10 Reasons Why Being Brunette Is Awesome
Posted by: Kate Torgovnick
Filed in:
style
9:30AM, Thursday July 16th 2009
The editors of Harper’s Bazaar had an interesting idea for their August issue—get Lauren Conrad to sport a brunette wig for 24 hours. Not sure what the point of this was exactly—did they intend it as a prank or some lame-o social experiment? In the end, the California girl totally wasn’t feeling her brown hair, even though I think it looked kind of fantastic. “Day to day, I can only do blonde. Everything else makes me look sort of plain-Jane,” she told People.
Wait, being brunette makes you a plain Jane? God, I am so over this whole blondes-have-more-fun thing. Here are ten reasons why I’m a happy card-carrying member of the brunette club…
- Roots are not an issue.
- A study by Garnier done earlier this year revealed that brunettes are twice as likely as their blonde counterparts to earn more than $65K a year. [Mom Logic]
- You look great in jewel tones like bright blue, green, and red. Pastels have never been my thing.
- We get to claim cool-girl beauty icons like Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn, Thandie Newton, Mary Louise Parker, and Zooey Deschanel.
- Speaking of, most of the world’s most famous blondes—Marilyn Monroe, Bridget Bardot, Pamela Anderson, and, uh, Lauren Conrad—would be brunette without hair dye.
- Two words: serious shine! Also, brunettes tend to have fuller, thicker hair. Yes, I just sounded like a shampoo commercial.
- People tend to take you more seriously, because of the old (though admittedly totally untrue) blondes are dumb, brunettes are smarties stereotype.
- James Bond prefers brunettes. [Telegraph]
- Seventy one percent of guys say brunettes would make better wives. Not that I think this is true, but it’s an interesting perception. [Softpedia]
- We save a ton of money and time not going to the salon for highlights and bleaching. So technically, we do end up having more fun.
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GirlvWorld
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 09:33 am: [report]
I think her plain-Jane-ness has more to do with the fact that she has the personality of a walking-stick as opposed to wearing a brunette wig. Maybe she’s confused…
http://www.blog.#&@$%.com
meg97
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 09:40 am: [report]
I completely agree, I love my brunette hair. Last summer I was blonde, and I found that blonde just washes out my features, while brown really makes my light eyes really pop. Plus I get hit on way more as a brunette, who would have thought?
GAgirlinNYC
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 09:57 am: [report]
I have blonde hair and I have dyed it brown several times but keep going back to blonde. I love the way blonde hair looks on me in particular, but I do miss the perks of being a brunette such as: not having green hair from the pool, so actually being able to go under.
Also, I loved how when my hair was brown and looked dull, I could just do a color glaze before a night out. With blonde hair there is really nothing I can do.
Now I’m kind of missing my brown hair!
silvergurl
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 10:05 am: [report]
i love being a brunette! it’s fun to get reddish/auburn highlights…and i tend to use the natural instincts dye to pump up my color. but like i said, i love it
MichelleS1017
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 10:06 am: [report]
thanks frisky!!
_jsw_
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 10:08 am: [report]
I feel sorry for men (or women) who have a definite color preference. I think that some people look better in a color that might not be their natural one (but never coloring one’s hair is obviously completely OK). However, to say that blondes are better than brunettes or that redheads are better than blondes, or that brunettes are better than redheads, or whatever… just misses the point. A woman’s hair color or breast size or eye color or ass or whatever-your-standard isn’t what makes her “her”, and there is no one best color or shape or size or whatnot. I’ve fallen for women with too many different hair colors and styles and types to think that a preference for one of them would suit me. When I look at my top crushes and loves, there is no clear winner. Well, except for me, because I got to enjoy all of them.
Kiki T
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 10:09 am: [report]
LC, that granny cardigan isn’t helping either
Alison Wonderland
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 10:09 am: [report]
I have light brown hair that blondes up in the summer time. Best of both worlds!
Was surprised to see Kate blogging for the Frisky. I just finished ‘Cheer!’ a week or so ago. I kept everyone I work with updated while I was reading- we all got into it.
retro chic
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 10:22 am: [report]
Somebody’s psychic over there. Was just thinking about color this AM. I have the counter-intuitive habit of going darker in Summer, and lighter in Winter. I’m naturally brunette with a light olive-Italian/French skintone, and get darker in Summer (w/o intentionally tanning) and like the more ethnic/exotic look of dark in Summer. I get mistaken for every nationality/culture but my own – the dark side of the “blonde effect.” I’m ever-seeking the perfect shade of something rich and chocolatey. In Winter, I’m paler (don’t do the fake tans) and need the softening effects of mid-to-light brunette for the other extreme. Two completely different looks. But, nature knows best overall, but it’s fun trying new shades/colors. Blonde, at one time *was* fun, but the maintenance, as y’all have said, is not.
GreenAura
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 10:25 am: [report]
I’m a natural “dirty” blonde, have never dyed my hair, and - as of right now - would never dye my hair. BUT, I love brown hair, especially dark chocolate colors. I especially love it paired with blue or green eyes.
Catherine Strawn
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 10:38 am: [report]
Perhaps she doesn’t posses the depth required to be a brunette.
Claireific
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 10:38 am: [report]
Sigh…as a natural platinum blonde, (I swear to god) I read articles like these, and factoids about how I’m less likely to be taken seriously as a professional and make serious money in my job and feel sad. I don’t look good with brown hair. I love my hair and I feel ashamed of that. :-(
avalari
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 10:39 am: [report]
Oh man, no love for the redheads. Somewhere Lindsay Lohan is reading this and tweeting her sorrow.
I’m a brunette and I love it, tried to go blonde and had no fun at all.
jenstuart27
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 10:42 am: [report]
Yeah, too many girls are frying their hair in an attempt to be blonde, and it just looks unhealthy and brittle.
moogyboobles
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 10:45 am: [report]
I was naturally blonde until I had children then had to pay for it. I was so fed up of chav roots half the time I went brunette. I couldn’t last a year, felt invisible and old. Oddly enough though the hair I covet the most is brunette, just doesn’t look that good on me.
Coral
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 11:10 am: [report]
For the first 12 years of my life I was platinum blonde-au naturale. But then my hair just started changing on its own and by the time I was 14, I was a full light brunette. I feel connected to both being blonde and brunette. I am 18 now and I have been thinking about dyeing my hair to platinum blonde because I feel like that was my true natural color..but I also enjoy being brunette too.
EarthGoddess
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 11:18 am: [report]
I love my naturally so dark it’s almost black hair and I wouldn’t change a thing! My mom was a bottle blonde for nearly 30 years and she stopped a few years ago to see what her hair looked like naturally, and I loved it so much more than her fake platinum. She’s since started getting highlights, but I’m so glad she hasn’t gone back to full-on blonde. We brunettes need to stick together!
dandrean
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 12:44 pm: [report]
i’m going to pull an OC, since i’m watching it. Seth & Summer’s relationship, sooo much better than Ryan & Marissa. not to mention, Rachel Bilson has some totally adorable style. wayy better than the disasterous mischa.
subpar
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 02:02 pm: [report]
Blonde hair looks greasier, faster.
Only 11% of Americans are natural blondes, by the way. Read that on the back of an Herbal Essences bottle.
develange
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 03:21 pm: [report]
yeah, I was going to say, there aren’t many people in America who are natural blondes (complete with light eyebrows and hair).
Good hair color all depends on skin tone, hair texture, facial features, etc.
Most of my “blonde” (naturally light brown or dirty blonde) friends went dark brown at some point, and always went back to being blonde. I know I’d look hideous as a blonde. Yay brunettes.
likeOMGkbye
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 04:04 pm: [report]
I agree with retro chic, I go darker in the summer because I feel like it makes me look more tan, and lighter in the winter because I am pale as a mofo. I’m trying to go natural right now (until I get sick of it and give in and dye it) but when I dyed my hair blonde it washed me out terribly, and going dark gives me some color.
raqstar
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 08:26 pm: [report]
#11 The carpet always matches the drapes
TotallyRidiculous
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 09:15 pm: [report]
I am a natural blond and sometimes I dye my hair red or brown and when I do, people treat me completely differently. I feel like people really do take me less seriously when I’m blond, which sucks because I love being blond. When I have red hair people approach me more (of course it’s obviously dyed, but still.).
PS @ raqstar: that’s really only true with redheads. I don’t know any blonds with a matching “carpet.”
raqstar
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 09:48 pm: [report]
@ Totally Ridiculous That’s why it’s #11 reason being a BRUNETTE is awesome, not a blonde. Proof #634 you are a natural blonde.
TotallyRidiculous
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 10:01 pm: [report]
@raqstar: Ha, thanks a lot! PS: being a blond = hearing every blond joke ever known to man, and being expected to think they’re funny every. single. time. reason #12 why being a brunette is better.
bogart4017
wrote on July 17 2009 @ 08:56 am: [report]
@totally ridiculous—-i feel sorry for you because there most be over 1000 blonde jokes!
That said, there is something very interesting about a dark haired, light-eyed woman. They always look like something is going on there.
lfries
wrote on July 22 2009 @ 02:57 am: [report]
But what about natural blondes? I’d have to say I think brunettes (both men and women) are generally more attractive, but there’s no way in hell I’m getting rid of a color people pay thousands of dollars for!
Jessalyn
wrote on July 22 2009 @ 02:31 pm: [report]
@totally ridiculous - most. annoying. thing. ever. My response is always “Why are dumb blonde jokes so short? ... So brunettes can remember them.” It’s a terrible joke, but at least it gets the point across that I don’t want to listen to “humor” based on my hair color!
kmatter
wrote on July 24 2009 @ 10:39 pm: [report]
yeah… i have redish brownish hair… i guess they call taht auburn (i’m not a really girly kinda girl in that sense), and so is my mom. except her’s is out of a bottle
but i like having my hair color 
it’s easy… haha and my mom has driven herself crazy for at least 16 years trying to keep her’s from going back to dark dark brown. i kinda feel bad for that… but only kinda 
umiabze
wrote on July 26 2009 @ 01:36 am: [report]
8. my *secret* dream of being a bond girl [thus dying happy] is no longer squashed -joy!!
9. it’s an extremely interesting perception ... one of my closest friends is a blond and our guy friends consistently joke that i’m wife material while she’s stuck in mistress land [it is borderline douchey of them to joke like that though]
bumble_bee
wrote on August 5 2009 @ 10:58 am: [report]
@Jessalyn: wow, that is the greatest thing ive heard all day.
oh gosh. what about strawberry blondes? ive got platinum, brown, red, and darker blonde shades all throughout my hair, lighter on the top cuz its all natural. im fair, complection wise, glow-y white, pale eyebrows, and blue eyes. but i have LOADS of freckles. i used to dye my hair red, and i must say i loved being a redhead the most. garnier, the spicy salsa shade. haha. but anyway, i dont know. i’ll agree that since i’m a blonde ive heard way, way to many of the ‘whats the fastest way to kill a blonde’ jokes. ick. ahhh, steriotypes.
bumble_bee
wrote on August 5 2009 @ 11:00 am: [report]
lol. damn. *stereotypes.
kr070707
wrote on August 7 2009 @ 07:02 pm: [report]
ugh, I agree bumble_bee! We sound like twins! I’m also strawberry blonde (completely natural) with uber-pale skin and eyebrows, blue eyes and tons of freckles. I would look ridiculous with any kind of darker hair. I’m also sick of the stereotypes. Any time I make a tiny mistake or have a brain fart some jackass has to comment that it’s because I’m a blonde. Yes, that’s true, but I also scored way higher on my SATs than you, dipstick. jeez. (sorry if that came off as really angsty, I have one coworker in particular…)
bumble_bee
wrote on August 7 2009 @ 08:00 pm: [report]
@kr070707
yeah, i deffinately can sympethize with you there and be angsty! stand up for the natural blondes. im in highschool, mostly its just family and people im close to that i get make fun of me and my ‘blondeness.’ otherwise, i’d deffinately get up in someones buisness if i did something brain-farty (for lack of an eloquent way to put it haha,) and they chalk it up to being blonde. seriously? angsty. its a good word.
countrygirl123
wrote on January 23 2010 @ 10:25 am: [report]
I have natural reddish-brown hair, which I guess is auburn, green eyes, and peachy fair skin. I like it because I am “red” in summer and spring and “brown” in fall and winter. I like how I can both be called a redhead or brunette. I might not be 100% brunette, but at least I am about 40% of it (my hair is more red than brown).