Hyperlapse videos on Instagram somehow make bleaching hair look like a breeze. In under a minute (and with some editing magic), a colorist can take a client from black to blonde hair. In reality, the process is not as magical, and Kim Kardashian West knows this fact all too well.
On Wednesday, she shared her bleach struggles on Twitter. “Spent the last few days bleaching my roots (we do it in stages so it doesn’t break off),” she wrote. “OMG 13 hours & still going. This blonde is very high maintenance. Love you @ChrisAppleton1 but getting over this.”
Maintaining blonde hair takes a hell of a lot more steps than Instagram would have you think. Sometimes, you have to sit in a salon chair for multiple sessions to lighten the hair to the right shade of blonde. The first take could make hair turn too yellow or orange, so you have to wait to lighten the hair for a second or third time. All the while, you have to make sure the bleach is left on hair the right amount of time that it doesn’t burn off your strands or singe your scalp. From there, the stylist — in this case, Chris Appleton — also has to tone the hair to give the blonde that iciness Kardashian West has been rocking lately. I’m exhausted just thinking about all the steps.
In fact, Sophia Hilton, the owner of Not Another Salon, London, once told Allure, that she often seeing clients coming in with a picture of ice-blonde hair when they have dark hair. “The realities are that it would take months to a year to get what they are looking for, but they believe it’s possible because they have seen it on social media,” she said. Somewhere in London, Hilton must be proud of Kardashian West’s tweet.
Oh yeah, and those 13 hours just account for Kardashian West’s root touchups. When Appleton first bleached her hair for fashion week back in September, the process took about 17 hours. Kardashian West revealed in a blog post on her website that she sat in the chair for 12 hours for the first lightening session. Then, she spent a week with yellow-y blonde hair before returning to Appleton’s chair for another five hours to get it to the current Khalessi-esque shade. “In the end, SO worth it,” she wrote.
Related: Everything You Need to Know Before Going Blonde, According to Margot Robbie’s Colorist
7 Times Kim Kardashian’s Hair Was Ahead of the Game in 2017
Sporting an ultra sleek, shoulder grazing bob at the 2017 Met Gala, Kardashian proves she can rock any hair length.
Taking her hair to new lengths, Kardashian shows up at the Balmain event with slick straight, ultra long locks.
Experimenting with color, Kardashian takes on the the pastel pink rocked by other A-listers Cara Delevingne and Nicki Minaj.
Kardashian goes platinum blonde during New York Fashion Week, showcasing her freshly dyed locks at the Tom Ford Spring 2018 show.
As the new bombshell waves of the red carpet, Kardashian rocks a signature, sleek high ponytail
Returning to a shoulder skimming lob, Kardashian tries on her platinum locks for a change.
Unveiling on Snapchat an even shorter bob, Kardashian took to social media to ask her fans, “Do we like it or is it too short?”.
