Platinum Blonde Self Expression with John Frieda Hair Care

While I felt like the world was falling apart around me, I set a very low-key "resolution" for my year: be blonder. Of course, I set my intentions around broader career goals and commitments to activism, as well, but when it came to something I could do for myself with relative immediacy and without the threat of failure, it was go blonde or go home. So, my gradual progression to lighter locks over the last few years evolved into full-blown platinum blonde ambition. It's no secret, though, that the stress of going blonde is pretty serious on your tresses - and breakage, fallout, and maintaining color is a process in and of itself. Knowing I was heading to New York for NYFW - and that the air would be cold and dry, and that I'd be doing my hair daily for shows and events, I tried to prep and plan out my haircare in a way that insured my new locks would be their least vulnerable.

Enter John Frieda Hair Care. I've been a long time fan of the "Frizz Ease" line - stocking tiny tubes of the serum in my purses to smooth out my ends and flyaways throughout the day (and this is something I've been doing for years!) But this years new line of product innovations came at a perfect time for me and my newly platinum hair. After all, as my mother says, "hair care is self care," and devoting a little time to creating the image and look that I want has been a pretty radical step in taking care of myself in an area where I can assert some control.On top of this, John Frieda Hair Care experts have just launched their new Hair Talks Make Your Statement campaign to speak to the power of hair as a tool for self expression. The campaign was also kicked off with the most fun surprise concert in TriBeCa at the start of NYFW with Tinashe - who is the face of Hair Talks Make Your Statement. There's nothing that better conveys my own relationship with my hair -- it has always been a place where I've experimented, evolved, played with style, and channeled energy into creating parts of my identity. I've been coloring and restyling my hair since I was 13, been through an entire rainbow of colors (though it should be no surprise that my first color choice, all the way back in middle school, was pink), and my thankfully strong & resilient hair continues to be part of how I speak. I planned out a series of styles that I could leverage out of a single wash - retouching, styling, and revitalizing throughout the week of running around to exciting events. Confession time: I was inspired by an old Into The Gloss piece where Kim Kardashian shared that she washes her hair every 5-days to get the most out of styling, and applied a similar approach in planning out my NYFW calendar.I started with priming my hair with the John Frieda Frizz Ease 10-Day Tamer Pre-Shower Treatment (it's an amazing, intensive treatment that you apply to dry hair before washing that extends the lifecycle of that wash) and following up with their Sheer Blonde Brilliantly Brighter Ultra Illuminating Shampoo & Conditioner, (fellow blondes looking for a color correcting team: this stuff is great at keeping brassiness at bay and it's budget friendly). After washing and towel drying, I sprayed in some John Frieda Frizz Ease Daily Nourishment Leave-In Conditioner to my damp hair before I got ready to blow dry.For my day 1 style, I decided to stick with a smooth and sleek blow out that I could easily build from. Starting with a great blow-dry (without having to add additional heat just yet), was the perfect foundation - and styling with a deep side part helped create a bit of extra volume and movement without having to over style. Best of all, because this style is pretty easy to maintain, I managed to get two days out of it with a few sectioned-off sprays of John Frieda Luxurious Volume Refresh Dry Shampoo.For my second hairstyle, I knew I wanted to have some of my signature loose waves. Even though I've recently been playing with a lot of different styles, messy, undone waves are one of the looks where I feel most myself. They're playful, sexy but not too serious, and I love having additional texture in my hair. It might seem a little counter intuitive, but I applied a bit of mousse to my dry hair before adding waves in with an iron. The John Frieda Luxurious Volume Perfectly Full Mousse not only helps set and cold the curl, but also adds extra heat protection. To finish, I rubbed John Frieda Frizz Ease Nourishing Oil Elixir throughout my ends (I'm addicted to this product!) and smoothed out my fly-aways using John Frieda Frizz Ease Secret Weapon Touch Up Crème (this is magic, especially if you have short & stubborn baby hairs like I do.)For my next style, I worked on a simple transition with my waved ends on a half-up bun. I've been rocking the "tiny topknot" or "baby bun" for a while - and sorry not sorry, it's one of my favorite styles for in-between days! I secured the bun with pins and added in more volume to the sectioned off hair with a spritz of John Frieda Luxurious Volume Refresh Dry Shampoo. Once I set the bun, I secured the style with John Frieda Sheer Blonde Crystal Clear Hairspray. Fellow blondes might know (or not, in which case, lesson time) that a lot of styling products are what can contribute to brassiness, build up, and fading color. What's so magical about this hairspray is that it leaves no residue or stickiness behind - while leaving a flexible hold that is perfect for styles that demand a little more movement and bounce.

Photos by Lydia Hudgens,Hair Direction by Adam MacClay

I love to mix up my wardrobe, obviously, but my favorite accessory lately has really been my hair - it speaks, it evolves, it definitely talks. It's part of my armor - a way for me to constantly switch up my look and redefine my persona. It's been a ton of fun to play with my new platinum looks and leverage as much as I can out of my arsenal of John Frieda Hair Care styling products - all while managing the stress on my hair. 

This post was sponsored by John Frieda Hair Care.

All content and opinions are my own.