This Blonde Dye Actually Makes Your Hair Healthier
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When you're considering changing your hair color, the after-care and slight damage to follow is always something to be anticipated--especially if you're being extra dramatic, like going from dark brunette to platinum blonde. More often than not, your hair is left in a drier state than its previous one, in need of daily drops of hydrating oil, with split ends in abundance. Nestled along a charming row of townhouses in New York City's West Village neighborhood, the ever-innovative Whittemore House Salon has developed a hair lightening powder with potential to revolutionize the industry. Thanks to a sugar molecule once used in anti-aging skincare and to treat minor burns, the hair lightening powder actually repairs the damage in your strands as your color is lifted. "It took roughly two years to develop, working wiht a company that deals with powder in Milan, and we would travel out there multiple times to show scientists our hair painting technique in the lab. There were specific things me and my salon partner Victoria Hunter wanted it to do, and we actually taught the scientists how to paint, which was pretty hysterical," says hairstylist and product co-founder Larry Raspanti. "We came upon this sugar extract--the polymers from the sugar worked well with the powder, dissolved into the hair shaft, filled damage in the cuticle, and helped push pigment out quicker, so the lightening process didn't take as long." The Whittemore House Hair Paint essentially combines the lightening properties of a traditional bleach or powder, and fuses them with the reparative qualities of a bond builder. It can be used to create just about any look from natural-looking babylights to icy platinum layers without damage, as the molecule seals off your hair cuticle, and continues the repair process in the 72 hours that follow.
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Your hair won't face nearly as much dryness in the subsequent months as it would with a typical bleach, and because your cuticle isn't exposed, the risk of oxidation and brassiness remains low. "When you put sugar in hot water or coffee, it melts and takes over the liquid," Raspanti explains. "It works the same way in your hair shaft by taking over and sealing it off, which actually helps the color to last longer. The sugar molecule helps your hair to repair itself." And fun fact: the Hair Paint was the hero product behind that brigade of bleach blonde models at Alexander Wang's Spring 2017 show. Over the course of two days, both Raspanti and Hunter worked in tandem to take each girl's strands from rich brown to pale gold. "We did a total of 20 models, which wouldn't have been possible without the product," he adds. If you aren't in the New York City area, Raspanti and Hunter will be training stylists in Los Angeles and New Orleans, and the product is in the process of rolling out to salons managed by The Left Brain Group. Ask for the powder by name in your local salon, and if you're a stylist, you can order it online at whittemorehousesalon.com for $42 per bag. Giving in to your blonde ambitions has never been a better idea.
