I’ve dyed my hair at home plenty of times and highly recommend it. Using hair dye or hair toner at home saves you so much money in comparison to going to a salon! But you won’t be saving any time or money if you cause any extreme damage and need to get it fixed by a professional.
Many people are too worried about how their hair will turn out. It’s completely understandable to feel that way, but I have always been somewhat casual about the process. The key to a successful bleach and tone process at home is paying attention, doing your research, and following instructions carefully. You have nothing to worry about if you have a full understanding of what you’re doing and the steps you need to take to make your hair perfect.
When Should You Use a Hair Toner?
Bleaching your hair at home can be intimidating. I have watched an incredible number of videos about bleaching mistakes on Youtube. The biggest mistake I see repeated is probably the most serious mistake to make when bleaching or dyeing your hair at home. That mistake is when people bleach their hair, find out it has turned yellow or brassy, and then bleach it again right away. You should never bleach your hair two or more times in a row. At least not within a few days of each other.
I’m emphasizing this point because it is the worst thing you could do when bleaching your hair and so many people make this mistake. Everyone wants the perfect blonde and nobody wants to deal with yellow or orange hues as a result of bleaching. But, to be honest, yellow or orange hair is inevitable when you lighten or bleach your hair in any form. That is why we have hair toners.
Bleaching your hair is very damaging. In the process of bleaching, you are removing pigments from your hair that make up your natural hair color. So if you already have blonde hair, you will have an easier time lightening your hair because you have less pigment to remove. It is harder for women with brown or black hair because they have a lot more pigmentation. By removing the pigmentation, you are damaging your hair. Doing that twice in a row is essentially twice as harsh.
What Does Hair Toner Do?
By using a hair toner, you can cancel out those unwanted warm tones like yellow or orange. That will leave you with cool tones. By achieving cool tones, you will have the beautiful blonde you are looking for.
Hair toner will also act as a conditioner for your hair. Conditioning your hair is essential after bleaching. It will be damaged and the consistency will have changed completely. So it will not act the same as it did before. Hair toner will also add some much-needed shine back into your hair. Bleached hair usually is very dull and lifeless, even if it doesn’t feel fried or overly damaged. So using a hair toner will bring a little life back to your locks.
If you have bleached your hair and it still isn’t light enough, all you have to do is wait a few weeks before bleaching again. You will most likely have to use a hair toner the second time as well.
How to Choose Hair Toner
Hair toner will fight the warm tones you have created by canceling them out for cooler shades. Figuring out what hair toner you need isn’t as hard as you might think. The Color Charm line of hair toner by Wella Professionals is the most popular.
They have a wide range of toners for light or dark hair. First, you have to play around with a color chart to figure out what level you are. For instance, the lightest ash blonde or platinum toners will only work if you have pre-lightened your hair to a very pale yellow. If you have a very yellow or gold hue, you will need to choose another toner to get the best results. You may want to consult a stylist at Sally’s to help you decide. But a hair toner in the ash or beige selection will be your best bet.
How to Use Hair Toner
Hair toner is much easier than bleach. You cannot add any further damage with a hair toner. That is because it is not removing pigments or lightening your hair. Instead, it is balancing your current color. Colors can cancel each other out if they are on opposite sides of the color wheel. For instance, yellow is canceled out with blue, and orange is canceled out with purple.
Using a hair toner directly after bleaching your hair is completely safe because it will condition your hair and add a gorgeous shine. So it will make your hair look and feel much healthier after it has been through so much damage.
How to Use a Wella Hair Toner
- First, you must wash all the bleach out of your hair with a sulfate free shampoo. Don’t use conditioner.
- Towel dry your hair, so it is damp, not wet.
- Mix your toner with a 10 or 20 developer in a 1:2 ratio.
- Apply to your hair and comb through evenly.
- Wait the appropriate amount of time. (No longer than 45 minutes.)
- Wash out again with a sulfate free shampoo, and now you can use a sulfate free conditioner as well.
- Check out your new blonde look!
Like I said, hair toner is easy and straightforward to use! So don’t be intimidated by bleaching your hair and getting that awful yellow tone. You can quickly remove the yellow or orange hues with a Wella hair toner.
Other Hair Toner Options
If you have already toned your hair, it may gradually revert to yellow over time. There are a few steps you can take to prevent it from happening. Aside from Wella toners, you could try a DIY toner instead.
Purple Shampoo
It is entirely possible to buy purple shampoo because they are found everywhere you can find hair dyes or hair bleach. But there is also a way you could make your own. All you have to do is mix sulfate free shampoo with two drops of blue food coloring, two drops of purple food coloring, one teaspoon of baking powder and a few tablespoons of water.
Mix and apply to damp hair, allowing it to sit on your hair for about 5-10 minutes. Then you can rise out the product and condition as usual. It will work just like a regular purple shampoo and gradually cancel out the yellow or maintain blonde hair.
Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse
If you’re familiar with the many benefits of apple cider vinegar, you can add hair toner to the list! All you have to do is take a standard shower to wash and condition your hair. Then mix four tablespoons of vinegar with two tablespoons of water. Pour the liquid onto your hair and allow it to sit for 15 minutes before you rinse it out with warm water.
The apple cider vinegar will remove any product buildup. Since this is a highly acidic product that can act as a hair toner to help tone out any yellow or orange tones. But since it is so acidic, you will only want to use this about three times a month.
Don’t Get Frustrated, Get Toner!
There is no reason to be frustrated with your yellow hair. A hair toner will help you reach the level of blonde you have been working towards! It is not damaging, so there is no need to be afraid of using hair toner at home.
You could even use a hair toner if you went to a salon and your hair gradually became yellow in the months following. Your hair can turn yellow for various reasons, especially if you have hard water. I used to struggle with this because our water had a lot of iron in it. Purple shampoo fixed the problem and helped me gradually tone and maintain my blonde hair.
Good luck with your hair toner adventures! I know it can be intimidating to bleach your hair. It can even be half traumatizing when your hair turns out yellow. But before you reach for more bleach, I highly recommend finding the right toner for your hair!
