Cheryl Cole's blonde ambition

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10 April 2012

We should have guessed that, behind closed doors, Cheryl Cole was up to something -besides apparently developing amnesia when it comes to unfaithful ex-husbands.

Following her public dumping from US X Factor last month, the singer finally emerged from hiding - with a new dirty-blonde bob.

"I don't think this is the best colour for her but it's only stage one," says Christel Lundqvist, Schwarzkopf Professional's British Colour Technician of the Year. "Going blonde is a long journey when you are that dark."

Don't I just know it. After four months, 220 highlights, a searing scalp-full of bleach, plus toner, and a total of 17 hours in a salon chair, my naturally near-black hair is - at last - blonde.

"We couldn't get you where you wanted straight away," explains Karine Jackson, a former London Hairdresser of the Year. "If we'd put one colour all over, we would have risked your hair going canary yellow and leaving you with a blistered head. Or even your hair breaking off."

While I had thought I would be leaving her salon looking exactly like my magazine cut-outs of ultra-blondes Michelle Williams and January Jones, Katy Perry had more realistic expectations.

The raven-haired singer, who is also lightening up, recently tweeted: "So I didn't get to the exact color I wanted from being black for so long! 2get to goal I have 2b GINGER for 3WKS #paybackfromGINGERGodsFML!" before adding: "If I don't wait 3wks, I'll end up w/no hair or a #pixie90scutw/abarretteinthefront It's okay, I'll get to my secret color(s) soon! #patience."

"You should expect a minimum of three appointments if you are going from dark to a light or blonde shade, leaving time to recover in between," says Skyler McDonald, current London Hairdresser of the Year. "You have to break down the brunette pigment gradually so you don't damage the hair."

McDonald explains that going from dark to blonde is difficult because it involves getting rid of natural brunette pigments (red, orange and yellow) using dyes and bleach. Doing it too quickly can make the hair snap.

Mark Woolley, of Electric Hairdressing, a L'Oréal colour specialist, offers a word of caution. "The trend this summer is for much lighter hair but unlike last year's LA beach bleached look, 2011 is all about sleek blonde hair. If you overcook it, and I think Cheryl has, you will end up with unnatural, dry, damaged hair. Take a page out of Katy Perry's book and do it gradually. And never use bleach."

Since my boyfriend has not forgiven me for cropping off my long hair before Christmas, I knew running the risk of going bald was not an option.

I was going to have to do this the long - and proper - way.

After leaving Karine's salon with heavily highlighted brunette hair in March, I returned for round two at the end of April. Another five hours and enough highlighting foils to conduct high-voltage electricity later, I emerged with a multi-tonal, honey-coloured head.

"Like they've done with Cheryl, we left a little of your natural colour underneath and at the roots to create a natural look and make the regrowth more subtle," says Karine.

But while my new look went down well with my boyfriend and family, I knew I had not quite reached my blonde ambition.

"That's not blonde," my friend Fay said when we went for a coffee a few weeks later, "this is blonde," she added, tugging at her own Icelandic-looking locks.

She was right. I knew if I was ever going to be über-blonde I was going to have to get serious with the bleach.

"Bleaching your roots can be awful," another friend helpfully advised. "I found it so excruciating that two hairdressers had to hold me down to make sure it was on long enough. And I'm often left with blisters."

That in mind, I braced myself as I headed to Lisa Shepherd London a month later to have what was left of my natural colour lifted, my whole head toned and roots bleached. Despite my hairdresser sympathetically massaging my scalp throughout, my skin stung so badly that my eyes watered. But the second I saw the results, a light all-over beige blonde, I knew I would suffer it again.

While the reactions of friends and family have been mixed (my boyfriend and male friends preferred the natural shades, while female friends enjoy living vicariously through my statement colour) I do enjoy what true blonde undeniably achieves: standing out in a crowd.

In fact, another month - and an inch of black roots - later, I am due back in the salon chair again. Despite the manic maintenance and searing pain of a bleached scalp, I will happily burn to be blonde.

Cheryl Cole's blonde ambition

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