Are Hair Toners ACTUALLY Necessary? What Is The Purpose?

You’ve likely heard your hairstylist use this word before, but what does it actually mean? What is this magic-like hair color treatment that transforms your hair from bright yellow/orange to a beautiful, ashy shade? In this post, I’m going to explain what a toner is, if it’s ACTUALLY necessary or not, and if it’s damaging to your hair.

When I used to bleach my hair (I now only use hi lift color) I actually didn’t use any toners other than purple shampoo on my hair. And let me tell you that my hair was PLATINUM! This goes to show that while there is a time and a place for them, toners actually aren’t always necessary. Keep reading to find out if you need to use one or not.

What is a hair toner & what does it do?

A toner is any demi or semi permanent hair color that is used to deliver the shade of the color. The definition is simply what it sounds like; it adds tone to the hair. Tone is the shade of the color, and it can be warm, cool, ashy, pearl, beige, red, neutral, etc.

Keep in mind that this has nothing to do with the level of the hair color, which is the lightness and darkness of the hair.

When highlighting or stripping out dark hair color, bleach must be used. Bleach does not have a tone to it, it removes color only. This exposes the underlining pigment in the hair.

The underlining pigment stages are dark red, red, red orange, orange, yellow orange, yellow, and pale yellow. It’s important to note that ALL hair lifts through these exact warm stages, I don’t care what anybody tells you. That’s just the science of how lightening hair works. All hair lifts warm.

Now in order to get the shade you desire, we have to go back in and “tone” the hair to your desired color and/or cancel out the unwanted warmth (underlining pigment) from the hair. This is all done with a toner.

You should note that toners are not only for blondes! A toner can be used to deliver tone to any and all hair colors.

Also, not every toner is created equally. Some may be formulated to add more shine to the hair, strengthen it, or just neutralize the unwanted color.

What developer is used with a toner?

Typically, toners are used with a demi-permanent developer. This is a lower volume, or lower strength than what’s used with permanent hair color.

Toners are usually used with a 6 volume developer. This is typically a 1.5% hydrogen peroxide mix.

Depending on the line, the developer may be called different things. With Pravana, they call this “zero lift” since it doesn’t lift the hair at all. But other lines will just call it 6 volume.

The developer volume is so important because if a higher developer is used, the hair may be shifted permanently.

Other names for a toner

“Toner” is the most commonly used term for the word. But it can also be called by a few different names. Gloss and glaze are also words to describe toners.

Some stylists may use the word gloss because that’s what their hair color line calls it, but ultimately they do the same thing.

Hair color lines may prefer to use the words gloss or glaze because it sounds like it will add more shine to the hair than the word toner. But typically, they are all generally the same thing.

Root shadow/smudge/tap

Now, a root shadow, smudge, or tap; are all words used to describe a toner. These words describe a darker toner that is being used specifically on the roots of your hair. When doing this type of service, we use a darker toner at your root to blend your highlights into your natural hair color.

This helps to blend the lines between your natural color and your highlights. It allows the color to grow out seamlessly for a much more lower-maintenance hair color.

This root blending service is done during the toning process. It is typically applied to the root of your hair, and then the second, lighter toner color is applied all over the hair to marry it all together for a seamless blend.

What is a pre-toner?

A pre-toner is the same thing as a toner, but sometimes we need to do this in 2 steps to achieve the color you desire. If we are doing a corrective color on your hair, this is very common.

Often times when there is a color that needs to be neutralized, we will do a pre-tone to neutralize out the unwanted color, and then after that is rinsed out we will do another toner to add the exact tone or shade we want.

Are toners always necessary?

Now that we know what a toner is and what it does, let’s talk about if they’re always necessary or not.

Most of the time, yes they are. But there are definitely instances when they are not. It all depends on what color your hair lifts to vs. what color you want it to be. If you desire an ashy, platinum blonde color, then most of the time, yes it is necessary.

If you’ve lifted to a clean level 10 pale blonde and you can achieve your ashy tone with a purple toning shampoo, then you can usually skip the toner. This is actually what I used to do on my hair when I bleached it, and I kept my hair very platinum!

The image above is an example, believe it or not no toner was used for that color! Keep in mind that this is not very common, especially if you have quite a few levels or previous color that you need to lift through, but it is definitely doable.

Another instance where toners are not always necessary is if you don’t want a super ashy shade. I have had many clients that preferred the clean, raw lifted blonde color rather than toning over it.

And for brunettes, you don’t always need to refresh your ends every time with a toner. You can skip it to every other time, depending on how your hair fades and how happy you are with the shade.

To learn more about the shades and tones of hair, check out my post here.

How much do toners cost?

The price of a toner will vary depending on your hairstylist. Many stylists include the price of the toner into their highlighting costs, while others will add it as an extra charge.

A typical toner is usually around $30 added onto your coloring service, but it can cost more depending on what needs to be done.

Personally, I always worked the cost of a toner into all of my highlighting services. This is because it is necessary 95% of the time to get to the desired shade, even if it is just to seal the cuticle and make the hair a little less frizzy.

Now if you are going into the salon solely for a toning service, it typically costs more because of the time it takes. Personally I charged $70 for a tone only appointment.

Most of my clients that came in solely for a toner would get a haircut as well during this service, and I always discounted slightly for each service that was added on since I only had to blow dry the hair once.

How long do toners process for?

The amount of time that a toner processes for is dependent on the toner and brand used. Some toners process in as little as 5 minutes, while others process for up to 30 minutes.

I let my root smudges process for a minimum of 20 minutes; 30 minutes if my client has gray hair or if there is a harsh color line that I am covering up.

But most of my blonde toners process for as little as 5 minutes. These are called express toners and are my go-to’s for blonde hair.

Are toners damaging to your hair?

In short, toners are pretty safe to use on your hair without risking damage. While developer is used and that can rough up the cuticle (outer layer) a little, it will not damage the hair any more than it already may be.

Often times clients will come in with already significantly damaged hair wanting to be lighter and brighter. But rather than using bleach on the hair to lighten it further, I’ll opt to tone the hair only. This gives it a break from the bleach, as well as closes the cuticle of the hair, which adds shine and neutralizes any unwanted shades.

Does a toner lighten hair?

It’s very important to note that a toner will never lighten the hair. Toners deposit color only. And while it can be pretty amazing what a toner can do, it will never take the hair any lighter than it already is.

So if your hair did not lighten as much as you wanted it to, you will have to tone down to the level that it lifted to.

So if you want an icy platinum hair color (level 10+) but your hair only lifted to a yellow-orange level 7, you must tone with a level 6 in order to completely cancel out the orange undertones in the hair.

Unfortunately you cannot have an icy platinum hair color unless your hair lifts to an even level 10, toner or not.

To learn more about how to properly tone the hair, see my post here.

What does a toner do to brown hair?

How brunette hair reacts to a toner is dependent on what you use and if the hair has highlights or not. If you are using a purple toning shampoo on brown hair, it won’t do anything unless you have highlights. It would tone the highlights, but not the brown hair.

So this means if you’re trying to tone the highlights on brown hair, the toner will not change the brown hair, only the blonde highlights.

Since you always need to tone down, the toner will only show up if it is darker than the current color of the hair. I use toners to tone brunettes all the time, but they are darker than the toners that I use on blondes.

At home toning hair products

I recommend using toning hair products at home to maintain your hair color on your own to extend the time between visits to the salon.

Below I’ve listed some of my favorite at home toning products such as shampoos, conditioners, masks, and leave-in treatments that you can purchase on Amazon.

***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! ***

Purple toning shampoo for blondes

These shampoo and conditioner sets will remove unwanted yellow tones from blonde hair.

• The Perfect Blonde Toning Shampoo and Conditioner
• Purple toning masque – Blonde toning conditioning treatment
• No. 4P (Purple Shampoo)
• No. 5P (Purple Conditioner)

Blue toning shampoo for brunettes

This shampoo and conditioner set will remove unwanted red and orange tones from brunette hair. Keep in mind that these should only be used on brown hair. Do NOT use these if you have blonde highlights, as they can turn green! (Blue and yellow make green)

• Color Balance Blue Shampoo
• Color Balance Blue Conditioner
• Color Balance Blue Set

Color toning shampoo and conditioners

These are color toning shampoo and conditioners. They deposit color to your hair, and replenish faded hair color to stretch coming in to the salon. They have more options other than your typical blonde and brunette, warmth neutralizing options listed above.

Be sure to check both the shampoo and conditioner as they have different color options avaliable!

• Colorwash (Shampoos)
• Colorditioner (Conditioners)

Toner Conclusion

• A toner is a service performed in the salon that adds the tone to the hair. The tone of the hair is what determines the shade of the hair color.
• The word “toner” is often interchanged with the words “gloss” or “glaze”. While each line has some differences in products, they all ultimately do the same thing.
• They are not damaging to the hair as they use the weakest developer strength. They deposit color only, not lighten the hair further.
• Toners can be used on blondes to neutralize the unwanted yellow and even out the color. They can also be used on brunettes to refresh the faded color.

I hope this was helpful in explaining what a toner is and why we use them! If you have any further questions leave them for me in the comments. And be sure to subscribe if you want to make everyday a good hair day!