know it’s good.)

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Abbey Lee. Her hair is PERFECT. How does she keep it healthy? My top layer of hair is FRIED. Tips? Help me fix it please!

I have been obsessed with Brittany House since she started school at Climax High in … 2001? 2002? Help me out, Britt. Anyway, this quiet girl from California with amazing waist-length hair, black fingernails and leopard print pants came into my life and I’m so happy she did; she’s the Bettie to my Marilyn, and there are several pictures of us in such costume on computers somewhere. She taught me about the Dead Boys and I taught her about cheerleading. (Picture proof below.) We have the same hair (coarse, strong, able to withstand bleaching and dyeing and mohawking, in her case), but if I’m blonde, she’s brunette and vice versa … although we’re both blonde at the moment. I’ve seen her with dark purple hair, a tri-hawk, Bettie Bangs and green highlights. And I most definitely count her as one of my most beautiful friends.

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Urban Decay Afterglow Glide-On Cheek Tint in Crush; AG Sterling Silver toning shampoo; MAC Pigment in Magenta Madness (more on this later); Shalimar EDT.

I have a tub of Manic Panic’s Virgin Snow toner sitting mostly unused in my bathroom cabinet but I haven’t been able to use it … until now. Now that my hair has been bleached back to blonde from dark brown, it’s looking a little bit brassy, which is natural for such a drastic change. My Shimmer Lights works like a charm most of the time, but I think I need to call in the big guns. I’m planning on trying Virgin Snow out as soon as possible, especially after seeing this review on Classic Retro Glamour. Anyone have any experience with it?

But I’ve always been into Manic Panic’s products, and now I’m considering adding a few small streaks of their Cotton Candy Pink to my bottom layers … and did I mention Manic Panic has LIPSTICK?!?! MATTE LIPSTICKS?!?! Marilyn, Vampire Red and Blood Red need to be mine immediately. 

Now that I’m back to my usual blonde self, that means it’s time to add purple shampoo back into my repertoire. I’ve been using purple shampoo for years to counteract any brassy (read: yellow) tones in my hair. I like my highlights white-blonde, not butter-blonde. Gross. (My dad also uses purple shampoo to keep his gorgeous gray hair shiny silver. See, you can learn beautifying tricks from your dad!) I’ve tried a bunch, from Wal-Mart’s Jhirmack brand (beyond cheap; I keep it at home in North Dakota just in case) to Matrix’s So Silver, but I always come back to the best: Clairol Shimmer Lights. It’s only about $7 at beauty supply stores and since you don’t need much, one bottle lasts and lasts. I’ve carried mine around to at least three residences.

The violet tones in the shampoo work to neutralize any brassiness; I like to work up a lovely lilac lather and let it sit for a few minutes. (But you have to be careful; it will deposit if you leave it in too long. And it smells a little … geriatric.) The end result? Shimmery, shiny, SILVERY blonde. I cannot live without it. 

When I decided after a particularly horrid night that it was time to go back to blonde, I knew who to call: Bethany Brihn, also known as the only person in Minneapolis I’ve ever let touch my hair. I headed over to her Selby Ave. Salon Ori thinking I’d have to spend a few weeks as that blahtastic beige between-color, but Bethany had other plans. Since I’d cut about six inches off my hair, we decided to go balls to the wall and get as close to the Marilyn blonde I wanted as we could. On first dye, it was a LOVELY peach color, but round two yielded this fantastic almost-platinum. And the best part? It doesn’t feel fried. (Although I do think I need a kertain blowout treatment … anyone need a hair model?) I’m so glad to be back.