You wanted blonde hair, but you got Barbie-yellow hair, or maybe you got blonde hair, but it turned yellow very quickly. Anyways, fixing this mess requires a bit of effort on your part if you want a DIY fix. In case you want quick and perfect results, consult a hair color correction hair salon. Let’s know the causes and fixes for yellow and brassy blonde hair.

Causes Of Yellow Blonde Hair

The Bleaching Effect

You have to bleach your hair to go from dark to blonde. Bleaching removes the natural pigments from the hair to make it look light and pale. However, some warm tones, like yellow and gold, still remain. Usually, when the colorist still sees warm tones after bleaching, they apply a toner to fix it.

However, these toners fade over time as they are not permanent, while the natural warm tones left after bleaching are permanent. So, as the toner effect fades, these warm tones become visible some time after bleaching, highlighting, or coloring hair, making your blonde hair look yellow or brassy.

Oxidation

Oxidation is a natural process that occurs over time as your hair is exposed to air, oxygen, and UV rays. This process fades the cool tones faster, which only exposes the warm tones. So, the hair appears yellow and artificial.

High Porosity Of Bleached Hair

Bleached hair is more porous than virgin hair, so they absorb moisture and lose cool tones faster when it’s regularly exposed to UV rays and heat styling tools, such as flat irons, blow dryers, hot rollers, heated brushes, etc.

You can lower the risk of yellowed blonde hair by minimizing the usage of heat styling tools and wearing a heat when going out. Because beaches and fashionable sunglasses are great, but you also need to protect your hair.

Hard Water

Hard water has minerals like calcium and magnesium, and some other minerals or contaminants that can gradually build up on your hair as you keep washing your hair with it. This can change the appearance of the hair after a considerable amount of time, making the hair look yellow or brassy. If your tap water has iron, it’s a culprit in turning blonde hair brassy.

This mineral buildup can also stain your hair as well if you use heat-styling tools regularly, creating a yellow look you don’t want.

How To Fix Blonde Hair Turned Yellow Or Brassy?

Use A Purple Shampoo

Using a purple shampoo is the easiest fix for yellow or brassy blonde hair, as it’s a product made for that purpose. It removes yellowness from the hair by depositing violet pigments on it.

All you have to do is to get your hands on a good purple shampoo and use it once or twice a week for mild to medium-level brassiness.

Apply to wet hair and leave it for 1-3 minutes before rinsing. Don’t leave it on the hair for too long, otherwise, the hair will look dull, ashy, or violet. If you’re using a strong formula for stubborn yellowness, leave it on the hair for 5 minutes max.

If you happen to overdo it, you can fix the unfavorable results by washing your hair with a regular shampoo only, stopping the use of the purple shampoo for a week, and then using the purple shampoo again correctly.

Lastly, remember to use a conditioner after using a purple shampoo because these shampoos can make hair dry and dull if not moisturized.

Couple A Purple Shampoo With A Purple Conditioner

If you have strong yellow tones, you may need to double up by combining a purple shampoo with a purple conditioner for extensive toning.

You have to first apply a purple shampoo for 1-3 minutes, and after rinsing, you can use a purple conditioner as directed on the label – commonly, it’s applied for a couple of minutes.

A Toning Mask

If a purple shampoo and even a combo of a purple shampoo and a purple conditioner aren’t yielding the required results, you have heavy yellow tones. To fix very strong yellow or brassy tones, you can use a toning mask. It’s like a bigger and stronger brother of a purple conditioner. They are heavy-duty products with highly concentrated purple pigments to tackle brassiness that is stubborn.

For a toning mask, you have to first shampoo your hair and towel-dry it, so it’s damp but not soaking wet. Then, apply the mask. You can section hair for proper application. Leave the toning mask on the hair as required – 3-5 minutes for a gentle toning and 10-15 minutes for aggressive toning results.

It’s better to use a toning mask only once a week. Using it more often can lead to an unwanted purple shade. To fix any hair dye problem, get help from a Balayage hair salon Rockville.

Consider A Tinted Hair Gloss

A tinted hair gloss does two things: It adds shine to the hair like regular clear gloss and it also deposits color on the hair to neutralize unwanted tones, such as brassy or yellow blonde hair.

Color-depositing glosses are a lite version of dyeing your hair. It’s quicker and less damaging than regular hair dyeing, while it can refresh the hair color and remove brassiness or any other unwanted shade.

For yellow or pale gold tones on blonde hair, choose products that have pearl, violet, or cool blonde on the label. To neutralize severe yellow or brassy hair, look for ash or cool demi-permanent.

Keep in mind that color glosses are semi-permanent, so the effects may last for 2-6 weeks. When applying, follow the instructions on the label.

Use An At-Home Hair Toner

When toning masks and color glosses don’t work, you have stubborn brassy hair. Therefore, you should resort to something very close to dyeing your hair – at-home hair toners. They are used to dye and alter the color of your hair, but unlike traditional hair dyes, they only change the undertone of the hair to neutralize brassy or orange tones. They can’t darken or lighten your hair.

You still use a developer, though, a low-volume one. This means the results are semi-permanent and can last for 2-6 weeks. Remember to do a strand test first before applying it to your entire mane.

Install A Shower Filter And Use A Clarifying Shampoo

In some cases, the blonde hair is not overly yellow or brassy. Instead, mineral buildup from hard water is causing it. To fix this, you should install a shower filter to ensure you wash your hair with soft water. Moreover, for the existing buildup on your hair, use a clarifying shampoo.

Deep Condition Your Hair

Bleaching your hair and then using methods to neutralize yellow tones can do a number on the hair. They can become dull and damaged. So, deep condition hair once a week to restore damage.

Professional Color Correction

If you think the yellow tones are too strong or you tried the above methods and they failed or led to unwanted results, see a hair colorist for professional hair color correction.

Conclusion

Yellow or brassy blonde hair looks bad, but you can fix it using various DIY methods. However, if the problem is severe, you should contact hair salons specializing in color Rockville.