If you’ve lightened your hair in the past, you may have experienced the dreaded “brassy blonde” look where you beautiful blond color takes on an undesirable orange tone. Unless brassy hair happens to be flattering to your skin, you may not be pleased with your new color. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to tone down brassy blonde hair and return it to a more realistic blonde shade. Here are some suggestions:

Prevent brassy blonde hair: Reassess the color you’re using

One reason hair can take on a brassy tone when it’s lightened is the product is not left on the hair long enough to lift out the color. When hair is lightened it goes through various stages before reaching the final blonde shade. Orange is one of these intermediate shades that’s part of the natural progression to blonde. If you remove the hair coloring from your hair before it’s passed through the orange stage to blonde, the result can be brassy undertones to the hair.

The other reason you may experience brassy hair after coloring is your hair is too dark for the particular coloring you’re using. Standard permanent dyes only lift the hair two to three shades. If your hair is dark, two to three shades may leave you in the orange range There are high lift tints available that have more lightening power for darker hair and can lift the hair three to four shades. In extreme cases, you may need to use bleach to lift your hair beyond the orange level. The drawback is you’re going to experience more damage to the hair with these products.

Prevent brassy blonde hair: Check your home water supply

In some areas, the water supply may be high in iron deposits. High levels of iron are most frequently found in well water. These iron deposits can add a red, brassy tone to hair when the hair is washed and rinsed. This problem can be resolved by adding a water softener with an iron filter to your shower to filter out the iron deposits. To remove iron deposits already present, a demineralizing shampoo can be used. These are available at some salons and beauty supply stores.

Prevent brassy blonde hair: Use a blue shampoo

There are specific shampoos available to help counteract unwanted brassiness. These shampoos generally have a blue or purple color which is effective in offsetting shades of orange. Using one of these color shampoos regularly can help to mask hair that has turned brassy. An example would be Shimmer Lights shampoo which is available at beauty supply stores and many drugstores.

Prevent brassy blonde hair: Use a toner

A toner is a semi-permanent dye that deposits color rather than lightens. Since toners have a minimal amount of peroxide, they generally don’t damage the hair. Choosing a toner with a violet or blue base can help to mask any brassy tones that are present in colored hair. Unfortunately, toners tend to wash out of the hair over several weeks so the brassiness may reappear. If you want to do it yourself, you may be able to get assistance in choosing an appropriate toner shade from Sally’s Beauty Supply store if you have one in your area. If not, you may want to consult your hairdresser.

By choosing the right products and taking the appropriate steps, you can prevent brassy blonde hair from occurring as well as treat it if it should appear. Give these tips a try and keep that beautiful blonde shade.