Here is a critical concept of which you should be aware.  If you have super light blond hair (or gray hair), and you combine that with very pale skin, you are in danger of getting a “washed-out” effect.  Looking washed-out is not a good thing, particularly when you are older.  It makes you look old and haggard.  I am showing you a photograph of myself with light hair and pale skin.  Luckily, these photograph turned out well enough.  But I can tell you, having taken many photographs, that it is very tricky to look good in a picture (or in real life) when you have light hair and light skin. 

Bombshell blonde hair. Why platinum white hair is not a good mature look.

We see women taking their hair to platinum blonde all the time. Young women can get away with the light (hair) on light (skin) as they have more flawless skin.  It is a very hard look to pull off as an older woman.  Blond fair-skinned mature women that do look good are usually natural pretty blondes in the first place.  If you are not a natural blonde, there is just so little contrast. Without much color depth to offset your skin, your face is going to have to be pretty flawless to look good as an older platinum blonde. In most cases, too blond hair on older women makes them look … older. 

Madonna is an example of a woman that looks “harsh” to me when she has bleached hair combined with pale skin.  I do like Madonna but I think she looks washed out in some of the celebrity photos I’ve seen of her with the bleached blond hair and pale skin.  If your hair and skin are both light, you can try adding some more golden tones to your hair to get some contrast in, thereby making it easier for you to look your best.  Adding darker golder undertones to blond hair is a smart thing to do because it adds some hue and depth. Both of the above photos could have been more striking had there been darker gold hues in the hair.

The too blonde (or gray) hair, too suntanned look. Don’t look like a negative pic.

I notice that some women who go platinum or white, try to compensate for the wash out effect by getting their face really tan and getting a contrast that way. That is the opposite of what you should do in general and can have an extremely aging effect.  I don’t know if you have ever seen pictures of Danatella Versace, the late designer Gianni Versace’s daughter. But she has this white hair and deep bronze tan and she is constantly slammed in the celebrity blogs about her look.   I’ve also seen the look on Hulk Hogan’s ex-wife.  It is sort of an X-ray look, where instead of light skin and darker hair, they have dark suntanned skin and lighter fried blond hair. It is the inverse.  Gray hair is similar to platinum blonde hair in that it can really wash out the face.

I have seen one model pull off this look.  Her name is Heidi Klum.  She is a supermodel and the host of that fashion show Project Runway.  She is married to Seal.  When she was a model, Heidi was brunette.  During her run as host of the Project Runway show Heidi Klum has had her hair a very white blond and she combines her hair with a very deep dark tan look.  She is very beautiful and can pull that look off, but I would call her the exception and not the rule.  But she is not that old yet (during Project Runway she has been in her late thirties still), and I am not so sure that look will hold in another decade for her. To me, she actually looks a bit older with her blonde tan look but she still looks really good – she’s gorgeous.

Golden toned hair is generally more flattering to facial skin tone, than platinum white bleached blond hair is

I have noticed that alot of the famous supermodels steer clear from the platinum blonde look.  Many of the biggest supermodels that have blonde highlights still keep a darker gold in their hair color.  The three models that come to mind are Kate Moss, Giselle Bunchen, and Marisa Miller.  All three of them have golden tones to their hair and that photographs very beautifully in pictures.  To sum up, the platinum blonde or white hair look can make your face look washed out and for that reason I think it is good to add some color to your hair for a better skin to hair contrast.  I don’t have anything against gray white hair per se, I just think it does little to beautify the face just as platinum blonde does little to beautify the face.  I think some color in your hair is more flattering, just my opinion having looked at a plethora of photographs of older women.  Get rid of the white gray by adding some golden color to your hair, and leave the platinum blonde bombshell look to the young ladies.

Women always fantasize about getting beautiful blond hair. But light blond hair combined with pale skin is hard to get right as there is no contrast.