Best Toner For Brassy Hair: Demi Permanent Hair Color From Sallys

Updated March 18, 2018

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sally Beauty. All opinions are 100% mine.

When it comes to my hair, I prefer to be low-maintenance. I get my hair colored every 6 months – ain’t nobody got time or money to constantly be in the salon! My stylist usually does “peekaboo highlights,” which are blonde highlights under the crown of the hair that peek out. This prevents me from having to go in often, but I still get beautiful dimension in my hair. The highlights eventually grow out and my hair has more of a balayage look.

At about the 3 or 4 month mark, my hair tends to start going a little brassy. I know many people love warm toned hair, but I really love a neutral to ash look to my hair.

I like to tone my hair at home. It’s a great way for me to get an extra couple of months out of my hair color, and is something that does not permanently stay. I love using demi permanent hair color to tone my hair because it is not permanent and it eventually washes out.

I was thrilled when Sally Beauty challenged me to take the (Hair) Dare to ditch the drugstore hair dye and get my best color ever. By taking the (Hair) Dare, I will show you how to get your best color ever too!

Follow along to see just how easy it is to tone brassy hair with demi permanent hair color! Keep in mind that I am not a cosmotologist. I am just a lover of beauty DIYs. If you have any more in depth questions just know that you can always go to Sally’s for a hair consultation. Sally Beauty’s hair experts will show you the way to achieve your best hair ever, and they are also available online!

What color should I tone with?

In order to figure out what kinds of hair color to tone with, let’s address basic color theory first. The color on the opposite side of the color wheel neutralizes or cancels it out. Blue neutralizes orange. Purple neutralizes yellow. My brassy hair tends to be on the orange-y yellow side, so anything with a blue or purple base ends up neutralizing the brass. Demi permanent hair colors that are labeled “ash” usually are a blue/violet base and are perfect for toning brassy hair.

Supplies You’ll Need:

I always hit up Sally Beauty before getting started. They have the best selection of professional products, and I’ve been going there for years, including the best toner for brassy hair.

For this trip, I picked up Ion® Color Brilliance® Master Colorist Hair ColorIon® in Chrome and 10 volume developer. Now, don’t be scared that I picked up silver hair dye. Silvers are  blue/violet/ash base and I really wanted to try and see how this worked! I have used blue demi permanent hair color mixed with conditioner in the shower before, and I love how that works, so there’s no reason this wouldn’t work. I also grabbed the Ion® Color Brilliance® Absolute Perfection Booster and Color Sealer to get more out of my dye job. Finally, I picked up a new mixing bowl, brush, and bottle.

The Toning Process:

I first started with the hair color and developer. I mixed 1 ounce of the color and 2 ounces of the developer into the mixing bottle. Half of the color is usually enough for my whole head. I would assume if you have really thick hair you’d need more.  I then poured about 1/3 of the vial of this Absolute Perfection Booster into the color and developer. This is to help keep hair in tiptop shape during the dying process.  I sectioned my hair off into three sections and then dyed each section. Once I finished with a section, I clipped it up. I focused this mostly on the ends, where the color was turning brassy.  I let the hair color process for about 15 minutes. Going any longer would probably turn all of the blonde hair gray, so it’s important to not go any longer than 15 minutes.  When I rinsed in the shower, I applied the Absolute Perfection Color Sealer to restore moisture and smoothness. 

And here’s the end result! As you can tell, it doesn’t completely change the look of my hair color. I love how it took all that orange away! Best of all, this is super easy and only takes 15 minutes. Hope you found this helpful and maybe it will inspire you to tone your hair at home with the best toner for brassy hair from Sally’s!

Have you taken the Sally Beauty (Hair) Dare?

Be sure to check out the Beauty Section before you go!