The best colors to cover up icky orange hair color are those with a purple, rich red, black or blue base. Blue and purple pigments counteract red and brassy orange tones as they are opposite colors so cancel each other out.
There's plenty to keep your ginger shade topped up: henna-infused hair products for redheads, pure henna dye, high-street permanent and semi-permanent dyes, and even cranberry juice does the job.
“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.”
Purple is one of the best colors to neutralize orange in your hair. Applying purple mask to orange hair is one of the best ways to get rid of unwanted brassy tones in your hair. However, there are many things to consider before deciding to fix orange hair with purple dye.
For example, if you are a warm redhead, then in general, warm colors work well for you. A redhead with cooler hair and skin would do well to stick with cooler colors. Greens, pinks, yellows, blues--there is probably a shade of each out there that is perfect for you.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Green or cool ash dye will cancel out hair that's dyed red. If your dyed hair is on the warm orange side, use a completely blue hair dye. If your hair dye is a true red, then a green dye will be the most effective. Warm orange-red brassy tones can be darkened with brunette dye or lightened with blonde dye.
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.
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.
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.
Going from red to brown hair means understanding your hair's current pigments and how they'll interact with new color. 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.
This is Why Red Hair is Hard to Dye
Red hair is difficult to dye because it has a unique pigment that is not easily removed during the coloring process. The pigment, called pheomelanin, is responsible for the red and orange hues in the hair.
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.
Depending on your particular color combination, your hair will likely range from auburn tints to a rich, deep mahogany brown shade. If you want to minimize the red tone altogether for a natural brunette hue (less auburn or mahogany), you will need to use a neutral or cool/ash brunette shade to counteract the red tones.
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).
The best colors to cover up icky orange hair color are those with a purple, rich red, black or blue base.
HAIR COLOR REMOVER: Color Oops Hair Color Remover safely removes brown, black, red, and orange permanent hair dye that was dyed with a developer. Does not remove direct-application dyes or bold shades, such as pinks, purples, blues, or greens.
Blonde dye contains yellow, which is a warm color. Red hair has orange in it, which makes it a warm color too. So by putting blonde dye on red hair , you have created an orange-red color!
Pick a lighter hair colour
A lighter colour will then look better. Your hair follicles produce less pigment as you're turning older. If there's no more pigment being produced in the hair follicles, your hair turns pigmentless.
Popular shades that work on dark hair include After Midnight, Vampire Red, Purple Haze, Plum Passion, Green Envy, Midnight Blue and Raven. All of these shades are semi-permanent and their formulas are conditioning and non damaging as well as vegan & cruelty free.
Blue is the exact opposite of bright yellow and yellow-orange. As a result, blue will actually cancel out bright yellow and yellow-orange. Using blue is therefore a great way of dealing with hair which is too yellow or too orange or too brassy.