Since Covid, I’ve been bleaching my own hair at home and have learned some tricks to get it to the perfect salon-worthy shade. The main problem I encountered was yellow/orange tones, so I needed to learn how to tone brassy hair at home.
Dying your hair blonde at home can be a tricky process. You have to lighten it to your desired level of banana yellow and then tone it to get rid of the yellow so you don’t look like big bird. And believe me, I did look like a big bird even after I toned with the infamous Wella T18. I needed something more to beat the brass without breaking the bank!
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I’ve personally used and love each of the products, but as you know- everyone’s hair is different. Please do a strand test first, when using these products. And I’m not responsible for any hair disasters, however these products do work great for me and have amazing, positive reviews, but I do have to cover my a$$ with this statement:)
Fanola Purple Shampoo
First up is this top-rated purple shampoo- Fanola. One look at the reviews on Amazon will show you, this isn’t your typical purple shampoo. Don’t even bother wasting your money on drug store purple shampoos because they are not very concentrated and they just don’t work.
Fanola Purple Shampoo works as well as a toner from the salon because it is extremely pigmented. It will dye your hands, so either use gloves or use a hair dye brush like I do.
And below, I’ll show you how to get your hair to look more even, using this shampoo!
How I Tone Brassy Hair At Home Using Fanola Purple Shampoo
If you really want to learn how to tone your brassy hair at home, instead of applying the product over all of your hair, focus first on the most yellow/orange parts. This helps to even out your colour and works SO WELL!
I use a dye brush and a bowl and apply the Fanola purple shampoo to dry hair, focusing on the yellow/orange areas only. I leave it on for about 4-5 minutes and then hop in the shower and add a little water and lather it up so it covers all of my hair and leave for a minute while I wash my body. Then I rinse it out and deep condition! This shampoo and this process can be a bit drying, so deep conditioning is a must!
Just be careful, because if you leave it on for too long or your hair is already very light, it may turn your hair a shade of blue/purple. I prevent this by checking the colour after a few minutes- just rub the colour off to do a strand test.
Bold Uniq Purple Mask
The Bold Uniq mask works similar to Fanola, but it’s not as drying. It’s extremely pigmented with a very dark purple/blue tint and will banish any brassy tones from your blonde hair. Just like with the Fanola, if you leave it on for too long it can make your hair a shade of blue. How your hair absorbs the colour, all depends on how porous your hair is.
Moroccan Colour Depositing Mask
For me, the Moroccanoil Colour Depositing Platinum Mask is revolutionary for toning yellow/orange blonde hair to a platinum colour at home, without drying it out or depositing too much of a purple or blue tone.
Why This Is My Absolute Fave Blonde Toner
It deposits more of an ashy tone, so my hair never looks purple or grey. If I leave it on for long enough, it even looks grey! It lasts about 6-8 washes, so it slowly fades out after each wash.
I use this mask once every other week to keep my ashy tones.
To use: I wash my hair and then hop out of the shower and towel dry my hair. Then, I use a dye brush and bowl and apply the mask, focusing only on the yellow/orange sections.
I leave it on for about 4-5 minutes and then I add a little extra and blend it throughout all of my hair to really even it out. I jump back in the shower and rinse!
They also have other fun colours if you’re looking to add some temporary colour like rose gold, blue, or pink. You can find them at Sephora for $25 or Amazon for $28!
Here’s the platinum shade before and after (courtesy of Sephora).
And you can find other shades here:
These are my 3 favourite products for toning my blonde hair at home! I hope you learned a few tips on how to tone brassy hair at home so you can save yourself a trip to the salon and enjoy the ashy tones we love!
