Hair Color
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05.04.2022
How to Tone Orange Hair Back to its Best
By: Zara Kenyon & Anette Svensson
Orange hair can happen to even the dreamiest color creations. Whether brunettes have faded or bright reds have turned brassy, too much warmth equals instant dullness for your clients. So how do you tone orange hair to perfection? Here we reveal the tricks and tips you need to mix up a corrective formula that balances and beautifies.
Is Your Client's Hair Orange or Yellow?
Unwanted warmth in the hair tends to be either orange or yellow, and the depth of your client’s hair will affect what kind of "brassiness" appears. As you’ll see in the lightening curve, reflects of yellow are common in hair that’s on a level 7, 8, 9 and 10. Put simply, hair that fades yellow is typically a dark to very light blonde.
Meanwhile, orange tones usually appear in level 5, 6 or 7 hair – essentially, anything from your dark blondes to dark brunettes and redheads. If you suspect your client’s hair is actually yellow – not orange – make sure you check out our guide on "How to Tone Yellow Hair to Perfection".
Why Does Hair Turn Orange?
You might be wondering what causes those orange tones in your client’s hair in the first place. They can come up for a number of reasons. Here are some of the most common brassy hair culprits:
- Your client’s hair was colored a balanced red hue, but their radiant shade has faded.
- Their target shade was a warm dark blonde or brunette, but the warmth has become too dominant.
- Dark locks were lifted to a level 5, 6 or 7, and orange tones are just part of the process. Orange is the undertone that lives at that level. Next step: toning!
The good news is, for each of these causes there’s a toning formula to fix it. Below, we reveal some of the ways you can tone orange hair back to its red, dark blonde or brunette best.
The Color Wheel Shows You Which Hues Tone Orange Hair
For neutralizing any unwanted tones in your client’s hair, the color wheel has all the answers. It tells you which hues ‘cancel’ each other out for a balancing effect. In the case of orange hair, a touch of blue pigment will cool and calm hair that is too warm, while a hint of violet is also helpful for yellow/orange strands, on a level 7. Once you know how the color wheel works, it’s easy to mix up a color correcting formula; one that neutralizes warm tones to get your client closer to their perfect shade.
Wella Professionals Easy Tone Numbering System
Each color in the Wella portfolio is typically made up of two or three digits: the first (before the stroke) denotes the depth, the second symbolizes the major tone, and the third (when it’s present) represents the minor tone.
The major and minor tone could be anything from a 0 to a 9, and to balance orange hair, you will typically look for a 1 (ash) or 8 (pearl) in the formula. This 1 or 8 could be either the major or the minor tone, depending on how much orange toning is required through your client’s hair. If there’s a lot of warmth to knock out, try making 1 or 8 your major tone for an instant shot of coolness.
But, the great thing about having a major and a minor is that you’re able to add other hues in there too. For example, if you want to correct orange tones while creating a golden blonde hue, you could try adding Koleston Perfect 8/38 to your formula. Meanwhile, if you’re taking locks super-cool and icy for a frosted chestnut brown shade, something like Illumina Color 5/81 would give you all the blue infusions needed to neutralize warmth. You can even use these formulas to pre-tone hair in need of deep correction, before toning a second time with the color of your client’s dreams.
Orange Toning Formulas for Inspiration
1. Toning Orange Hair to a Dark Blonde
Image Credit: @byalexmk
To bring dirty blonde hair back from orange, Alex MK toned overly warm locks with Illumina Color 5/02 + 5/81 + 6/16 + 3% (10 volume) through the roots, and 8/38 + 8/1 + 1.9% (6 volume) on the lengths. The result? A cooler, crisper, dark blonde with a seamless root shadow.
2. Toning Orange Hair to a Creamy Blonde
Image Credit: @ninanears
Now, this is a big transformation. From brassy balayage to creamy blonde highlights, Nina Nears' client underwent a mane makeover that featured a surprisingly simple formula. First, orange tones were lifted out with root-to-tip strokes of BlondorPlex + 6% (20 volume), and then Color Touch 6/0 + 1.9% (6 volume) was applied in between for soft, subtle lowlights.
3. Toning Orange Hair to a Dark Brown
Image Credit: @terricolours_hair
Say goodbye to brassy balayage! Master Color Expert, Terri Harris took this client’s hair back to dark brown perfection by overlaying Color Touch 5/1 + 4/0 + 1.9% (6 volume); a deep formula with ash blue tones to reduce excess warmth. Simple yet oh-so effective, the quick color correction resulted in a silky espresso finish that's always in style.
4. Toning Orange Hair with a Shinefinity Glaze
Image Credit: @oz_beauties
A Shinefinity Glaze offers your client a subtle and translucent finish, but here’s proof that its shine-boosting powers can even extend to a color correction. To neutralize yellow/orange tones, the team at Oz Beauties pre-lightened locks, then applied two alternating Shinefinity formulas: 05/98 + 07/81 and 09/61 + 07/59, both using the bottle activator.
Will Violet Shampoo Help Orange Hair?
If your client’s hair is on the yellow end of the orange spectrum, a violet shampoo can help to correct and neutralize their brassy hair. This is because violet sits opposite yellow on the color wheel, allowing it to cancel out those unwanted tones and leave strands beautifully balanced. So, for those clients who do have hints of yellow, recommend they add INVIGO Blonde Recharge Cool Blonde Color Refreshing Shampoo to their kit. All they have to do is lather up, leave it to do its work for 2-5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly. Bye bye, brassy tones.
