Dyed or undyed brunette hair warms up over time, ending up with plenty of red tones. The green in toning shampoo and conditioner will target the unwanted red. Blond hair can get red-orange from too much heat or from adding too many warm pigments to it. You can use violet toning shampoo to tone down all the red-orange warmth. Natural red hair is usually a combination of red and orange. The blue-green color in ash toning shampoos targets both of these shades and helps cool down its warmth.
Bleached hair is fragile, so you should be extra careful around heat. Since toning shampoos usually have ammonia, they can break newly bleached locks.
Blue-green is sometimes called a “calm” color because it cools down a wide range of red pigments.
You can also use a green hair mask. This technique lets the red canceling blend sit on your hair for a long time, boosting its neutralizing effects. Regularly color-correcting your hair will save you from frequently going to the salon.
Wear gloves to keep from staining your hands with food dye. Your shampoo doesn’t need any green food dye, and you can just use it like you normally do. Keep the doctored conditioner on for 10-12 minutes, then rinse with cool water. If you’re a natural redhead and blue-green food dye isn’t toning your hair enough, try a home remedy of vinegar and crushed vitamin C tablets. Apply it to your hair, put on a shower cap, and let it sit for 10 minutes. The natural acids will tone down warm red-orange pigments. [9] X Research source
If your hair dye is a true red, then a green dye will be the most effective. Warm orange-red brassy tones can be darkened with brunette dye or lightened with blonde dye. An ash dye will cancel out any kind of warmth in your hair. You can use it if your red dye also has too many yellow or orange tones in it.
Hard water can also redden your hair. If you’re worried about this, you can soak your shower head in white vinegar overnight, scrub it, rinse it, and put it back.
