Lily Allen’s blonde moment – How to get it right

Lily Allen’s new colour is more yellow than blonde, and it’s a problem that most people will face when trying to get from black to blonde. London Hairdresser of the Year Karine Jackson is an expert colourist and says: “Going blonde from a colour as dark as Lily’s is no easy task, even for the most experience colourist. If your hair is already coloured, it may not be possible to get the desired result in one go so it could be better to go for an in-between colour that you like to help bridge the gap.”

Redken Certified Colour Expert Jason Welch, one of Redken’s top 10 colourists in the UK, agrees: “You’ll probably need more than one trip to the salon, ideally starting off by having the black reduced out and some highlights put through it. The first time you’d be reddy-brown/coppery with highlights – it’s really all about what undertones are there. Every colour has an undertone – even natural hair colour – which is why you can end up with an unexpected yellow, green or orange colour.”

“Existing dark dye also makes it more difficult to get a clean blonde result, and colouring on long hair that has dye through it will make it difficult to get an even result – dark dye at the ends can cause yellow staining,” says Karine.

“When you’re in the spotlight like Lily it’s very brave to go from dark to light and all the elements are against her getting a perfect result the first time. Her second colouring should give a great result - she needs to get the colour more even by dyeing the ends up to match the roots and kill off the yellow before applying a toner.

“When going blonde the mid-lengths and ends need to be coloured first, then once they are at the right shade you then colour the roots. Because of body heat and the fact that hair is more natural at the roots, the colour here lifts much quicker. You’ll notice that the roots are brighter on Lily’s hair because the roots were coloured too early in the process.”

Jason concludes, “Lily could look good with a dark rich strawberry blonde which would work with her pinker skin tones, but personally I think she looked fantastic with black hair. If you want to go lighter I’d advise trying just a couple of shades lighter to start with, which is actually still a dramatic change on hair that dark.”

Karine Jackson Hair & Beauty is at 24 Litchfield Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9NJ.
Appointments: Karinejackson.co.uk