BRASSY HAIR: WHY IT HAPPENS AND HOW TO PREVENT IT

Photo Credit: @redken_colorfactory

Brassiness refers to the unwanted warm tones that show up in colored hair. It typically happens in dark hair that gets dyed platinum or blonde, but it can also occur in hair that’s been highlighted or in hair that’s been lightened to brown. To understand why this occurs, you’ll need to understand what’s happening during the whole hair lightening process. To lift dark hair, bleaching with a mix of ammonia and peroxide is usually a necessary part of the equation. When hair is bleached, melanin, a dark brown to black pigment, gets diluted in a process known as oxidation. After bleaching, the next step is usually to apply your haircolor, which deposits artificial pigment onto your locks while removing some of your natural color. Brassy haircolor becomes a problem when bleaching or lifting doesn’t get rid of all the underlying pigment in your hair, giving the warm tones an opportunity to reveal themselves. For lightened blonde hair, the underlying pigment is yellow, and for lightened brown to black hair, the underlying pigments are orange to red. When the brassiness starts creeping up, think of it as your natural hair telling you, “Hey, remember us?” When brassiness occurs, that also means that among the red, yellow and blue color molecules your hair dye contains, the blue ones have made a faster departure, leaving—you guessed it—just the warm tones. Since the blue color molecules are smaller, they’re broken down easily and fade quicker with every wash. Unfair! Fortunately, you have several options when it comes dealing with brassy hair, in terms of both fixing brassiness once it appears and preventing it from happening at all.

Need an at-home brassy hair fix? This is where toning shampoos come in. Formulated with purple, blue and other pigmented formulas, these shampoos help cancel out brassy tones that appear in between your coloring appointments. Think of this as your at-home toning solution. Based on the color wheel above, you can see most blondes struggling with unwanted yellow tones will need a purple shampoo like Redken's Color Extend Blondage, while brunettes with orange and red tones will need a blue-tinted shampoo such as Redken's Color Extend Brownlights. Our color-depositing shampoos will remove unwanted brassiness while cleansing and strengthening hair. This toning shampoo should be used 1-2 times per week in between salon appointments.

SHOP PURPLE SHAMPOO

Since overusing a color-depositing hair product may end up turning your hair blue or purple, only use it once or twice a week. The rest of the time, be sure to use color-protecting hair products like Redken Color Extend Magnetics Shampoo & Conditioner. The Color Extend Magnetics line for color-treated hair is gentler than regular shampoo and is sulfate-free, an ingredient known to fade haircolor.

SHOP COLOR-PROTECTING SHAMPOO

To maintain strong, bright blonde hair, you'll need a complete haircare regimen to strengthen and help neutralize the brassy tones that can start to appear in between salon appointments. In addition to purple shampoo and conditioner for daily care, integrating an ultra-pigmented purple hair mask like Redken's Color Extend Blondage Express Anti-Brass hair mask can help transform your blonde from brassy to cool and bright in just 5 minutes. For even more options, check out our range of color-depositing masks to achieve icy, rose, and honey tones at home. These masks are a great way to enhance or refresh your hair color in only 5 minutes.

SHOP PURPLE MASK

If you've had your hair lightened or colored, chances are you've had a toning service. Toner is a gentler form of haircolor that gradually fades over time, allowing you to experiment with new colors without commitment. Also known as a demi-permanent color, hair gloss, or glaze, toners are also used by colorists to correct and cancel out unwanted yellow, orange and red tones in hair. If you've noticed your haircolor fading between appointments or can't seem to kick brass to the curb, it's probably time to head back to the salon. Getting a professional gloss service between color treatments will make your color last and look fresh longer. Redken’s Shades EQ Gloss Service, which is often used as a toner for brassy hair, will correct or enhance your hair color with results lasting up to 6 weeks. On top color correcting, a Shades EQ Gloss boosts shine, conditions hair, and balances hair pH for healthier looking and feeling strands. Plus, this toning service takes as little as 20 minutes—a perfect quick fix for brassy hair!

FIND A REDKEN SALON NEAR YOU

Photo Credit: @denisesuzanne_

Select a cool haircolor, like one with the word “ash” in the name, since it’s less likely to turn brassy than one that’s warm. If you gravitate toward warmer shades, don’t worry; there are plenty of lighter haircolors, such as greige blonde, that provide a nice balance of warm and cool tones. Need a place to start? Redken’s new Color Fusion Cool Fashion Collection contains 14 haircolors, including shades of blonde that are meant to provide cooler results and will counteract brassiness. Using C-Lock technology, the collection has larger dye molecules so cool tones stays in place for up to 8 weeks, and the haircolors all have a black-to-gray background so that warm tones are less noticeable. Looking for some cool-toned haircolor inspiration? Browse through @Redken on Instagram for a reference photo to share with your stylist.