If you have light brown or golden blonde hair, there's no need to reach for the bleach: you can achieve an ice blonde hair colour without it. Simply choose a dye like Garnier Nutrisse Natural Light Ash Blonde, Shade 9.13 and you're ready to go!
Use a Color-Correcting Purple Shampoo
Yellow and violet are opposites on the color wheel, so purple is used to cancel out overly warm, brassy tones. Invest in a purple shampoo to help crush brassy tones for a cooler, brighter blonde.
Purple is the exact opposite colour to yellow on the colour wheel, so when mixed together they essentially cancel eachother out. Purple/Violet Shampoos are super popular with blondes, and for good reason.
IT TAKES PURPLE SHAMPOO
If I didn't use purple shampoo, my hair would just be a light yellowish blonde but not that icy tone. To maintain it you have to use a purple shampoo. Depending how icy you want to be, you may need to use it every time you wash your hair. Personally, I use my purple shampoo every time I shower.
When deciding how to tone yellow hair to ash, try using a violet shampoo first. As purple is the opposite of yellow on the colour spectrum, the shampoo's purple pigment draws out the yellow brassiness from your blonde, neutralises those unwanted tones, and makes your colour look cooler, healthier and more vibrant.
“For maintaining ashy and icy blondes, it is best to choose toners in the violet or purple family. For maintaining vibrancy in warmer blonde shades, it is best to choose a toner in the yellow or gold family.”
Fundamentally, ice blonde has blue underlying pigments while platinum blonde has grayish-colored underlying pigments. Dissimilar to platinum blonde which appears brighter, ice blonde is paler in color, and this icy blonde shade features some hint of violet or blue tones that give the hair those icy shimmery.
Any hair can be taken to white blonde. It is a simple matter of lifting with bleach all the way up to level 10 and eliminating all the yellow pigments on the way. Then coloring and toning it to get to that exact shade of white blonde.
If your bad bleach job has come out more yellow, you'll need a purple toner. Purple shampoo can help neutralize the yellow. If your hair is orange, you'll need a blue toner. Try a blue shampoo to tone the brassiness and get rid of the orange.
Yes you can do that. But you need to make sure that you have bleached very well and that you have got rid of as much excess yellow as possible. The ideal bleached hair is minimal yellow, level 10. If you apply ash blonde color on top of that, you should get excellent results.
Purple formulas help cancel unwanted yellow or brassy tones, as purple and yellow are opposite on the color wheel and neutralize each other. Blue formulas are best for orange undertones and brassiness, and perform that same function.
No need to panic! As it turns out, you can use a blonde hair dye to neutralize your orange hair — the secret is to look for a shade that's ashy. Ashy, cool undertones are the key to canceling out the warm, unflattering orange tones that currently adorn your strands.
If you have yellow, orange, or brassy tones after bleaching, cover them up with a toner or color corrector. You can also offset yellow tones with a purple shampoo or a little gentian violet. You can also brighten your hair naturally with lemon juice.
In the context of hair color, “ash” or “ashy” is used to describe a grayish-blue tone. Sometimes it's exactly the all-over look you are going for (such as adding ash to platinum blonde to get a silver-vixen look). Ash simply refers to the absence of warmth, and it's great for counteracting brassy tones.
Purple and blue shampoos can help, but don't always work. Toners can be great, but are not always effective. INSTAFIX works really well even on stubborn brassy hair color. INSTAFIX Brass Banisher will mute out brass and Platinum Pop will whiten and brighten yellow hair.
Taking the next step in the laws of neutralization, you can conclude that a violet or blue violet color formula will cancel out the unwanted yellow or gold tones in your blonde hair color; blue will cancel out the unwanted orange or brassy tones in your brown hair color and green will cancel out the unwanted red tones ...
It probably won't happen in one sitting.
"The chance of going platinum in one sitting is greater on fine hair and lighter levels of natural color," says Rick. Unfortunately, there's no magic hair dye that will take super dark strands to white blonde in one day.
If you're trying to cancel out orange tones to achieve a dark, ashy blonde or light brown, a blue toner is your best bet. Going for a platinum or silvery blonde? Use a violet-based toner to remove yellow undertones.
Violet shampoos (and purple conditioners) do their most dramatic work on color-treated hair—whether it's ashy, icy, blonde-pink, or white gold—but even natural blondes can use these products every once in a while to make their color pop.
Similar to platinum blonde, ice blonde hair is very pale in color but instead of a pearly bright white color, ice blonde hair harnesses cool undertones of violet and blue for an extra hue of shimmer and shine.
They typically last about 4-5 weeks depending on how often you wash your hair. If you wash your hair everyday, it is likely that your toner will fade off quickly! One way to help keep that icy look is with the products you use at home. Invest in a great purple shampoo that is rich and deep in color.
"For cooler blonde, I would do a heavy highlight all over with a cream bleach mixed with a low volume to get as much warmth out as possible. Then after the blonde processes (it needs to be as close to a level 10 or lighter as possible) I tone with a level 9 or 10 blue or violet based demi-permanent gloss."
To get silver hair, you have to bleach your hair until your strands are almost white. The darker your natural color is, the more bleach sessions you'll have to go through to lighten your hair enough to achieve that ethereal silver hue. The bleaching process can be very damaging to your delicate mane.
Process for 20-40 minutes depending on the level of color intensity desired, rinse and evaluate for accurate results.