Going blonde for summer – like Emma Raducanu just did – is as typical as wearing florals for spring, and for good reason. As the professional tennis champion demonstrates, when coloured to complement one’s skin tone, blonde can bring brightness to a look and lift the complexion.
Indeed, the sunkissed glow synonymous with warmer weather may often come enhanced by tools like tinted moisturiser, bronzer and self-tan – but it can also be cheated with highlights. Or ‘glow lights’, as Raducanu can be seen sporting.
Her hair colourist, John Clark, explains on Instagram: “I used the @johnfriedasalons #glowlights technique to lift her naturally very dark base to a multi tonal brunette with lighter areas around the face and where the sunshine would naturally make it shimmer”.
Glow lights are a free-hand highlighting technique coined by Nicola Clarke, the colourist at the helm at John Frieda’s ultra-chic Margaret Street salon in London. Known as the A-list’s authority on blonde, she’s had everyone in her chair from Cate Blanchett to Madonna and Kate Moss, whom she first used the glow lights technique on when brightening her hair for summer.
As with Raducanu’s colour transformation, the glow lights look is about embracing your natural base, instead of block bleaching the hair, while adding in a mix of tones for a multidimensional effect that pops.
If you’re naturally dark haired like Raducanu there are various things to consider before going blonde, from your lifestyle and budget to your timescale. As she did, seek out a professional who’s experienced in hair lightening (see Bazaar’s guide to the best hair colourists in London), and be sure to maintain freshly lightened hair with a specialist shampoo and conditioner, like the ones below.
