For 26 days in quarantine, I first heard the siren call. During an insomnia-induced Instagram scroll at 3 a.m., I focused on Bella Hadid’s blonde transformation in 2019, messaging ELLE’s director of beauty and health with the succinct “Should I?
Apparently I wasn’t the only one wishing for a change while we were in our in-place shelter for Groundhog Day: Rosalía, Emily Ratajkowski, and Lily-Rose Depp all lifted their hair color in about a month. . Kaia Gerber has done it twice, with a honey start in the spring, followed by a platinum reveal in August.
Whenever a newly created blonde appeared on my feed, I would take her as a sign from the gods of Gwen Stefani. “For beauty impulses, social media is a common trigger” says California therapist Alyssa Mancao, who deals with body image issues.
After 93 days the New York salons finally opened and I booked a video consultation with colorist Jenna Perry. I was nervous – I had lightened my deep brown hair once before in the tail of a breakup, with disastrous results. But Hadid, who is half Arab like me, looked like a natural blonde after sitting in Perry’s chair, so I felt I could trust her with my hair, too.
It has enriched the paste with Sweet’N Low, a hairdresser’s secret to preventing chemicals from burning your scalp. After lightening my base considerably, Perry hand painted a custom blend of three shades for a darker blonde at the roots – a trick to making the magnification less harsh.
The moment of reveal felt like a classic makeover scene in a ’90s teen movie. The new golden shade of my hair, like a potent vitamin C serum, was just the boost I needed. “This is sparkling, sunny childhood dream hair,” Perry said as he told me about aftercare coloring – the most important part of being a blonde. I went through three bottles of Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! Fortifying Treatment Oil ($ 30), and I use Crown Affair Renewal Mask ($ 58) twice a week to keep my hair shimmering and golden.
My anxiety about stagnation has eased: for a while each morning, I don’t recognize my reflection. Then, as I remember my metamorphosis, the dopamine wave hits and I feel lighter too.
