How To Eliminate Brassy Hair
Not many people are fond of brassy, orange and yellow tones in their blonde hair. There are a number of reasons that your hair may have become brassy from color fadage, to the lightening process, to box dye. Depending on why your hair may be brassy will help you decide what to do to correct the issue.
***Since I’m sharing the products that I love to use with you guys, this page includes affiliate links to these products. If you take action and purchase a product through clicking one of my links, I’ll make some commission money from it at no extra cost to you. This enables me to be able to continue giving you awesome hair tips, so thanks! ***
1. My hair color has faded brassy
If your hair color or toner has faded, it can appear brassy and washed out. Check out my post here to learn 9 bad habits you may be doing that are fading your hair color and my post here for 7 ways to maximize your hair color longevity.
Typically when color fades out, it means that it’s time to make it into the salon for a refresh. But check below for what options you have to get you by until you can make it in to the salon again.
2. The process of lightening your hair
This category falls in-between the section above as well as the section below. My hopes are if you’re in this category, you’re having a professional do your hair and are in-between appointments.
Depending on what level (lightness/darkness) your hair is will determine what you need to do to correct this issue. If you aren’t sure what level your hair is, check out my post here.
Take a look at this color theory chart on the back of my Pravana hair color book.
Compare where your hair is at, and see what you’ll need to tone the hair with to cancel out the unwanted color. If your hair is a level 7 yellow orange, you’ll need a color with a blue violet base to cancel that out. And if you’re at a level 9, you’ll need a violet base.
The color wheel is your best friend when determining how to eliminate the brassyness in your hair. You can’t just slap any toner on it and expect it to come out perfectly, you need to know what toner to apply and why.
Keep in mind that if your hair didn’t get light enough, you will not be able to get your hair completely bright blonde with no yellow. Your stylist may have done all that is possible in one session. Remember that lightening hair is a long and tolling process. And it is never something that should be rushed.
My best recommendation is to leave lightening your hair to the professionals. Attempting to do it yourself can cost you way more in the long run as well as severely damage your hair.
3. Box color causes brassy hair
If this section is where you’re at, I’m assuming you are being bad and attempting to color your hair yourself at home, which is a no-no in my book, even if you got the color from Sally’s.
I don’t ever recommend doing any more than a coloring shampoo/conditioner, or using anything that you need to mix developer with at home to stay on the safe side.
To correct a hair color issue, you always need to tone down and go darker than where your hair is at so you are covering up the problem. See below for all of my recommendations.
How can I tone down my brassy hair?
My number one recommendation for this is using a coloring shampoo and/or conditioner. While it may not be the exact tone that your hair was when you first got it done, this can be a fabulous option to hold you over until your next salon visit.
Color toning shampoos and conditioners
Celeb Luxury has a number of different options no matter what color your hair is. I always recommend opting with the conditioner over the shampoo because I like to use it as a conditioning treatment as well as color toner.
Let it sit on your hair for up to 30 minutes to get the best results. There are different color options for shampoo vs. conditioners, so make sure you check out both to select the color that works best for you.
Celeb Luxury has 2 different lines of coloring shampoos and conditioners. Their Viral line is for fantasy colors, and their Gem Lites line is for more natural colors.
For brunettes, check out their Brown Tahitian to remove unwanted red tones from faded hair color.
For blondes, you have a number of different options depending on what tone you like for when your color fades out. Just keep in mind that your hair NEEDS to be light enough in order for these to take. If it’s not, you won’t get much in terms of results.
If you aren’t lifted past a pale yellow stage then remember you always need to tone darker. Make sure that your hair is light enough for the color you select or else it will not do anything.
Purple and blue shampoo to fix brassy hair
Another option is to regularly use a strong purple or blue shampoo and conditioner. This will help your hair from fading to a yellow stage at all.
As I mentioned earlier, purple cancels out yellow and blue cancels out orange. Use the blue shampoo if you are a brunette and the purple shampoo if you are a blonde.
But DO NOT use the blue shampoo if you are a blonde or have any blonde in your hair. Blue and yellow makes green. If your hair is lifted past an orange color, it will turn your hair green.
My favorite purple and blue shampoos are:
- Olaplex 4p
- Pravana The perfect blonde shampoo and conditioner liter duo
- Pravana The perfect brunette Blue Shampoo and Conditioner
You can also get an entire blondes kit from Pravana here that has a purple shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner, and masque.
Again I want to point out that leaving the coloring of your hair to the professionals is always your safest and best option. Use this post to help you maintain your hair in-between appointments with your stylist!
Leave me any questions you have in the comments, and as always, have a good hair day!
Last updated 8/15/2022
share item
