PRESS
ROOM
CALIFORNIA COVER CONTEST 2007 NEW!
California
Stylist,
June 2007
LOVE IS IN THE HAIR
She designs 'dos for "I do's"
Country
Woman,
June 2006
HAIRCUTS FROM THE HEART
Petaluma
Argus-Courier,
February 2004
LONG ON LOVE
Marin
Independent Journal, January 2004
IS
IT TIME FOR YOU TO CREATE YOUR OWN WEB SITE?
California
Stylist,
May 2002
HISTORY
OF THE BLONDE
BOMBSHELL
Ohio Stylist,
April 2002
HAIR
REACHES NEW HEIGHTS
California
Stylist,
April 2001
DESIGNING
A VALENTINE ROMANCE HAIRSTYLE
Evening
Magazine, January 2001
FLEUR
DE STYLE
Modern
Salon, October 2000
TRESSED FOR SUCCESS
Petaluma
Argus-Courier,
June 2000
FEED
YOUR HEAD
Marin
Independent Journal, May 1995
HOME
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Ohio
Stylist & Salon Magazine
April
2002
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THE HISTORY
OF THE BLONDE BOMBSHELL
By
Kathie Rothkop
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| The
mystique of the blonde has been eternal with both men
and women since the beginning of time. Poems and myths
have been written about the golden haired woman.
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Women
have agonized to achieve blonde tresses -- with bad results.
Highly alkaline soaps were applied to the hair and then the
women would sit in the sun for hours to bleach the hair. The
consequence of this was most often dry, bad colored hair. An
easier way was to powder the hair with pollen and crushed yellow
flower petals. Costly wigs were made from imported blonde hair
from the Netherlands.
It wasn't until 1907, that a French chemist named Eugene Schueller
began manufacturing hair dye in his Paris flat. His main chemical
ingredient was called paraphenylene-diamine. He called his company
L'Oreal and, as we all know, it became one of the leading beauty
companies in the world.
When it was first invented, the blonding process was quite dangerous;
the chemicals caused headaches and scalp burns. It was not unusual
for the hair to break off during the process. A common formulation
for bleach was peroxide with ammonia, which was added to ivory
soap flakes and mixed into a paste. This formula was used into
the 1930's. |
Marilyn
Monroe
The most famous blonde of all time? |
Jean Harlow
The original "blonde bombshell". |
Hollywood
soon realized how great a blonde looked in their black-and-white
films and conceived Mae West. Jean Harlow, known as the "original
blonde bombshell", soon followed. When Harlow died at age
26, a rumor circulated that she died because of her hair dye.
The truth is she had kidney problems.
In 1931,
an American chemist, Lawrence Gelb, introduced the first oil
shampoo tint. After eight more years of research, he established
the first home purchased hair dye. He named his currently
famous company Clairol.
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Up
until World War II, a woman who dyed her hair was considered
"fast". Hollywood depicted the blonde as being dumb,
naughty, and immoral. Because Clairol wanted more women to purchase
their home hair dyes and also frequent the beauty salon, they
came up with some of the most famous advertising slogans of
all time:
"Does She or Doesn't She?" "Only Her Hairdresser
Knows for Sure!" "Do Blondes Have More Fun?"
and "If I've One Life...Let Me Live it as a Blonde!"
Naming
famous blondes could go on forever and Marilyn Monroe would
likely be at the top of the list. Blondes sell more merchandise
in television commercials and are utilized more in commercial
print advertising. When given the choice, 45 percent of men
and women prefer to be colored blonde.
Is it
true blondes have more fun? The ageless brunette Cher is now
seen sporting a blonde wig. Shall we venture to ask?
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