A: Counteracting brass means using the opposite tone on the color wheel to neutralize that shade, and get you the finish you want. For example, using blue or purple helps counteract brassy tones for blonde hair colors.
Select a cooler shade, such as ash blonde, platinum, or a cool light brown. Look for colors with ``ash,'' ``cool,'' or ``neutral'' in their names, as these typically counteract brassiness.
To cancel out brassy orange hair, you should use a blue toner or hair dye. In color theory, blue is opposite orange on the color wheel, which means it can neutralize the unwanted brassy tones.
To tone down brassiness in hair, you typically want to use a purple shampoo. Purple shampoo contains purple pigments that help neutralize yellow and brassy tones in blonde, silver, or gray hair.
Select a cool haircolor, like one with the word “ash” in the name, since it's less likely to turn brassy than one that's warm. If you gravitate toward warmer shades, don't worry; there are plenty of lighter haircolors, such as greige blonde, that provide a nice balance of warm and cool tones.
If your hair is on the yellowish-orange end of the spectrum, purple shampoo can help. Like blue shampoo, purple shampoo is another at-home option with color pigments formulated to counteract brassy yellow tones in color-treated hair.
Try imagining a straight diagonal line from your current color to the other end of the wheel to figure out what color toner to use. If your lousy 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.
Hair stylists often tone bleached or blonde hair to neutralize brassy yellow and orange tones on bleached hair with a purple color. Purple shampoo is a great at-home solution for toning hair and preventing brassiness.
Blue shampoos contain blue or violet pigments; when you wash your hair with blue shampoo, these pigments are deposited onto your hair strands, and help to counteract brassy tones. Use our Blue Crush Shampoo and Blue Crush Conditioner to get rid of those orangey, reddy hues, and reveal cooler-toned brown hair.
Remove orange and yellow tones simply by applying two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar mixed with water, using a cotton ball. After 30 minutes, wash your hair with cool water.
Sun Exposure + Color Fade
The sun's powerful UV rays can break down hair dye molecules, fading the cool tones faster than the warm tones. This can lead to the hair taking on a brassy, orange, or yellow tint.
There's two reasons why your hair is still brassy after toning or colouring. Either the undertone of the toner/colour is wrong, or the product is too light for you.
Blonde blends better with grey
Grey hair in blonde hair or grey roots in blonde hair blends better than with darker hair. So blonde is a good choice if you want to make your grey hair or grey roots less noticeable.
If you have brassy orange or even red tones, blue shampoo is your best bet. However, blue pigment won't help with yellow undertones. The reverse is true for yellow undertones. Purple shampoo is great for removing yellowness, but not effective for orange or red tones.
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.
If your client's hair is on the yellow end of the orange spectrum, a violet shampoo can help to correct and neutralize their brassy hair. This is because violet sits opposite yellow on the color wheel, allowing it to cancel out those unwanted tones and leave strands beautifully balanced.
For those who might not be familiar, toner is a hair product that stylists use on recently bleached hair in order to neutralize brassy tones and create a cooler color. Applying a toning gloss with purple and blue hues will counteract the natural yellow and orange pigmentation in the hair strands.
This brassy effect could be the result of mineral deposits from your shower, pollution from city air, cigarette smoke or even your styling products. It's a good idea to introduce a clarifying shampoo once a week, along with a purple shampoo, for tone, once a week, if you have a problem with brassiness.
At-Home Color Management
Violet hued shampoos will neutralize yellow brassiness. Blue (silver) toned shampoos will cancel out copper brassiness. This works because blue and purple are opposite orange and yellow on the color wheel, effectively counteracting the brassy tones.
The most powerful toner against orange tones is the Wella Colour Charm Toner in 050 Cooling Violet. Used alone on blonde hair this gives a steel grey result. Used alone on orange hair this will really reduce the orange tones and leave you with an ashy dark blonde/light brown result.
Pink + yellow/orange = peach. Just as red + yellow = orange…..but you can do a VERY vibrant pink and if the yellow/orange is pale that will give you a result that leans much more pink. If you goal is more peach, you would just use a peachy shade to begin with.