We can all admit that when we leave the salon after a fresh cut and color, our hair feels magical. Soft, smooth, blown-out, all the works. You're obsessed with your hair, can't stop touching it, and you just feel amazing. Fast forward a couple weeks, and you start to notice your hair feeling a little less healthy and a lot more dry. And the toner that your stylist used to make your blonde ashy has faded, leaving you with yellow hair.

You have bought all the salon professional products that your stylist recommended, you use purple shampoo, and you even deep condition your hair every week BUT YOUR HAIR STILL FEELS DRY. What do you do?!

This article inspiration comes from someone who wrote to me and has this issue. I'm here to educate on one VERY important concept for clients to understand: maintenance.

First of all, when you lighten or bleach your hair you are removing the pigment and melanin from the hair strand. This leaves your cuticle open and uplifted.

Usually after bleaching your hair, your stylist will want to put a toner or gloss on. This SEALS your hair's cuticle, and restores its shine and softness. However, although toner deposits color back into your hair, it is not permanent color. It is usually semi permanent and fades within 4-6 weeks. That's when you'll start to notice your hair fading and becoming dry again (because the cuticle layer is being raised again over time as it fades).

DEFINITELY invest in refreshing your toner formula every 6-8 weeks with your stylist. It's a great way to keep your blonde looking fresh in between your highlight touch up. It will also condition your hair and seal your cuticle back down, making it silky smooth again. Just think about it like how you go to get your acrylic nails filled, or get a facial, or brows done. Beauty is an investment, and getting your hair glossed (especially if you are blonde) is crucial!

Another thing to remember is that there can be other factors (out of the stylist's control) that is causing your hair to be dry and icky. Factors like the WATER that you use to wash your hair. Depending on your location, the water coming out of your shower could be filled with lots of hard minerals, chemicals, etc.

For example, I go to college at Illinois State University, in the town of Normal. Normal's water is hard water, meaning it has a lot of harsh minerals like calcium and magnesium. But in my hometown of Elmhurst, the water is soft, which means there is a lower concentration of minerals. When I'm at school, my hair gets super dry, my skin breaks out because it's being clogged up with all those nasty chemicals, it's just horrible. But while I'm in my hometown, my hair is soft and hydrated and so is my skin. So what can you do to help your hair if it's being washed with hard water?

Washing your hair with hard water or well water can cause mineral build up which can cause a not-so-great chemical reaction with your blonde hair. It can dry out your hair, leaving it feeling crispy and looking yellow. One way to find out what kind of water you have is to go to your town's website and search it. IF your town has hard water, find a CLARIFYING shampoo that will help cleanse your hair of those minerals. One of my favorites is Paul Mitchell! OR Cibu Clarifying Shampoo (non expensive).

If you want to REALLY make sure your hair is being washed with clean water, you can invest in a filter for your shower head. Like this one on Amazon!

Unfortunately, having blonde hair just comes with the cost of having dry hair. When it comes down to it, it is CRUCIAL to maintain your blonde with:

-Toning/gloss treatment every 4-8 weeks (SEE YOUR STYLIST)

-A good purple shampoo (here's my favorite - Cibu Platinum)

-Clarifying shampoo wash once or twice a week if your water is hard (here's my favorite - Cibu Clarifying)

-A moisturizing shampoo and conditioner (my absolute favorite and most affordable is Cibu Repair).

I hope this helped educate all of you on what it takes to maintain healthy blonde hair. It's definitely not easy, it takes time and commitment. But if you develop a good maintenance routine, you'll never feel like your hair is faded or dry!