Blonds throughout history have often been portrayed as beautiful and sexy. While peroxide was first promoted to bleach hair in the 19th century, it was the 1920s and 1950s that the first ‘blonde bombshells’ were created by Hollywood with Jean Harlow, May West and Veronica Lake. But when a young starlet, Norma Jean (Marilyn Monroe) bleach her hair the "patron saint of peroxide" was born. Dozens of dazzling Hollywood blonds from Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Madonna, Paris Hilton, Katherine Heigl and the latest entry Lady Gaga continue to light up the silver screen with their ravishing blond locks.

The start of a new year marks the opportunity for redefining your style and what better way then with a new hair color. For years the hair fashion industry has been obsessed with blondes and is associated with glamour. Blond isn't just a hair color it's an attitude. If it were a formula I’d mix two parts blond hair, one part personality, plus two parts sexual confidence. Blond hair comes in many shades from cool to warm and is most flattering to creamy complexions although it also works well with complexions of medium warm tones. Natural blond hair is relatively rare. It can range from pale to dark golden shades and occurs in approximately 2% of the world population. Almost everyone can be a blonde. What's most important is finding the right shade to complement your skin tone.

If you have pink skin like Reese Witherspoon you can wear a light golden blond hue. Women with pale porcelain skin and green or blue eyes like Nicole Kidman make perfect strawberry blondes. Medium skin tones have the most choices. If you want a pale blonde hue and have dark brown hair a two step process (bleaching and toning) will be required. Those with medium and light brown hair can add blond highlights or lowlights with a foil weaving technique to give it a natural sun kissed or dramatic look. This dimensional effect is a great way to start and easy to keep up. If you chose to become a blond and have dark eye brows you may want to lighten them as well.

Because blond hair dye contains the small hair color molecules keeping blond in your hair becomes a challenge. Small molecules enter the hair shaft easily but also wash out of the hair easily each time you shampoo. To preserve the color using a pigmented shampoo and conditioner between touch ups will help prevent premature fading. Because there are dozens of blond hues from platinum and gold to strawberry it can be difficult to know which shade is right for you. To determine what shade would suit you best and which to avoid a visit to a professional hair colorist is well worth the time and expense. Before you make an appointment, clip a few pictures from magazines with colors you’re interested in trying and show them to the colorist….a picture is worth a thousand words!