“I’ve bleached my hair at home and it turned yellow, what should I do? After a few weeks and my highlights are turning yellow, any solution? I used a blonde dye and the hair is yellow, how do I cancel it out?” I’ve heard stories like these a lot of times, and the truth is that it’s a pretty easy problem to fix. Today I am sharing with you how to remove yellowish undertones from bleached or dyed hair.
Table of Contents
The first thing you should do is ask yourself if the yellow tone in your hair is due to a dye or bleaching. In each case, as we will see below, we will apply a different solution.
On the other hand, if your hair is not yellow, but orange, we must follow a different method.
This is the article that explains how to remove the orange color from hair after dyeing and this article explains how to remove the orange color from bleached hair. As you can imagine, the fact that the hair is orange implies that it is a darker tone, and therefore more difficult to correct. Read the post that best suits your case and follow the instructions.
In this article we are going to focus solely on how to remove the yellow tone from the hair. First we are going to see the solution for dyed hair and then we are going to see the solution for bleached hair. Let’s start!
How to remove yellow from dyed hair
If your hair is left with an unwanted yellow tone after dyeing it, you may need to bleach or re-dye your hair to remove that undertone.
If you want to do this at home, please use a good quality dye or bleach that is suitable for your hair color and following the instructions carefully.
When the hair turns yellow after using a dye, it is usually because it has been used on very dark hair or because the color used was not ash or another toning undertone (such as violet, blue, etc.). In this case, most of the time it is solved by applying the same number of dye that you have used but with an ash undertone.
For example, you have applied a 10, but it has turned yellow. Well, by applying the same dye but in number 10.1 or 10.11, the base colour will remain the same, but the result will be much more natural.
However, in some cases, when it has turned yellow and also darker than what we wanted, it is best to do a new bleaching application. If you don’t want to damage your hair, try doing just a few highlights.
I’ll give you here a couple of product recommendations that have worked very well for me, and the reviews so you can see the before and after in my hair.
First of all, I recommend the Igora dyes from Schwarzkoft, especially the Highlifts range, which lift the hair many tones, in lines -1, -11, and -19 to eliminate yellow from dyed hair. They have beautiful tones that are very natural. They are amazing. I have already tried them all. I have not yet done the reviews of all the colours that I have been using, but below you have some to give you an idea.
Wella Professionals Koleston Perfect Me + Special Blonde 12/11 60ml
- Special Blonde offers up to 3 levels of lift.
- Koleston Perfect specialises in precise colouring and is available in 160 shades.
- ME+ technology reduces the risk of allergic reactions during application.
Reviews of Schwarzkoft Igora dyes:
- Review of Schwarzkopf Professional Igora Royal 8-1.
- Review of Schwarzkopf Professional Igora Royal Dye 10-0.
- Review of Schwarzkopf Igora Highlifts 10-21.
- Review of Schwarzkopf Professional Igora Royal Highlifts 12-1.
- Review of Schwarzkopf Professional Igora Royal Highlifts 12-11.
- Review of Schwarzkopf Professional Igora Royal Highlifts 12-19.
If you need to correct yellow with bleaching, the Schwarzkopf Professional BlondMe Bond Enforcing Premium Lightener 9+ Bleaching Powder is my favourite. If you read this blog often you already know that they are the ones I recommend the most.
Schwarzkopf Professional BlondMe Bond Enforcing Lightener 9+ Dust Free Powder
- Bleaching powder formulated to achieve up to 9 levels of lift.
- Protects the hair fibre for minimised hair breakage.
- Neutralises yellow undertones.
In this post you have my review about these bleaching powders. They protect the hair a lot and lift the color many tones. I love them.
How to remove yellow from bleached hair
Now we are going to see how to remove yellow from hair that has been bleached.
First you must ask yourself what result you are looking for exactly.
How to remove the yellowish undertones from your hair depends on: whether you only need to remove a yellowish or golden undertone or, on the other hand, if you really have a bright yellow colour from untonned bleaching. Next we will see what to do in each case.
1. If the hair is really yellow
If you have to correct a very marked yellow tone in blonde hair with bleaching or dye, you may only be able to neutralize them with a dye. Or even in certain cases, only with more bleaching (because the dye changes your tone, but it will not give you more brightness, meaning, the colour will not be lighter, it will just be tonned up).
If this is your case, read the post on how to tone up highlights. Although in the title says highlights, this technique is exactly the same for dye or bleaching. There I explain what colour of dye removes yellow and why.
If you do not have time to read the post, in summary I will tell you that this dye is one of the most effective to cancel out yellow. In How to tone up highlights I explain how to use it:
You can try applying a purple or violet shampoo if you want. But I tell you that the result will not be as powerful as applying a dye or bleaching.
2. If you only need to remove a yellowish or golden hue or hue
On the other hand, if what you need is simply to remove a yellow or golden tone that has been appearing little by little because it has been a long time since you gave yourself the discoloration, highlights or dye, with the violet shampoo should be more than enough.
And that’s what we’re going to talk about in this post: how to use a violet shampoo to achieve an ash tinge in the hair. If you want to see the before and after in my hair when using purple shampoo, you can see it in the link.
How to remove yellow hair at home
Perfect, now that we know that what you are looking for is to remove that annoying yellow tone, but without making any radical changes through dyes, let’s see how to carry it out. For this we are going to use a purple shampoo. I will explain exactly how to do it and what you should take into account depending on the exact tone of your hair.
As you know, I had bleached hair from scalp for years, and the only toning product I used was violet shampoo, because I didn’t want to add a dye on top of the bleaching. But the truth is that that was enough to keep the yellow at bay.
This is a photo of me from 2016 in which my hair was completely bleached. It’s just when I started writing this beauty blog. I retouched the root every 3 or 4 weeks top. The truth is that keeping the blonde was complicated because I was applying continuous bleaching. Anyway, what a change from then to now, right!
Now, I have to say, that in this particular photo it is a little more yellow than normal. But taking into account that I wasn’t using dyes or colour tints of any kind, I think it kept it pretty good.
Now I don’t bleach all my hair anymore, but I still have highlights, and I also use violet shampoo to tone. I use it less often than before, but I still do. Especially when it’s been a few weeks since I went to the hairdresser and the highlights are losing the pretty blonde and turning yellow.
I’ve tried different violet shampoos, like Pantene Hair Biology, which is a cheaper option. Or also John Frieda’s Violet Crush, which works very well. However, the purple shampoo that I like the most is L’Oréal Professionnel Silver, but if you are looking for something cheap, Pantene’s can still serve you. Silver is more expensive, but you don’t need to use it as often.
How to use violet toning shampoo
To reduce the yellow tone of the hair you should use the shampoo in each wash if you need to lose a lot. Or in one out of every two washes if you just want to keep.
Violet shampoos are used like a normal shampoo, but it is advisable to leave it on for a minute or two to take effect. If this is your first time using a violet shampoo, do a single wash, or don’t let it act too much. This way you can control the level of nuance you acquire.
In case it is not enough, you would have to try dye. As I mentioned at the beginning, in the article how to tone up highlights I explain what dyes to use.
If you have platinum or white hair from bleaching (like my hair in the photo above), be careful, violet shampoo can leave a gray tinge in your hair. However, if you have light or medium blonde, you will have no problem.
eye! If you have light brown or dark blonde, the violet shampoo will not take away the yellow tone. This type of shampoo acts only on white hair, very light platinums or light blondes, at most medium. It is important to note that the effect of violet shampoo is more visible the lighter the hair. If you think about it, it’s actually like a super soft dye, so the lighter the base it starts from, the easier it will be for the color to look.
Violet or purple shampoos are used exactly like a normal shampoo, although if you want you can leave it on for a few minutes so that the nuance is more intense. Then you lighten and comb as usual.
As I said before, if you have completely white hair, be careful, because then it can be gray (and I say this from experience). But if you only want it to nuance some highlights or a medium bleaching, you will not have a problem.
It is also important to clarify that purple shampoo for dyed hair does not work as well. It is intended to be used on highlights (bleaching) or on very light natural hair.
Finally, if you are reading this it is because you have hair treated with dyes or bleaching, and you have to remember that it is super important to take care of your hair in this delicate phase. If you had told me years ago how important it is, not only to get a beautiful color, but to take care of my hair, I would have saved myself many headaches.
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In this video I tell you about how to remove yellow tone from hair. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more videos like this:
And so far my secret to remove the yellow tone of hair. This is how I manage to keep my highlights beautiful between visits to the hairdresser: thanks to the violet shampoo. As you can see, it is worth it to eliminate all kinds of yellow, gold and orange tones in blond hair. And if you need something more intense, there is no other way than to bleach or apply a dye.
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Until next time, my darlings!
Deliria Rose
