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01.22.2026
How to Prevent and Fix Over-Toned Hair
By: Zara Kenyon
You'll know the signs of over-toned hair when you see them. Think dull, uneven color with too much ashiness or warmth. You might even see hints of purple or green appear through the lengths. It's a common problem for clients who have high porosity hair or like to do DIY dye jobs, and restoring balance is a task best carried out with professional services.
So, how can you remove the excess toner and restore hair back to its desired shade? Here's everything you need to know about fixing over-toned hair...
How Do You Know if Hair is Over-Toned?
When hair is over-toned – perhaps because your client has played with box dyes or overdone purple shampoo – it may appear flat, dull, and lacking in natural shine.
It's a common problem in blonde hair colors, where purple, blue, green, or yellow tones tend to be more visible. Too much ashiness and warm, brassy hues are also signs of over-toned hair that needs correcting.
Image Credit: @helena_thornton_hair
How Do You Fix Over-Toned Hair?
How you fix over-toned hair depends on how 'off' your client's hair color is looking. So, before you do anything, assess what undertones have pulled through, and talk to your client about what their goals are. Your challenge is to take their shade from its current reality to your client's dream. So, after carefully assessing your starting point, consider these color-balancing steps...
1. Start with a Clarifying Shampoo
In mild cases, you can help to fix over-toned hair with a clarifying shampoo. These are intensive cleansers that may help to soften and fade the excess toner. Plus, they're much kinder to hair than dishwashing liquid or baking soda – two popular home ‘remedies’ that clients may be drawn to despite their drying effects.
The clarifying shampoo was made for overloaded, stressed-out hair, combining gentle yet – as the name implies – deep cleansing to give your client a scalp and hair detox. Nutricurls Micellar Shampoo harnesses molecules called 'micelles' which forage for and trap impurities, so they can easily be rinsed away. This clever tech is perfect for delicate yet thorough washing. Massage it into their wet hair, rinse thoroughly, and repeat if necessary. Follow with a deep conditioning treatment, like ULTIMATE REPAIR Hair Mask, to treat hair damage and restore nourishment post-wash.
2. Balance Out the Unwanted Tones
Whether your client’s hair has shifted too ashy or is reflecting orange undertones, a color correction may be the key to neutralizing unwanted hues. Start by choosing a color product. You want a formula that counteracts dullness with beautiful shine, and for that, there are four Wella Professionals products we recommend:
- For true-to-tone vibrancy: Color Touch delivers richness and radiance in 90+ intermixable shades, with Metal Purifier to protect against metal damage during coloring.
- For intense color with natural depth and shine: Koleston Perfect gives pure, balanced results with built-in shine. The permanent color is rich and vibrant, yet respects your client’s natural highs and lows.
- For 100% natural-looking color: Illumina Color enhances light reflections in the hair while maintaining a healthy, 100% natural-looking finish.
- For a translucent veil of color: Shinefinity Color Glaze is your zero-lift, zero-damage option for soft toning and glazing, delivering a translucent veil of color.
Once you’ve chosen your color product, it’s time to mix up a shade that follows the rules of the color wheel. Opposite tones neutralize one another, meaning:
- Blue and orange cancel each other out
- Violet and yellow have a neutralizing effect
- Green and red counteract one another
So, if the hair has turned too warm or brassy, opt for an ashy or cool-based toner with blue or violet undertones. If the hair is over-toned and appears flat, silvery, or greenish, introduce warmth back in with golden hues.
The goal is to restore balance – not to overcorrect – so choose a toner that’s one level lighter than the unwanted tone to achieve a soft, luminous finish.
Image Credit: @kianna.hair
How Do You Prevent Over-Toned Hair in the Future?
1. Repair Porous, Damaged Hair
Hair that's highly porous – meaning there are gaps and tears along the cuticle – tends to grab color too fast, which can result in accidental over-toning. If you think your client's hair is vulnerable, recommend a routine that helps to repair the damage. For this, we love the Wella Professionals ULTIMATE REPAIR regimen.
The collection is infused with a powerful blend of AHA and Omega-9, which works to repair bonds in the cortex while helping to recreate the hair's protective layer. Recommend ULTIMATE REPAIR Shampoo and ULTIMATE REPAIR Conditioner for wash days that work harder. This damage-defying duo leaves your client with 12x smoother hair* and 99% less breakage**. Then, suggest they follow with ULTIMATE REPAIR Miracle Hair Rescue. This spray-on, leave-in hair treatment repairs hair damage in 90 seconds***, so their hair looks and feels healthier.
Using a pre-color treatment in the salon can also ensure more even results through high porosity hair. Try misting ColorMotion+ Pre-Color Treatment from root to tip to smooth and strengthen the hair's surface. This simple step lays the foundation for pure, balanced results.
2. Space Out Toning Sessions
Remind your client how important it is to space out toning sessions, and keep them consistent. This means returning to the salon every six to eight weeks to get their color checked and, if needed, topped up. Sometimes, they might need a fresh coat of toner to enrich and revive their shade. Other times, a clear SHINEFINITY Glaze might be enough to veil hair in beautiful, lustrous shine.
3. Share Tips for Using Purple Shampoo
Purple shampoo is a hero product for blondes (and even brunettes) prone to unwanted warmth, but you can have too much of a good thing. Cue overly-cool, ashy hair with purple tinges. If this is a common problem for your client, first make sure they're using a salon formula. INVIGO Blonde Recharge Cool Blonde Shampoo is our pick for its beautifying, balancing finish.
Then, remind them to only use their purple shampoo when their hair really needs it. For most blondes, once per week is enough, but they may need to use it even less frequently. Some clients find that their hair lifts warm at the merest ray of sunshine, while others can go weeks enjoying the cleanest shades. Their purple shampoo routine should fit around how their hair usually behaves.
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