Selena Gomez’s “Nirvana Blonde” hair took nine hours to perfect, in case you want to steal her look

When Selena Gomez first debuted blonde hair at the American Music Awards, the world collectively gasped. Blonde enthusiasts, however, scratched our heads and wondered “Nobody goes that blonde that quickly, what magic was involved here?” Her secret, apparently, is nine hours at the salon and an expert coloring team. Yes, nine hours. Brunettes should keep that in mind before bringing a photo of Gomez to a stylist thinking you can go Gomez blonde in your usual hour and a half color appointment.

“It took 9 hours, about 300 foils, and 8 bowls of bleach, all with 2 stylist working together simultaneously, (@nikkilee901 and myself),” Gomez’s colorist Riawa Capri revealed on Instagram. “It was a nice long patient process of baby fine slices, then going back and opening each foil and reapplying, but done in one sitting. Anything is possible in one day, it just takes time, no other clients ha, and patience to maintain the integrity of the hair.”

Gomez’s second stylist Nikki Lee told US Weekly that Gomez wanted a ’90s blonde look and jokingly coined her new hair color “Nirvana blonde.”

“Being that this was the first major color change Selena’s ever done, it was important to us that her hair remained healthy and the tone was right for her skin. The vibe is ’90s chic and she named the color #NirvanaBlonde,” Lee told US Weekly.

Gomez’s colorist made the blonde hair PSA on her Instagram a few days ago.

Another thing to keep in mind with newly blonde hair is how easily it can turn yellow if you don’t have celebrity money for frequent salon visits. A great at-home way to keep your strands blonde and not brassy is with purple shampoo. Blondes may have more fun, but they also have the most high maintenance hair ever.