It’s a name you might hear referencing printers, skin, and hair, but what is toner? When it comes to your hair, toner acts as an outer coating that can lessen the intensity of orange tones after you’ve bleached. It creates a more natural-looking color with understated tones, and overall, helps hair look healthier.
Toner typically comes in a gel-like form and tends to be blue or purple. Aside from helping you produce ashier, platinum notes in bleached hair, it also helps add shine. For a look at how you can get the most out of toner applications, read on!
When Should I Use Toner? How Often?
Generally speaking, you want to apply toner after bleaching your hair. Once your hair reaches a light tone of yellow, it’s the right time to use it. If you apply toner before your hair reached the right level of lightness, you could end up wasting your products.
As for how often you should tone your hair, the answer depends on your habits and lifestyle. People who wash their hair more often will lose their color considerably faster. Your hair type is also a factor, but toner usually lasts anywhere from two to six weeks. If your hair wasn’t colored before, it will hold color for longer than hair that was previously treated.
What Are the Different Types?
Different people react to unique toners in different ways. The best choice for you will depend on your hair, as well as your preferences. Some of the most commonly used types of toner and toner alternatives include:
● Dyes: Although not technically a toner, dyes can achieve the same goals. You use the dye to counteract and neutralize the yellows created by bleaching.
● Ammonia-based: This will alter the color of your hair shafts and deposit color without causing any further lightening. The pros recommend giving the hair some time to recover after bleaching, as this can otherwise cause damage.
● Purple shampoos: These products have a strong purple element to them, which means you can leave it on your hair for extra time to combat the brassiness of your bleaching. Although this isn’t necessarily toning, you can maintain the colors you want each time you shampoo your hair.
Amateur Versus Professional Jobs
It might be tempting to handle things on your own to save money, but this could prove to be a costly mistake. If you choose the wrong color — one that isn’t part of your hair’s color “family” — you could end up over-toning your hair.
Worse, you might even cause excess damage to it. Professional salons can do a much better job of identifying the right formula. Just be certain you know if they include toner, and if not, how much they’re charging you for it.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact our hair color experts at Tribe Hair Company today.