8 things I wish I’d known before going blonde

Let's be honest.

Most of us at one stage or another have thought about what it would be like to go blonde, be it a few highlights or full platinum. I started dying my hair blonde on a whim and it stuck, but I wish I'd thought about it a little more before I did it. Here's a run-down of things I wish I'd taken into consideration before going blonde. 1.I should have gotten advice I innocently made my way to the chemist and picked up the cheapest box of dye I could find. Big mistake. My hair was orange and crispy for a long time. Looking back, I really wish I'd gotten the advice of a hairdresser before taking the plunge.   2.Going blonde is not an overnight process It'll take a few hairdresser sessions to get you blonde. I did actually know this before dyeing my hair and as a cash-strapped student decided instead to keep putting cheap dye over cheap dye on my hair myself. You can imagine what condition that left my hair in.   3.It's f*cking expensive Both to go blonde and to maintain it. You need to really weigh up whether you can continuously fork out cash to keep you looking salon-fresh. I now go to a salon to get my hair dyed, but have to leave it a little longer than I'd like to between touch-ups. Some day... 4.You'll have to put time into it If you're going blonde, say goodbye to low-maintenance hair. Dyeing it makes it weaker, more porous and more susceptible to damage. This means lots of conditioning treatments, regular trims and avoiding chlorinated swimming pools (the chlorine can leave a green tinge). 5.Brassiness is real And it's a bitch. You'll be up to your eyes in purple shampoo trying to keep the orange tones at bay.   6. Dyeing your hair won't just change the colour Sounds weird, but I never appreciated how naturally soft my hair was. My natural hair was quite silky, bordering on oily. Now, it's an awful lot drier than before - hence all the maintenance. 7.Roots! AKA the bane of your life when you dye your hair. I don't know why, but I hadn't realised that you get max two to three weeks out of your new highlights before those pesky roots creep back.   8.It's not easy to go back Both figuratively and literally. I'm very used to my blonde hair now and don't know what it would be like to go back to my natural colour. Plus, I don't think I could cope with months and months of roots as my own hair comes back.