There are a lot of positives to be said about going blonde, and many famous celebrities, including Kim Kardashian and Anne Hathaway, have opted to change their hair to a lighter shade for a period of time. They make the process seem easy, and perhaps with a team of hairstylists and a lot of cash, it is, but let it be known that being blonde is hard work.

Blonde hair is a process, and it’s one that can’t be rushed. That said, the length of time it takes to go blonde depends on the current shade of an individual’s hair, and sometimes, it can take multiple trips to the salon before you get the desired result. But this process also involves a lot of chemicals, which can cause damage to the hair. In fact, the darker your hair is to start, the more damage there will be because more pigment will be needed.

According to Marie Claire, going platinum blonde will damage your hair to some extent, there is no way around that. To lighten to this color requires the use of either bleach or hydrogen peroxide, and both have a lasting effect on the hair cuticle. This causes the hair to become dry and damaged. Heat styling and the products you use can also further this damage because, as colorist Aura Friedman told Refinery29, this is because “the bonds that make up the cellular membrane complex are broken,” from lightening the hair, and not all of them fuse back together.

The effects of home bleaching can be even worse because the formulas are often not as gentle as the products salons use. Not all bleaches are the same and there are different formulas of varying qualities, and often, it is a case of you get what you pay for. Sorry. To get an idea of what can happen when it goes wrong, we can look to a Refinery29 writer who revealed that the breakage she had after bleaching her hair made a stylist cry. That’s how bad it was, and it was the result of over-processing. But this should also be an indication of just how important it is to choose a colorist who is great at what they do.

Putting the horror stories aside for a minute though, it should be known that all hair can be colored. As trichologist, Dr. David Kingsley told Refinery29, “All hair is healthy enough for bleaching, it’s just a matter of treating it correctly and making sure the right products are used.”

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