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Red is one of the hardest hair colors to maintain. You might find that after a few washes, your rich red fades into a brassy orange. Whether you flaunt a fire-engine hue like Rhianna, or your attempts to be blond result in an unintended reddish shade, a toner slip up can leave you with locks more orange than pre-rehab Lindsay Lohan. Dying your hair repeatedly as a cure only causes major damage. Choosing the right toner for your red tresses isn't optional.
To Enhance Your Red Hair
The easiest way to enhance the color of your already red hair is to buy a toning shampoo. A toning shampoo will help bring out the red tones in your hair without all of the damage of dying. "Marie Claire" recommends Ted Gibson Individual Color Captivating Copper Shampoo. This shampoo is designed to bring out copper tones in red and strawberry blonde hair, giving you a shiny, three-dimensional color. If your hair is a deeper auburn hue, however, this shampoo won't be effective.
You Wanted Brown, Got Red Instead
When hair color fades, rich brunette shades have a tendency to turn brassy and orange. To prevent this from happening, it's important to use a color protecting shampoo. If you find that your hair is still brassy, head back to the salon. A toner or gloss can be applied in one application and will enhance the natural brown tones of your brassy hair. To counteract the orange and red tones in your brunette hair, ask your stylist to use a toner with a violet or blue base.
You Wanted Blonde But Got Orange-Red
Whether it's bad bleaching that turned your locks orange or a dye job disaster, sometimes blonde hair turns into a light ginger. If you're not so keen on your new shade of red, a color depositing shampoo can help. Clairol's Color Director Jason Backe told "Teen Vogue" that this kind of toning shampoo will deposit small amounts of temporary color into your hair. The effects are not dramatic but they can mask a bad dye job. To take your strawberry blonde to an icy platinum, Backe recommends a shampoo with violet undertones.
Tips For Avoiding Dye Job Mishaps
To prevent your hair from fading into a brassy, red color or coppery ginger, take a strand test. Cut a small piece of your hair from the back of your head and apply the dye. If the color comes out brassy, you've just avoided a major hair mistake that would be hard to fix down the line. If your hair is over-processed, to prevent any orange or red tones, leave your color on half time. Your hair absorbs color faster if it's over processed, so if you're planning on becoming a light blonde, time yourself carefully or you'll end up with a light shade of strawberry. Avoid the sun at all costs. Sunshine fades and bleaches hair color which could turn a deep red or chocolate-brown into an orange-copper.
