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If your beautiful blond locks look more yellow-tinged than gorgeous and golden, it’s time to take action! You may have stepped out of the salon with professional highlights you adored, but many factors can cause your hue to become brassy and yellow after leaving the salon. From the natural red tones in your tresses to environmental factors, you don’t need to panic if your hair has succumbed to the dreaded yellow tinge. With a few simple tricks, restoring your locks back to their brilliant blond glory is a breeze.
Use Purple Shampoo
Use a shampoo that contains purple pigment to restore the balance back to your color. It may sound crazy, but purple is the opposite end of the color spectrum to yellow and those clever pigments help to tone down the appearance of brassy color. Switch your regular shampoo for one that contains purple pigmentation to gently town done your unwanted yellow hue.
Combat Buildup
Your styling wax and hairspray may help to hold your pixie crop or wavy mane in place, but these products leave a residue on your locks that can build up over time. A buildup of product will leave your blonde hue looking dull, oddly colored and in poor condition. No matter how much you wash your locks, if you’re using the wrong shampoo, that veil of product can become difficult to shift. Switch your purple shampoo for a clarifying shampoo every couple of days to help combat the buildup. Look for a shampoo specifically designed to remove buildup from hairspray, waxes, balms and serums.
Try a Toner
Use a toner to remove the yellow hue from your tresses. DIY sachets of toner for blond locks are inexpensive to buy from drugstores. Apply a toner and rinse after 10 minutes (follow the instructions on the packet) to remove that brassy, yellow hue from your locks and to warm up your shade. If you are a regular at your salon, many colorists will do a toner rinse free of charge for returning clients.
Avoid Environmental Triggers
Chlorine from swimming pools and mineral deposits from old plumbing can cause your shade to become yellow over time. Before dipping into the swimming pool, coat your tresses in jojoba or olive oil to prevent chlorine from penetrating your locks. With that said, the sun can also wreak havoc on your color, so remember to toss on a sun hat to prevent your strands from fading to an odd shade of yellow during the summer months. If your home water supply has a high iron content, fit an iron filter onto your shower head to soften your water and help to combat the problem.
