Naturally red hair is notoriously difficult to dye because it holds its pigment tighter than other natural hair colors. To dye your ginger mane a different color and get noticeable results, you will first have to strip your natural color out with bleach.
Which colors should you put on red hair? Brown, black, and in some cases, lightener or bleach. It all depends on which shade of red you have currently. If you want to make your hair lighter, you'll need to bleach it first—red is a dominant color, so that may be your only option.
“If you want to go lighter, stay within two shades of your natural color to get the most flattering tone,” says Papanikolas. “Also look for ash-based colors (blue or green) to neutralize the underlying red/orange pigments that everyone has.”
Yes, you can dye your hair from ginger to light brown without bleaching, but the results may vary depending on your hair's current color and the dye used. Here are some tips: Choose the Right Dye: Look for a semi-permanent or permanent dye specifically designed to darken hair.
Ginger or red hair is often considered more challenging to dye for several reasons: Natural Pigmentation: Red hair contains a high concentration of pheomelanin, which gives it its distinct color.
What Not to Wear: The sunny shades of yellow and orange are too strong. True white isn't as good of a choice as off-white or cream. Pink, especially bubble gum pink, doesn't really flatter, but a bolder pink might. Red clothing isn't a great color for red hair, especially orange-red or burgundy.
Orange hair to light brown: Try using a medium ash blonde hair dye, as it can help neutralize the orange tone and achieve a cool light brown hue. Another option is to wait for the orange tones to fade and apply a light brown hair dye over it, making sure to choose a shade with ash undertones to neutralize the orange.
Transitioning from Dark to Red Hair
If you have virgin strands (meaning you've never put color or highlights on them before) then you could possibly add the red color in only one round, without bleaching your hair. But if that's not the case, you will have to lift some color out of your hair.
Sometimes, red hair darkens as people get older, becoming a more brownish color or losing some of its vividness.
To avoid it going ginger or red then you must check what shade you are using. For example if the colour says golden, chocolate, mahogany, red, warm brown etc, these will all look 'ginger'. To achieve a rich colour, a basic shade must be added to create the depth (how dark it is).
Reach for green shampoo
Much in the way that purple shampoo can help neutralize brassy tones in blonde and silver hair, green shampoo can help tame unwanted warmth in red hair.
Use an apple cider vinegar toning rinse
This homespun method is a long-term way of gently fixing orange hair. Add a couple of tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into one litre of lukewarm water, then add a couple of drops of liquid food colouring - use blue for orange hair, and purple for more yellow.
You've got it: blue! Since red and yellow make orange, that means blue is the missing primary color. Blue and orange are complements on the color wheel, which means that blue will neutralize an orange hair color.
If your hair is brown, you may need to bleach it more than once before you apply the grey dye. It's important you get your hair as light as possible before you attempt to turn it grey – this will help ensure a more even tone and vibrant, all-over colour.
What happens if you put blonde dye on ginger hair? If you have ginger hair and you bleach it, you will end up with a yellow or straw-like color. If you dye your ginger hair blonde, it will most likely turn out to be a brassy shade.
So, what colours go with red hair? Neutral shades work universally to bring ginger tresses to life, with jewel tones such as emerald green, amethyst purple, and sapphire blue adding to the roster for those with richer, more intense red hair.
Green is definitely the best color to cancel out red hair.
Because it's the opposite of red, green neutralizes it.
Nature's Rarest Palette: Red Hair Standing at the apex of rarity, natural red hair occurs in just 1-2% of the global population. This striking shade results from a specific genetic variant of the MC1R gene, requiring both parents to pass on the recessive trait.
Naturally red hair is notoriously difficult to dye because it holds its pigment tighter than other natural hair colors. To dye your ginger mane a different color and get noticeable results, you will first have to strip your natural color out with bleach.
Completely toxin-free clean hair dye includes options like henna and vegetable-based natural hair dyes that are semi-permanent. It's important to know that while they're kinder to your health and the environment, their results might not be as uniform or long-lasting as those of their chemical-laden counterparts.
Red hair has warm undertones that can affect brown dye results. You'll likely need a neutralizing or filler shade first to balance the red tones for even coverage. Pick a brown that flatters your skin. The process may take multiple steps to get the desired look.
To combat orange tones you need blue to neutralize. On the color wheel, blue sits across from orange, which means it will balance out and neutralize unwanted warmth or brassiness in the hair. Purple shampoo works best for those with yellow tones, while blue shampoo is ideal for orange or even reddish hues.
Blue toning formulas can help counteract orange tones in the hair. The reasoning goes back to basic color theory: Shades positioned opposite on the color wheel are complementary and effectively cancel each other out when combined.
If you get a dye with the word Ash in it, this helps neutralize the red tones. Ash shades tone down red undertones, it doesn't create them (as another person answered here).