Does Blue Toner for Orange Hair Help to Neutralize the Color?

You may get orange hair after bleaching your hair blonde. Orange color is not an agreeable color for most people. As for myself, I dislike spotting an orange, red or brassy hair color on my head.

On the other hand, many may like to have bold-looking orange-colored hair as a style statement.

If you are not happy with the color, you can use a toner for orange hair to camouflage and neutralize the hue.

Toner helps to correct and personalize the color. Also, a toner can add natural or more visible tones after you had a professional color treatment.

Reasons for Orange Hair Color

Melanin is a broad term that refers to a group of natural pigments found in all living organisms.

The lightness or darkness of human hair is the result of melanin naturally present in it. There are two types of melanin: eumelanin and pheomelanin. Generally, if more eumelanin is present, the color of the hair is darker in color.

We bleach hair to lighten the color. However, bleaching does not remove the color of melanin present in your hair. Usually, brunet, black or brown, hair has more orange or red undertone pigment. So, orange becomes the residual color after bleaching.

Build up of minerals in the hair can also affect color change in hair. Hair products containing sulfate as an ingredient may also turn your hair orange or yellow.

Why do you get brassy hair with orange, yellow, or red tinges?

Hair takes a brassy hue from different shades of orange, red, or yellow. It is a warm hue that unevenly spreads different parts of your hair.

It is quite common for your hair to have a brassy look after bleaching or toning your hair.

Hair turns brassy because the color has not been lifted enough. The darker blonde is more likely to turn brassy orange or yellow after the color-lifting hair treatment.

Other reasons for brassy hair include:

  • Natural hair color having brassy undertones
  • Overexposure to sun
  • The chlorine content in water used for rinsing hair
  • Excess mineral deposits in pool or shower water
  • Shampoos and other hair products that contain sulfate or ammonia
  • Certain ingredients in natural dyes and hair lighteners

Using toner for orange hair

According to Kristin Ess, Celebrity Hairstylist and Founder of Kristin Ess, IGK Miami, “toner is a topcoat for your hair.”  Generally, a toner comes in a gel or gloss-like formula. It helps to emphasize or deemphasize certain tones in your hair, as well as add shine.

From a wider perspective, tinted shampoos semi-permanent colors, glosses, and conditioners can all be considered toners. All of them contain artificial pigments that adjust the tone of your hair.

From a specific point of view, toners help to neutralize the unwanted hue of your hair.

All toners are not the same. Each hair color level has a specific toner suitable for that color.

Many think that toners are for blondes. It is not true at all. It helps to alter any tone of hair like brassy, orange, red, yellow, or blonde.

You have to pick the right hair toner according to the level of your hair color after bleaching or other hair treatments.

Here is an easy guide to hair:

Hair Color Levels

Best color toner for orange hair

You can easily conceal the orange hair by using the appropriate color toner. You can use a blue toner to neutralize the orange color. This can give you a lighter blonde look to your hair that is more natural.

You can also try the blue shampoo which deposits blue-toned pigments onto your hair. It helps to neutralize the brassy tones.

It is important to use a diluted toner according to the intensity of the orange color.

In most cases, blue toners contain large dye molecules. Using it in a concentrated form strongly coats the underlying pigment of the hair. For this reason, you may get an undesired color if the toner is not correctly diluted.

Related Article: How To Dye Hair Grey Without Bleach? Using Natural Substitutes

DIY homemade toner for orange hair

Here are a few recipes for homemade toner and shampoo that you can use to manage orange hair.

1. Vinegar Rinse

Vinegar rinse can help you alter orange or brassy hair. Your orange hair will change to natural dark blonde hair after the rinse.

You will need a ½ cup of apple cider vinegar and water (50:50 ratio).

Before you rinse the hair with vinegar you should shampoo your hair. Ideally, you can use blue-colored shampoo for it. After 10 minutes of shampooing, rinse your hair with diluted apple cider vinegar. Leve the vinegar on your hair for 30 minutes and then rinse the hair with cold water. Repeat the procedure after every two days till you achieve the desired color for your hair.

2. Shampoo with food colors

You can prepare a toner for orange hair at home by making a mixture of food colors and conditioner/shampoo.

Take a glass of water and dilute 15 drops of blue food color in it. Then add to the mixture 5 ml of organic shampoo or conditioner. Blend the mixture well and evenly apply this mixture to your hair. After 10 minutes of applying the shampoo, rinse your hair with cold water. Repeat this procedure twice a week until you achieve the desired hair color.

How to apply a toner?

If you are using OTC toner then the following steps are involved in applying the toner to your hair.

  1. Buy a suitable developer
  2. Buy the right toner
  3. Mix them
  4. Apply the mixture onto your hair with a hair coloring brush

Here are the key points to be noted before applying the toner:

  1. A developer can be purchased in 10, 20, 30, or 40 volumes. Use a 20-volume developer for orange-tinted hair.
  2. Apply the toner to a small section of hair first and then wait and watch how this turns out; if it is giving you the right color go ahead with the toner. Before applying the toner rinse out oil, shampoo, or conditioner from the hair
  3. Mix the developer with your toner in a 2:1 ratio.
  4. Apply the toner to your hair in sections without leaving out any portion
  5. Always start applying from the hair shaft end and then apply to the root of the hair.
  6. After applying the toner, let it stay on your hair for 30 minutes untouched.
  7. Finally, rinse it out without using shampoo, but you can use a conditioner.