FAIR PLAY Vogue pursues the holy grail of hair colour: Nordic blonde.
Nailing the perfect creamy tone of blonde can be a lifelong search. Remy Rippon pursues the holy grail of hair colour: Nordic blonde.
Of all the accessories in my wardrobe, it was a pair of black strappy Aquazzura heels that made me stop and think about my hair colour. Not too high at a mere three inches, they had delicate leather straps that wound around the ankle, but when I threw them on with my favourite pair of jeans the only word that sprung to mind was “cheap”. While the shoes were neither inexpensive nor appeared so, on closer inspection it was, in fact, my blonde hair that was throwing out the balance. On the scale from buttery to brassy, mine was edging towards the latter: throwing off yellow undertones and seriously affecting my wardrobe choices.
There’s no doubt blonde hair is iconic. Bombshells like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Grace Kelly and Brigitte Bardot built wildly successful careers on a fondness for blondeness. And as icons like Monroe and Bardot have proven, historically platinum locks have been associated with an unrivalled playfulness and sexiness. On the contrary, take similarly iconic (and beautiful) brunettes such as Jane Birkin or Audrey Hepburn who had an air of effortlessness – of coolness – that their sunshine-haired costars did not. But the new tone of blonde sweeping the globe implies ease – like you haven’t been slavish to the cause – and its roots started not in Hollywood, where many a beauty trend is born, but across the pond in Europe.
“It’s the most asked-for colour,” says Grace Roby from Edwards and Co, the Sydney salon that has Scandi-blonde down to a fine art. “I know at least once in every girl’s lifetime, the thought of going Scandinavian blonde enters one’s mind. It is the must-have blonde year round, any season, anywhere in the world.”
“TO ACHIEVE THE PERFECT BLONDE TAKES TIME, AND PRODUCT IS KEY”
Also known as Nordic blonde, Scandi-blonde implies a nonchalance and a sense of cool that other tones of blonde fall short of. Not warm enough to be brassy or toned-down enough to be ashy, it sits somewhere in the spectrum of creamy. Worn blown out, loosely tousled or # wokeuplikethis, Scandi-blonde often goes hand in hand with insouciant personal style and looks best aboard a vintage bicycle perusing a European city. Take Swedish-born founder of fashion label Totême and blogger Elin Kling, who has long been the hair-spiration for any aspiring Nordic blonde, while the Instagram account of Danish designer Anine Bing could just as easily be a mood board for your next colour appointment. Likewise, fellow Dane and street-style favourite Pernille Teisbaek (often spotted on said bicycle darting between shows at fashion week) sports mid-length tresses that hit the blonde sweet-spot: champagne blonde at the ends and gradually darker at the roots so it looks all her own.
And that’s what sets Scandi-blonde apart: it should appear natural like it’s been highlighted just around the edges. “A lot of Scandi girls are naturally blonde,” says Carina Birk-Sørensen, a Danish-born Sydney-based buyer for leisurewear e-tailer Mode Sportif. “I have blonde hair, but have occasionally added highlights. However, since moving to Australia it hasn’t been necessary as the sun lightens it a lot.” Wonderful news for Birk-Sørensen but what does one do if not a genetically blessed blonde? Refreshingly, Kling admitted to beauty website Into The Gloss: “I’m blonde, but not naturally blonde. All the Swedes get highlights – trust me. They don’t do their whole heads, but they keep it fresh.” Cue sense of relief.
“A halo,” exclaimed Edwards and Co’s Joel Wallbank, the colour technician charged with turning my bob from dirty blonde to angelic. “It’s a very soft peak of blonde right around the front of the hairline that brightens up the colour, especially when you pull it back,” he adds while framing my face in colour formula. Wallbank takes a laissez-faire approach: a liberal dose of foils, free-handing balayage and finally applying a toner to take out some of the richness. “Particularly as we get older, it’s a lot softer to keep a lightness around the face,” he says.
Ironically, naturally blonde locks are generally something we farewell with youth, which is also why we spend the rest of our lives trying to recreate it. Perhaps none so literally as one friend who, instead of taking magazine or Pinterest references to her colour appointment, brings a photo of her five-year-old (and considerably lighterhaired) self: “It’s the easiest way to explain to my hairdresser the exact tone of youthful blonde I want,” she says, and despite her waist-length locks being hacked into a shaggy lob, the tone and lightness easily pass for a pre-schooler’s.
Blondes may have more fun but they must also have a decent dose of perseverance. Obtaining the precise shade of Nordic blonde is one thing, but maintaining it is an ongoing pursuit. “To achieve the perfect blonde takes time, and product is key,” says Roby, citing the three-step Olaplex system as a game changer for colourists. “It allows us to push the boundaries with colour, helping hairdressers produce some of the best natural-looking ‘ Scandinavian’ blondes that are healthy and shiny.”
Keep brassiness at bay and maintain a golden glow with a violet shampoo like Oribe Bright Blonde Shampoo For Beautiful Color – the UV protectors prevent colour fading between appointments. Meanwhile, my own strands benefit from a dollop of Paul Mitchell Platinum Blonde Shampoo to soften out any wiriness (a common drawback of any degree of bleaching), meaning I can forgo the hairdryer altogether, which helps with adding the right degree of nonchalance to an overall look. So much so that I might even be ready to fetch those Aquazzura heels out from the back of the cupboard.