What is hair toner? Everything you need to know about this neutralizing essential

Table Of Content

• Hair Toner 101: Colorists Explain What Hair Toning Is and Why It Works
• EVO Fabuloso Platinum Blonde Toning Shampoo
• Pureology Color Fanatic Top Coat + Tone Gloss
• What Are At-Home Toners (And How Are They Different from the Toners Used in Salons)?
• What is hair toner? Everything you need to know about this color care essential
• Pick the corresponding toner for your hair color

This specific type of toner "closes the hair cuticles and helps bring the hair's pH levels back to a normal, healthy state after a color or lightening service," says Cunningham, who also uses an acidic toner during root touch-ups. Tinted shampoos and conditioners are also considered a type of hair toner and are key for caring for color-treated hair at home. For those looking to amplify warm tones, go with an orange or yellow-based toning product, like Pureology's Color Fanatic Top Coat + Tone Hair Gloss ($29) in Gold or Copper. Since toners are semi-permanent, it’s best to get your hair toned in between dye jobs and during the dying process.

Hair Toner 101: Colorists Explain What Hair Toning Is and Why It Works

What Is a Hair Gloss? - Martha Stewart

What Is a Hair Gloss?.

Posted: Tue, 25 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

"When I'm working behind the chair, I typically call it a hair gloss because it makes the benefits – shine, luster, and a touch of color – super intuitive for my clients." If you’re wondering what products can be used to tone your hair at home, Palladino recommends IGK’s Mixed Feelings Leave-In Blonde Toning Drops. The purple pigment drops mix in with any of your favorite hair care products like shampoos, conditioners, oils, creams, or stylers to create a toner. "Anyone with color treated hair should be using toners. All hair color fades with time through washing and heat styling," explains Shvonne Perkins, master stylist at Madison Reed.

EVO Fabuloso Platinum Blonde Toning Shampoo

The key to understanding what toners do and how they work is to understand the color wheel. On the color wheel, hues that lay across from one another are known as complementary shades. But the likelihood is, if you’re repeatedly reaching for your toner it’s because you love the color—so that's not a problem.

Pureology Color Fanatic Top Coat + Tone Gloss

Anyone who has ever colored their hair has likely heard about toner before. Not to be confused with the stuff you swipe on your face, hair toner is an essential part of the bleaching or highlighting process that colorists seldom skip. Here’s what it is and why it’s so important, plus a few of our favorite hair toning products to use at home. If combing a gel through your hair feels a bit extra, you’ll love the ease of these toning drops from IGK. They come in two shades (purple pigments for blondes; blue for brunettes) and can be mixed into your favorite styling product (like a few drops in your leave-in conditioner or gel) for quick and easy toning.

“It’s a one-step, no mixing, color conditioner that enhances your color while boosting shine. Offered in 13 shades, you’ll be sure to find a color that is best suited for you,” he says. Even though toners are typically applied as part of a lightening service (like getting highlights or balayage), you don't have to be a blonde to benefit from using one.

Hair Toner: Wave Goodbye to Brassy Tones

“That’s when people opt for purple shampoo that doesn’t really color the hair but leaves enough ‘stain’ on the outside to reduce some yellow tones,” he says. Dorram adds that toners can bring life back into the hair that looks brassy or dull and make the existing color more vibrant. "If you want to make blonde hair cool again, you need to use a toner with violet pigments in it," explains Smith. You can typically use violet or purple shampoo about once a week to keep brassiness at bay, but we'd recommend checking with your colorist for a more personalized plan.

What is hair toner? Everything you need to know about this color care essential

If you've spent any amount of time coloring your hair—especially if you've gone blonde—and you've noticed your hair losing its luster or becoming brassy or yellow over time, you probably need to use a toner. Hair toners are typically recommended following a color or bleaching service as a way for you to maintain said color, but it's an easy thing to forget about when you're not too familiar with hair toners or don't know what they do in the first place. At-home toners, on the other hand, are designed for use (you guessed it) at home. The L’Oréal Paris Féria Power Toner Long-Lasting Anti-Brass Toner is among our top picks for ease of use and longevity.

It's often recommended that bottle blondes use a purple toning shampoo once or twice a week; for example, Yepez recommends using L'Oréal Paris EverPure Purple Collection to keep hair from becoming brassy. If your brunette starts to develop unwanted orangey-red tones after a couple of post-salon shampoos, give Christophe Robin Shade Variation Mask in Ash Brown a try. It works in as little as five minutes for a quick shade refresh, or can be left on for up to half an hour to achieve a more intense color change. Keep applying each time you wash until you’ve achieved your desired shade, then once a week after that for maintenance.

Your stylist will do this by mixing a customized concoction and applying it to your hair. This step usually happens in the shampoo bowl, which is why you might not have known it was happening. Nope, I handpicked the 18 best hair toners on the market right now (including a couple of O’Connor’s favorites) and am telling you exactly how to use them. Toners can be used on all colors and textures, from black to gray and white hair.

"Just imagine every single time you shampoo, you lose a tiny amount of color. So like your bank account, as it gets withdrawn you need to keep depositing." Great for caramel-toned lengths and ends, dpHUE Gloss+ Semi-Permanent Hair Color and Deep Conditioner in Medium Brown helps return richness to hair that’s strayed into brassy territory. It works just as well on brown hair with blonde highlights as it does on balayage lengths. And thanks to the inclusion of clear gloss, hair is left extra shiny.

Hairstylists use the color wheel to determine what tone is necessary for your toner service. They'll choose a toner that is on the opposite side of the color wheel from the tone you’re trying to reduce. Ess describes toners as a “topcoat for your hair.” It usually comes in a gel or gloss-like formula and works to emphasize or deemphasize certain tones in your hair and add shine. You usually can’t go out and just buy a “toner.” Demi-permanent colors, glosses, tinted shampoos, and conditioners can all be considered toners because they all contain pigments that adjust the tone of your hair. The toners that hairstylists use in salons are usually demi-permanent formulas that involve a developer (aka hydrogen peroxide) to slightly lift the hair cuticle to deposit color pigments.