10 Bad Habits That Sabotage Your Hair Goals

James Corbett, Celebrity Colorist and Clairol Color Director

“Celebrities and social media have created a lot of unrealistic expectations around hair color because it appears people can hop from platinum blonde to green to brown and back again quickly. The truth is, they’re most likely lace-front wigs or extensions, not the celebrity’s actual hair.

We also have a lot of misconceptions around what it takes to achieve those platinum and fantasy colors. Hair is a delicate fabric and when you’re stripping and coloring repeatedly, even if you’re using protein bonding treatments, you’re going to damage the cuticle and make it susceptible to breakage. The photos on social media are before and after shots. What you’re not seeing is the hours/days, number of sessions and cost it took to get that client from brunette to blonde or mermaid colors. It could take up to two to three sittings to get to that point and over-aggressive expectations and treatment of hair can lead to breakage. If it’s damaged, dyeing it brown isn’t going to change the health of the hair; it’ll just be damaged and brown.

When it comes to healthy hair color, we usually recommend shifting one to two shades lighter or darker than your own hair color if you’re going to do it at home. If you want to play with fantasy colors and you know that you’ll change your mind soon, take it easy on your hair and play with semi-permanent solutions like Clairol Color Crave, $6.79, which will wash out in a few shampoos. Hair makeup is also a great option, and wigs and clip-in extensions will give you that celebrity look without the time, commitment and potential harm that over-bleaching might cause.”