Can i pull off platinum blonde hair

Let’s start by saying this: everyone can go blonde (yes, even YOU can pull it off). But the key is finding the right tone for your skin color. Dreaming of yourself with the platinum strands of Gwen Stefani is all well and good, but you need to bring your personal complexion into consideration. Bridgette Hill, lead colorist for the Four Seasons Palm Beach Salon, tells SELF it’s really about the interplay of your skin tone, your undertones, and your eye color that will find you the perfect shade of blonde. Here, her expert tips for if you plan to lighten up this spring.

Fair skin with cool undertones looks great in all-over platinum hues.

Celebrity inspiration: Amanda Seyfried, January Jones, Emma Stone, Gwen Stefani

The recommendation: Go platinum! Yes, you read that right. If you have a fair complexion, pink undertones, and light hair you can pull off some of the more daring bleached hair looks because you won’t have to go through a long process to lighten up. “Naturally you’re going to have lighter hair, so it’s not such a shock to the hair,” says Hill. “You can switch the color so much, and it still looks healthy.” Ladies with this coloring also make great redheads and brunettes.

For medium skin with warm undertones ask for something multidimensional.

Celebrity inspiration: Gisele, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Gigi Hadid

The recommendation: Hill sees inspiration photos from this group of brassy blondes most often in the salon. Something about the dirty blonde and ombré color appeals to everyone. “Very rarely do you see these ladies with a root-to-end, single-process blonde,” explains Hill. When you schedule your appointment request a balayage or multidimensional highlights to get this glowy, buttery shade.

If you have medium skin with olive undertones, leave your roots dark.

Celebrity inspiration: Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Alba, Khloé Kardashian

The recommendation: “An olive undertone has an ash to it that can pick up greens, and it can make the skin look sallow with the wrong shade,” says Hill. Instead go for blonde hues that are sandy and have an antique quality (meaning the color is neutral with a lot of beige elements). And when it comes to technique, it’s all about placement. Hill likes to leave a little dark hair at the roots of every strand to create shadow and depth.

Dark skin with warm undertones should lighten up the base color to brown first.

Celebrity inspiration: Ciara, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige

The recommendation: If you’re looking to go blonde with super dark hair. Lighten up your roots from dark brown to medium-blonde brown first. Then, add the bleach on top of that, says Hill. It’s also gentler on the hair because it grows out to a subtle ombré. And the maintenance: all you have to do is update the roots with brown dye every six to eight weeks. Then, schedule an appointment to brighten your ends once or twice a year.

And a note on darker skin tones with cool undertones.

Going blonde with deep ebony skin (like Alek Wek or Lupita Nyong'o) is a look that’s rarely seen, but it’s can super chic and modern. “You can make [darker skin] look very sick if you put too much warmth,” explains Hill. If you’re going for it, ask for a cool, white-blonde shade. Hill warns that taking the plunge to this stunning look could compromise hair quality. That’s why it’s most common on supershort, cropped strands.

All through January, our special Makeover Month series is here to inspire you to update your look — whether it’s a tiny tweak or a major beauty overhaul. Let’s get this makeover started!

Photo: Luca Cannonieri/GoRunway.com

Ever wonder what it would be like to go blonde? Like, really, really blonde? Maybe you would regret it. Or maybe, a platinum hair color would unleash your inner bombshell (hello, Marilyn!).

We asked Christophe Robin, L’Oréal Paris Global Consulting Hair Colorist, to give us the hard truth on who can really pull off platinum. Number one, “You have to be young,” he told us. “And you have to have perfect skin.”

Now that we’re down to, oh, 0.5 percent of the population, Christophe says your skin’s undertones matter less, though platinum is particularly suited to those with a fair complexion and light-colored eyes. Of course, there are different tones under the platinum blonde umbrella — L’Oréal Paris has just released three new Féria Absolute Platinum shades ($9.99, lorealparisusa.com) that can take hair a full six levels lighter — so you can go warmer or cooler based on what looks good on you.

The maintenance factor also cuts down the list of likely candidates for flaxen hair. According to Monsieur Robin, you’ve got about five days of pristine color before your roots will start coming in. Regular moisture treatments and a blue-based shampoo and conditioner are also musts to prevent damage and brassiness. And since peroxide can damage the hair, he recommends that you keep your style short if you’re planning to bleach it.

And then, just to prove that there are no rules, consider Gwen Stefani, the poster-woman for platinum locks. She’s neither particularly young nor blue-eyed (though she does have pretty great skin, and plenty of time and expense to dedicate to hair color maintenance), yet the color works on her.

At this point, we couldn’t imagine Gwen Stefani not having bold blonde hair.
Photo: Getty Images

Luckily, you don’t have to guess. Christophe advises you visit a wig store to test drive your new hair before making any major color change. And of course, you can try on blonde hair in our Makeover Studio right now.

Read more: Top 10 Celebrity Blondes

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