How to Tone Brassy Highlights

When you lighten dark hair, you run the risk of really damaging it in the process. The cuticle of the hair becomes more porous and it can't hold color as well, including any color your stylist put on your hair after highlighting it. Brunettes usually have serious problems with their highlights turning brassy because there are more red undertones in their hair naturally.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Use the color wheel to help you. Find the color of your hair (usually yellow or orange) and look to the color on the opposite side of the wheel. This is the base color that you should use to fix your highlights.

2. Try using a color enhancing shampoo or conditioner with a purple or blue base. You can make your own conditioner by combining equal parts of regular conditioner with a purple or blue semi-permanent dye. Use this on a regular basis to keep your highlights from turning brassy (the sun can also have this effect).

3. Put a toner on your hair periodically. This is like a transparent coating that tints the hair to your desired color.

4. Apply protein filler to your hair to help it become less porous and hold color. You can dye your hair the proper color over this filler or you can simply use colored filler. This is available at a beauty supply store.

5. Wash your hair on a less frequent basis than you normally would. This will help the color stay true.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid using heat tools on your hair as this can damage it further. This includes a hair dryer, flat iron, curling iron and curlers.

• Avoid golden tones; if you want to use a gold color, stick with a more neutral gold. An extreme gold can make the hair brassy.