Without toner, bleaching your hair would be impossible. Toner is the second and crucial step that comes right after bleaching – and gives your hair that perfect, desired shade.
You can also use toner to erase yellow, orange, or brassy tones from freshly bleached hair. Furthermore, you can always use hair toners if you want to alter the color of your natural or treated hair – but don’t want to make a permanent change.
The toner will usually wash out in a matter of weeks, which makes it a perfect solution if you just want to play with your hair color.
Unfortunately, like with any other hair coloring product, the results are not guaranteed – and you might not enjoy the color of your toned hair.
If you’re dissatisfied with the appearance of your toner, the good news is that toner fades on its own. The even better news is:
You can accelerate this process at home!
Today, we’ll share some easy, affordable, and fast solutions for how to fix over-toned hair.
Shall we start?
What Is Toner Exactly?
For those who don’t know what hair toners are or how they function, they’re essentially dyes: Consider hair toner to be a color corrector for your hair.
It can brighten your hair quickly if you’re a brunette who wants to add some golden warmth – and it can cool down your hair if it becomes too yellowish.
It’s a color treatment that will not affect your natural hair. It will either deposit warmth, ash, or chilly tones in the hair or neutralize them.
As we’ve already mentioned, hair toner is a semi-permanent color that washes off.
The crucial thing to remember here is:
When you apply it to your hair, it will only deposit in lighter regions – which is why it’s widely used for balayage and all-over bleaching.
It’s less about altering your hair color – and more about changing your tone.
That might range from adding a subtle colored tone to your hair – such as blue or peach – to boosting the intensity of your balayage-d ends.
The Advantages Of Hair Toner
If you’ve never used a hair toner before and aren’t sure if you should, here are some of the perks that could persuade you to give it a shot:
- Your hair will appear healthier
- The toner adds the sheen to your hair
- You can easily change the tone of your hair without damaging it
- It can brighten your hair without lightening it
- Your hair will have a more natural-looking shade
How To Use It?
Toning your hair is simple if you know what sort of toner and color to use.
To aid in the natural appearance of bleached hair, tone it following the directions below:
- Combine your toner and developer in a 1:2 ratio.
- Apply this to your hair using an applicator brush, focusing on regions with unappealing undertones.
- Leave the toner to work its magic for up to 30 to 45 minutes before rinsing with a hydrating shampoo and deep conditioning.
Color-dyed hair fades with time, whereas bleached blonde hair develops coppery tones as it oxidizes. So, use a toner every two to three months to “refresh” your color and maintain that natural-looking blonde.
What Type Of Toner Is Right For My Hair?
A simple purple shampoo will rapidly remove unwanted warm hues in natural and bleached blondes with intense yellow or golden overtones. You see, the purple balances out the warm, brassy tones, giving a cooler, more platinum blonde.
On the other hand, purple shampoos won’t be enough if you’re going for a more “extreme” color change.
If your hair turned out coppery orange after bleaching it, you would require a more potent, ammonia-based toner. The key to getting the stunning blonde color you want is to apply the correct color toner.
How Do You Pick The Right Toner?
Ammonia-based color-depositing toners will alter the pigment of your hair shaft. Since they come in various colors, a general grasp of color theory comes in handy.
You should select a toner that will help you get a cool, natural-looking blonde by eliminating the unwanted pigments.
The easiest way to cancel out orange tones and get a dark, ashy blonde or light brown is to use a blue toner. On the other hand, you can use a purple toner to remove yellow overtones in your hair.
How Frequently Should You Use Hair Toner?
It’s entirely dependent on how frequently you wash your hair. It also has a bit to do with the quality of your hair.
Hair toners generally cause minimal damage to the hair and may, therefore, be applied as often as necessary. The benefits of the hair toner usually last between two and six weeks.
Hair toner isn’t the best choice if you wash your hair every day, though, since it fades quickly.
Also, keep in mind that you shouldn’t wash your hair right after toning it; the color needs to set first. If you wash it too soon, the color will fade quickly.
Make Your Toner Last Longer
It’s not advisable to use hair toners regularly – even if they don’t cause significant damage.
And that goes for all hair treatments, including nourishing hair masks and repairing keratin silicone drops.
Otherwise, they’ll cause more harm than good.
So, it’s generally a good idea to attempt and extend the effects of the hair toner for as long as possible. You can experiment with the following methods:
- Use a color protection product every time you wash your hair.
- Avoid exposing your hair to direct sunlight.
- Apply heat protection spray to the hair before blow-drying or using any other heated hair tool.
How To Fix Over Toned Hair?
Up to this point, you’ve learned more about hair toner and its advantages – as well as how to use it and extend its effects.
What if the outcomes of using the hair toner aren’t what you expected, though? Is it possible to go back?
You may always wait for the toner to fade away on its own if you don’t like the way your hair looks toned. Simply wash your hair more frequently than usual to accelerate the process.
The good news is that you can drastically speed things up if you’re impatient or the outcome is flat-out terrible.
Keep scrolling; we have several amazing tricks that will kick that toner right out of your hair!
#1 Clarifying Shampoo
Clarifying shampoos are substantially more effective in cleaning the hair than conventional shampoos. They are designed to thoroughly clean your hair and eliminate any oil, grime, or product buildup.
Wash your hair a couple of times using a reputable clarifying shampoo product from your local beauty supply store.
However, keep in mind that you shouldn’t wash your hair more than five times every day, or you will damage it.
Apply a deep conditioner and dry your hair if you’re happy with the results. If the color hasn’t faded completely, you can repeat the method in a day or two.
#2 Baking Soda
All you have to do is mix some baking soda into your regular shampoo. The soda will aid in the removal of the toner from your hair.
One tablespoon of baking soda combined with a dab of shampoo should suffice.
Shampoo your hair as usual, but take extra precautions when washing it.
Make sure to rinse out the baking soda from your hair thoroughly, and always apply a deep conditioner at the end to repair it.
#3 The Dishwashing Soap
This method is called “chelating,” and it’s often performed before coloring your hair.
This procedure aims to eliminate all of the oil and hair product build-ups off your hair so that it can absorb the new color. To get rid of unwanted hair toner, use the same procedure:
Begin by cleaning your hair with dish soap and rinse it thoroughly.
Right after that, squeeze some lemon juice into your hair and leave it on for around two minutes. Rinse the lemon juice thoroughly, as well, then finish with the deep conditioner.
#4 The Lemon Juice
This procedure is excellent for those who have just applied toner and noticed they don’t like the effects right away. Begin as quickly as possible – the longer the hair toner sits, the more difficult it is to remove.
Combine some freshly squeezed lemon juice with your regular moisturizer. You should use the lemon juice in a 3 to 1 ratio, so you’ll need a few lemons for this.
Three lemons are usually sufficient for short hair, but six lemons are required for extra-long hair.
Also, keep in mind that pre-packaged lemon juice will not produce the same results.
Starting at the roots and going downwards, thoroughly apply the mixture to your hair. Make sure that each thread is soaked well.
When you’re finished, wrap your head with a plastic bag – and let it rest for three hours. You may leave the mixture on overnight for better results.
Lemon juice’s acidity should begin to work its magic, gradually removing the unwanted color from your locks. The conditioner’s purpose is to assist in reducing the damage.
You could accelerate the process by heating your hair. Use your hair dryer – or, if possible, a hooded dryer – to achieve even better outcomes.
Lastly, shampoo your hair and use a deep conditioner three hours later or the following day.
#5 Bleach Wash
This method is only suitable for extreme cases, and we advise you to try it only if none of the above works.
Start by combining the bleach with a 10 volume developer and then mix it with your regular shampoo. Be sure to apply the mixture evenly across your hair to avoid patchy locks. Let it sit for a few minutes – not too long, 5 minutes will do – and then rinse it thoroughly.
Oh, and be sure to deep condition or put a moisturizing mask right away to nourish your hair.
Final Word
Now you know how to fix over toned hair.
We hope we were able to assist you in restoring your hair color and correcting any mistakes you might’ve made when applying a hair toner. However, don’t make the same mistakes too frequently – or you’ll end up harming your hair.
If our guide was helpful, consider sharing it with your friends!