Does toner lighten or darken hair? A clear answer from a hairdresser (2023)

Nowadays everyone is excited about toner but not many people know exactly what is the difference between toner and ink.

A dye opens your hair cuticles to deposit a new color. This is how you can lighten or darken your color.

Now, if you want to lighten your hair more than two or three shades, you'll need to bleach it, which is a completely different chemical process.

Toner, on the other hand, is a post-coloring product.Why?

Because you use it after bleaching your hair to remove unwanted toner from your hair or after dyeing your hair to tone down a color that is too intense.

Therefore, if you want to lighten or darken your hair, use a dye, not a toner.

For example, if you bleached your hair brown and thenan orange color appeared on it, you must use a blue toner. This will make the orange disappear but will keep the color you got when you bleached your hair.

Yes, toner is a great product, but you have to be very careful when using it.because if you leave it in your hair longer than it should, it can change your hair color. And I don't mean it will lighten or darken.

I mean for example if you use a purple toner on your hair to cancel out the unwanted yellow colors in your hair,it might end up totally purple.

So my question is, what change do you intend to make to your hair?

Do you want to cancel unwanted colors? Do you want to clarify? Do you want to have a darker hair color?

Well, stick around and I'll answer all those questions by explaining:

When should you use a toner on your hair?

The toner only removes the desired colors, such as orange, red and yellow, which often appear after hair bleaching.

As you can see, every color has an opposite that will nullify unwanted versions of that color that may appear in your hair, but will never lighten or darken your hair.

That's because toner cancels your hair colors without changing your color level.

For example, if your hair is a very light 9 blonde and you use a toner, the level (9) won't change, so your hair will still be a level 9 blonde, but without any unwanted yellow undertones.

But, if you leave the toner in for too long, its color will change dramatically.

For example, if your hair is a very light blonde 9 and you use a purple toner to remove the yellow but then leave it on longer than it should, your hair will turn light purple.

This is not exactly the light blonde you were looking for!

So if you want to remove unwanted color residue after bleaching your hair, toner is your best bet. Now, what if you want to lighten your hair color just two or three tones?

You must discolor, and that's what I'm going to talk about now.

What to do to darken or lighten hair

The only way to lighten your hair by more than 2-3 tones is bleaching. Before doing this, it is very important to do a test toassess whether your hair is healthy enoughgo through the process because hair bleaching is an aggressive chemical process.

If your hair is dry, dull and prone to breakage, you shouldn't bleach it.

It's important to moisturize your hair before bleaching

doing this.

You can apply coconut oil once a week or a repairing mask 2-3 times a week. And it is also very important to use sulfate-free shampoos and conditioners.

You want to lighten your hair, but what color are you looking for?

If all you're looking for is lightening your hair by 2-3 shades, a bleach session should do the trick.

But for those who want to go from a dark color to a very light color, they will need to bleach their hair at least three times with two weeks apart.

If unwanted colors, such as oranges or yellows, appear on your hair after bleaching, you can use a toner to eliminate them.

You can use it immediately after bleaching your hair. To use the tonic, mix the tonic with the 20 volume developer in a plastic container, apply to the hair and let it act for a maximum of 15 minutes.

Now, what if you want to darken your hair?

This is one of the easiest processes because you don't need to bleach your hair to do it. However, it is important not to make big changes at once, so I recommend darkening your hair 2-3 tones at a time.

For example:

Once the color has been chosen, all that remains is to apply the paint. Always follow the instructions that came with the paint to make sure it looks perfect. Each brand has its particularities and you must follow the instructions to the letter to obtain the best results.

conclusions

And now tell me, what do you have to do? Cancel unwanted colors or lighten or darken hair?