How to Take Out Brass in Strawberry Blonde

Strawberry blonde is a very delicate shade, so be careful when experimenting with this color at home.

Strawberry blonde is a pale blonde with warm red undertones. Most strawberry blondes are natural, so brassy or harsh tones usually only come from dying the hair. If you have naturally fair hair, with a strawberry tint that came out too strong, you can fade this with a violet shampoo and conditioner. Darker hair dyed strawberry blonde will probably need a toner to take out the brassiness. Rectifying strawberry blonde can be risky, due to the nature of the color, so if in doubt, seek the advice of a color technician rather than trying solutions at home.

Things You'll Need

• Violet colored shampoo
• Violet colored conditioner
• Violet colored toner (optional)

Instructions

Gentle Shampoo Method

1. Purchase a violet colored shampoo and conditioner. These are regular products that are purple in color and contain a little violet pigment. Violet is the opposite of warm orange in the color spectrum, so it helps cancel out these tones when applied to brassy hair.

2. Shampoo and condition hair as usual, and on a regular basis, using the violet shampoo and conditioner. The shampoo method is gentle but effective at fading out unwanted warmth, while leaving you with a natural strawberry blonde color. Yet, you have to be patient, as results will not show for at least a couple of washes.

3. Deep condition your hair once a week by leaving the violet conditioner on for 10 minutes. This helps to give the color treatment a boost and keep dyed hair moisturized, which is essential for maintaining attractive color.

4. Stop using the violet products once you have achieved the color you want.

Using Toner

1. Purchase a violet-colored wash-in toner. These temporary dyes contain no bleaching agents. They usually come in a sachet and are a simple, one-step application. Easily available toner brands include Wella and L'Oreal.

2. Apply toner according to the manufacturers directions. Instructions differ so reading the packet is essential. The usual procedure involves applying the product to clean, damp hair, and leaving it for a specified time, which can be up to 20 minutes. This is different to a toning shade that a color technician might mix in to dye, but is a gentle product to use on already colored hair.

3. Rinse your hair thoroughly, until the water is clear.

4. Apply any post-treatment products that came with the toner, although as these are just simple color washes, many do not require the use of extras.

5. Dry and style hair as usual.

Tips & Warnings

• Toners only blend out brassy color but do not lighten your hair, so if the warmth is darker than you want, you need to get your hair re-bleached and colored.

• If your hair is naturally dark, brassiness comes from leftover natural pigment coming through, rather than being the fault of the dye. For dark hair, you need to strip the color first, then apply a strawberry blonde. Violet shampoos and toners have a slower effect on this and the best solution for extremely brassy dark hair is to get it re-colored by an experienced hairdresser, who may recommend ashy tones to counteract the natural warmth.

• Strawberry blonde can become ashen if too much warmth is removed. So use a gentle violet shampoo and conditioner formula, rather than one designed to keep platinum blonde steely.

• Popular violet products include Clairol Shimmer Lights, Joico Color Endure and Fudge Clean Blonde. These are available online in independent salons or from large drug stores. The Aveda Blue Malva range is extremely gentle and not specifically aimed at platinum blondes, so it is a good first stop to tone down your strawberry blonde without turning it ashen.

• Ingredients in dyes can cause allergic reactions, so patch-test the toner 24 hours before application.

• If a home-dye has caused brassiness, or you have any doubts, do not attempt to color-correct hair yourself, even with these gentle methods.

• Never attempt to bleach brassy hair to remove color because this always causes more damage.

References

• Hair Coloring Guide: Hair Coloring techniques
• Salon Web: Hair Color

Resources

• Blonde Ambition: Staying Blonde
• Look Fantastic: Wella Color Fresh