My hair is looking brassy, any product I can use at home to tone it down?

Question

I had really light blonde hair... I did highlights in the beginning of summer and then lowlights in the beginning of winter. I wanted a darker color so I dyed it brown. Everytime I wash my hair the color gets lighter and lighter even though I am using shampoo for colored hair. Now it's starting to look brassy and the blonde is really coming through. I don't mind the blonde, I just want to tone down the orangish/brassy tone. Any suggestions? I was thinking about using the product shimmer lights, is it any good?

Answer 1

What is happening is all the brown color pigment is coming out of your hair because, I'm guessing that a filler was not used when you dyed it brown. Whenever you go from blonde to a darker color, you HAVE to fill the hair first before the desired color is put on. Otherwise what is happening to you is exactly what happens in this situation.

You need a blue or blue/violet to cancel out the orange. Not all "ash" tones are created equal! A green based ash won't do it for you. I'd recommend breaking down and going to a stylist. With the right professional formulation and color product used, I would expect this to not be too difficult of a problem to correct. You could use Shimmer Lights, it has the tones needed to cancel out the brassy, orangey color, but it is so subtle that you would have to use it frequently to make a difference. IF the hair is real orangy, you're going to need the pigment you'd get from color to help the situation, all the blue/violet shampoos in the world won't alleviate the problem.

Answer 2

You should always wait at least 6 weeks to 3 months between coloring your hair. But you need an ash to tone down the orange brassy color. If you cant afford to go to a beautician which is what i recommend then you can use any of the hair color products available at stores. I wouldnt suggest using the shimmer lights because it will only bring the orange blonde color out more and then you will end up looking brassy again.

Answer 3

Shimmer lights works great for me. Keep it in about 5 min and make sure you suds up all you hair in it.