Hair toner

[SleepingIsOverrated]

Hi all.

I've got naturally very dark brown hair... almost black.

I've used a box balayage kit and it's worked really well. I'm happy with the colour but if I had my way I'd make it a little more blonde and a little less copper.

Will a toning shampoo/treatment do this? If so, do I need a blue or a purple?

Heading to boots now so any quick replies are appreciated!!!

X

Try to wash the ends in fairly washin up liquid to take out some of the depth then I'd go get a toner from your local hair suppliers if you can x

Oh fab @Sweetpeach3. It won't remove the colour though?

If you want it to be less copper I'd to the wash with fairy but only on the huts you want blonder. It gets rid of the copper tones usually and then the toner will take it to the colour you want x

Unless you want your hair in the drain do not wash freshly bleached hair in anything as drying as fairy-up liquid. Your hair needs moisture and lots of it.

To get from copper to blonde you will need to re bleach which is best left to a professional. A blue shampoo will tone down the vibrancy of tje copper and make it appear brighter but it won't be blonde. Did the kit come with a proper toner or just a shampoo?

Bleach London Toner kit will make it look less brassy but not blonder.

Fairy liquid gets dye out of hair - it will do nothing on bleached hair other than destroy it.

It's hard to advise without seeing the colour you currently are

I just suggested the fairy as theirs still colour in the ends clearly that's why it's still copper toned

OP said she's naturally dark brown. I don't think the copper is artificial colour. When going from black to blonde hair will lift to red, then copper/orange, then yellow/orange, then yellow and finally blonde.

The copper, I assume, is the natural pigment OP exposed by bleaching. Of course, it could be from a toner in the kit. Either way, fairy liquid on freshly bleached hair will be a disaster. It's way too drying for already punished hair. It's way too drying for any hair or scalp type. I wish people would stop recommending it. Washing up liquid is for washing pots. Shampoo is for hair. You can buy colour reducing shampoos. You don't need to resort to putting harsh soaps meant for dishes on your sensitive skin.

The reason it has come out copper and not blonde is because you haven't lightened it enough. Usually the peroxide in those balayage kits is quite a low volume so it will not have been strong enough to get to blonde. The copper is the red undertone of your natural dark hair, it's not colour in itself, whenever you lighten dark hair, it always goes through the copper stage because that is the undertone that is exposed at that point (see the pic). Therefore washing it with Fairy Liquid is not going to do anything at all and is a bad idea on recently bleached hair anyway.

A blue (not purple) shampoo or toner might take it to a less coppery tone but it won't lift the colour, it might make it light brown, but depending on how dark the copper is it might not do anything at all. The only way to get more blonde is to bleach it again.

Sorry I cross posted there!

Thanks so much everyone.
I think the problem may be that the kit didn't actually have bleach in it.... it was just a dye.

I'll attach a pic of my natural colour and my current copper bits

I've not even brushed it yet this morning so focus on the colour, not the state of it

Okay, so it was highlift tint, which is basically bleach with colour in it. I wouldn't try to remove any of the copper colour. You'll only expose the brassy undertones. A blue shampoo will calm down some of the red but it will still look quite copper not blonde. Fanola no more orange is the best I've come across.

I feel with your hair being so dark the copper actually looks better than blonde would. You need to lighten the base colour if you want blonde or the variation between the light and the dark would be too harsh. Either way, if you want it lighter you now need bleach as tint won't lift tint. I'd really leave that down to the professionals. Your hair is very dark and bleach is hard to get right. It'll cost more to get it fixed than it will to go to a professional in the first instance. Though I do have to say well done on what you've managed so far, It looks nice. I'm a qualified hairdresser and struggle to colour my own hair one colour. I would never attempt to play with bleach on myself or attempt something as fiddly as a balayage.

Thank you so much @Frequency that's really helpful. It's also lovely for somebody to be complementary, after my son asked why my hair was orange

I think it looks nice too! What kit did you use?

Thank you @Propertyofhood!!
The L'Oréal bronde one, it has a little brush with 3 sections which helps xx

This one... and a pic of it in better light. It's only been roughly dried and not styled here so again, don't judge me