Only 5.5% of the US population is naturally blonde, and yet…

Even those who were naturally blonde as children get darker hair (like brown, or even dark brown) as they get older. Nevertheless, by the time American women are middle-aged, thanks to the miracle of bottled chemicals, 50% of us have become blondes (44.5% of us for the first time).

Blonde hair is caused by the sparseness of the dark blue pigment eumelanin in the hair. It is most common in northern European populations, and has long been associated with female beauty in western culture, as if it were especially pure. Note that in Christian art, the Virgin Mary and Jesus are usually depicted as blonde and blue-eyed, despite their likely dark-haired, dark-eyed Middle-Eastern heritage. Ah well.

Naturally blonde and blue-eyed author Dani Shapiro was raised in an orthodox Jewish family and kept being told “But you don’t look Jewish…”, only to discover via a DNA test that her real father was indeed a non-Jew with Nordic coloring. Her book, Inheritance, is a remarkable and moving detective story–worth reading in at a time where DNA tests are turning up all sorts of surprising relationships.

As a color consultant I start every palette by finding hues that match the client’s skin, eye and hair colors because they are flattering and will make the person look authentic. Then on that “inherent” base, I build the rest of the palette.

Here’s the crazy part. When I try to give my “blonde” clients a yellow to match their hair, they often recoil in horror, “Oh, I never wear yellow; it makes me look sick.” Then I point out that they wear that color daily, right next to their face. Silence.
Somehow that doesn’t count?

As a brunette (at least before I went gray) it always bothered me that no one claimed “Brunettes have more fun.” Or were more fun. We’re supposed to be serious. When I tried to cover the gray the nice mink tones (the blue eumelanin) would slip away too soon, leaving me with a brassy color that was truly unflattering to my skin tones. Artificially blonde hair can also suffer from the brassy problem.

If you must be a blonde, better to go towards platinum. Or…sometimes a person just looks better (shudder) going gray.

Whether or not you’re ready to rock the gray, we’ll talk about it November 16-23 at my Clark College class, Going Gray Gracefully: Using Color and Style to Look your Authentic Best.