• Give a Gift
  • Customer Service
  • Promotions
  • Videos
  • Blogs
  • Win
  • Free Games

Try: Fashion Trends Weight Loss Acne Products

Natural Hair Color and Texture — Why Don't We Want It?

blond ponytail

DOLCE & GABBANA

Photo Credit: Dan Lecca

Special Offer

BLONDE AMBITION
While only about 2 percent of the world population is born blonde, the rest are still going for gold:
34% of the hair dye sold in the U.S. last year was blonde.
80% of Koreans in their 20s lighten their hair.

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE: THE LABOR, COST, AND STRESS OF RELAXING BLACK HAIR
HOW IT'S DONE: A petroleum base is applied to the scalp, then a relaxer with sodium hydroxide (basically, lye) is put on the hair. It stays on for 25 to 30 minutes and is then washed two or three times with a neutralizing shampoo. Finally, a deep conditioner is applied and rinsed, and hair is styled.
TIME: 2 to 3 hours
COST: About $225 for virgin hair; $110 for touch-ups
MAINTENANCE: A touch-up is needed every 8 to 10 weeks. Because of damage caused by the chemicals, hair can only be washed once or twice a week.
RISKS: A too-strong relaxer causes excessive breakage and scalp burns.


Advertisement
Giveaway-a-day
Travel Powder Brush

Travel Powder Brush

Enter Now
See all giveaways
Latest blog entries
  • The Power of Negative Thinking: A Good Idea?

    I invite a dude to hang out with me and my friends ... and after getting his response, I have to wonder if negative-thinking might help toughen me up and make living flirtatiously easier. 11/06/09

  • 8 Reasons Guys Are Obsessed With Sex

    Sex physically resembles “VIP Access” because we have to be invited. We work for it, we convince, we campaign, strategize, and pull out all the stops. The woman controls all access. 11/05/09

  • A Good Way to Contact Someone Who Didn't Get My Digits?

    You guys remember Mr. Tweed Jeans--he of the extended flirtation at a party two weekends ago? He who, despite seeming to be quite interested and talking to me for, like, 30 minutes, didn't get my number when I said I was taking off? Yeah, well, I inv... 11/05/09

  • Save 20% on everything at Harvard Sweet Boutique

    Every brownie, cookie and cake is concocted from scratch, made freshly by hand, and while we wish we could snatch a batch for ourselves at the local supermarket, these baked goods are made for giving. 11/04/09

  • 5 Hilarious Flirtatious E-Cards

    A new site has the funniest e-cards I've ever come across. There's one you can send to an office crush, one you can send to that great guy you just went on a first date with ... and a couple that would be appropriately inappropriate for the dude you'... 11/04/09

  • See all blogs
Marie Claire On The Go

  • Start receiving the day's headlines from topics you choose and get the latest posts from our bloggers. Sign up for RSS feeds now.

  • Take Marie Claire with you everywhere you go. Our mobile site has the latest 'it' items of the season. Including: Blogs, Hair & Beauty, Nutrition, Health & Fitness, Horoscopes and so much more!

    Here's how:

    1. Start a mobile session on your phone
    2. type m.marieclaire.com into your browser
    3. that's it!

  • In Every Issue:
    The one-stop shop
    for the very best in
    fashion & beauty


    Give a Gift
    Customer Service
    Marie Claire Magazine
Answerology
Reader Comments See all International News Articles

RelatedLinks

More From International News
sreypov chan
Diary of an Escaped Sex Slave

She was forced to have sex with hundreds of men before she turned 10. After such a brutal past, what does her future hold? In a Marie Claire exclusive, Sreypov Chan tells her phenomenal life story.

half the sky by nicholas kristof
Save the World in 15 Minutes or Less

What can you do, right now, to reach that one woman who will catalyze the change for her entire family and village?

pray the devil back to hell
Get Involved in the Global Peace Tour

In 2003, a small group of Liberian women banded together to demand peace in their country that had been devastated by years of war with no end in sight. What started as a small nonviolent protest finally led to the election of Africa’s first female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. In 2006, producer Abigail Disney decided to make a film—Pray the Devil Back to Hell—about these women and their extraordinary courage. As the film embarks on the Global Peace Tour in conjunction with the United Nation’s International Day of Peace on September 21st, we asked Disney to tell us why this issue is still so important.

Special Offer