Marie Claire magazine is all about fashion and beauty, so I assume they know the subject well.
And yes, I agree that blond hair evokes the coveted image of happy, successful Barbie catching gullible rich Ken in her golden net and climbing up the social ladder. So, go blonde, whatever it takes.
What it actually takes is summarized below:
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.
Granted, bleached hair cannot be compared to leg lengthening. But bleached hair and breast implants in one package imply the third component: dead brain.
But wait, there is more. Dark-skinned blondes also crave blue eyes.
Unfortunately, blue eye transplants ain’t readily available… yet. But color contacts are.
Since color contacts by FreshLook became available in 1984, women of color - including Naomi Campbell, Lil' Kim, and Ziyi Zhang - have been eager to experiment. "Our largest market is with dark-eyed and dark-complected women," says Jeff Cohen, vice president of global marketing for CIBA Vision (makers of FreshLook), citing African-American, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern women as the top customers in the U.S. "Color contacts are huge with Middle Eastern women because their clothing often covers everything except their eyes. It's one of the only ways they have to express their originality."
With this uniquely exotic notion of lighter eyes coming into vogue, colored-lens users climbed to 2.7 million in the U.S. alone last year.
“It’s one of the only ways they have to express their originality”. Indeed.