Anyone with bleached or blonde hair, probably knows the powers of purple shampoo.
Even brunettes with lighter highlights probably know of its benefits when it comes to brassiness.
But sometimes it takes more to kill off that coppery brassy orange you’ve come to hate. And that’s where knowing useful tips for maximizing the rinsage technique can come in handy.
Now tapping either purple shampoo or a toning process like rinsage can seem rather fool proof. (In fact we explore how to make purple shampoo work better in great detail if that’s of interest.)
But things can go wrong in the blink of an eye.
So it helps to know what to expect so you can be ready. Or better still know what dumb moves to avoid making. And how to recover should they happen anyway.
Help For When Things Go Bad With Rinsage
- How to Recover from Rinsage Gone Bad
- Avoiding Disaster: Smart Moves for Highlights, Balyage And Ombre
- Mistakes To Avoid When Rinsaging
First up let’s explore.
How to Recover from Rinsage Gone Bad
It happens.
One second you’re fixated on how to fix brassy brown hair or how to get yellow out of blonde hair with blue black dye. The next you’re desperately trying to recover from that effort gone horribly wrong.
So here are the answers to three questions women may have about unexpected color changes after using rinsage:
Q: What to do to avoid ending up with an unexpected color?
A: First it’s important beginners follow the recipe carefully. While it’s deceptively simple it packs a punch.
Here’s the basic recipe of the cheapest toner going that works:
For more details check out our post on the rinsage hair technique for orange hair. There you’ll find two must see videos to help you do it right.
Okay so again follow the recommended recipe until you’ve done this once, twice or three times.
At that point you can begin to freelance. Because you’ll have an idea how your hair reacts to the “classic” recipe. And can adjust from there.
And by adjust I mean either by increasing the concentration blue black dye. Or by extending how long you leave it on beyond the two minutes most find to be long enough.
Tip: Always make sure to rinse your hair thoroughly after applying the rinsage mixture.
Proper rinsing helps remove any excess pigments and ensures consistent dye distribution. If the water is even slightly cloudy continue flushing things out. You’ll know you’re there when the water is clear.
Tip: Another good idea is to avoid rinsaging too often. That can lead to it can lead to excessive color buildup.
Tip: Also be mindful of the amount of blue black dye you use. The concentration is the thing most don’t mess with much. Seems most prefer to alter how long they give it to work its magic instead.
Tip: Just take care to not leave it on too long. Or you nay find yourself frantically looking for the answers to the next question.
Q: What to do when hair turns green, blue, or some other undesirable color?
From the sounds of things that question suggests your attempt at rinsage was somewhat of an epic fail?
As a result did your hair end up looking more like an Eastern bluebird? Or are you staring at green streaks where the toned ashy goodness should have been?
If your hair turns green, blue, or any other undesirable color, don’t panic! It will fade away some with every washing.
And that’s the safest, least damaging solution.
So if you can live with the tint, let it naturally fade away by washing your hair with your regular shampoo.
Now to speed things up you can do that with hot water. Hot water tends to open the cuticle allowing the pigment to escape.
Sticking a shower cap on your head for 5-10 minutes to capture the heat can amplify the process too.
For faster results you can try washing your hair several times with a dandruff shampoo. (Think Head and Shoulders.) Or give clarifying shampoo a shot at removing the pastel hue.
Two things to keep in mind
Clarifying shampoos can be hard on your hair. They are formulated to remove product or mineral build up and other residue from your locks. So they can leave your tresses feeling a little on the dry side.
Which is why you’ll want to use a deep conditioner, hair mask or an oil treatment afterwards to rehydrate your hair.
Doing any of this also means it’s likely the brassiness will return faster too. Just saying.
Okay but what if your mane ventures to the dark side?
Q: What to do when hair comes out darker than you were expecting?
A: If your hair ends up darker than anticipated, don’t worry. It too will wash out. Eventually.
For extreme cases another option to the already mentioned clarifying or dandruff shampoo would Dawn dish soap. While on the harsh side it will strip away the pigments that are making your hair dingier looking.
The same post treatment TLC applies. Deep condition, apply a mask, or do an oil treatment.
Now don’t be shocked if one washing doesn’t get the job done. It depends on the amount pigment in your hair. So it may take a few tries to completely wash away all the darkness.
Did You Know?
In 1907, French chemist Eugene Schueller pioneered the development of the first safe, synthetic hair dye.
He harnessed the potential of parpenylenediamine (PPD) .
Basically he came up with formula that revolutionized the hair coloring industry. And by doing so forever changed how we rock our locks.
What’s more, this breakthrough innovation laid the foundation for the iconic beauty empire we know as L’Oréal. And the rest is, as they say, hairstory.
Avoiding Disaster: Smart Rinsage Moves for Highlights, Balyage And Ombre
Yes you can use this technique successfully with natural hair color enhancing options.
Q1: How to use rinsage with highlights?
Many find their blonde highlights can suck up the blue-black dye like there’s no tomorrow. Leaving you with streaks of undesired color rather than the blonde to ashy ones you so loved.
So do all you can to avoid applying your rinsage toner to those precious highlights.
Only include them if they’re kinda brassy and looking more orangey than ashy. Or maybe more yellow than you prefer.
Know what I mean?
And then only apply a relatively diluted mix.
If you can’t avoid whole head application then use a conditioner barrier to protect them. Especially if you’re unsure about how the toner might affect them,
That’s right. Before applying the toner to your hair, apply some conditioner to your highlights. Most report the kind with silicones works best.
What this does is create a bit of a protective barrier so the highlights don’t soak up the toner and change color.
And then when you rinse out the toner, make sure to use ice-cold water. You want to avoid opening the cuticle of your highlighted hair even the least little bit.
That way, the lighter parts will be less likely to absorb the color you’re rinsing out. Pretty cool, huh? (pun intended)
But should that happen and you end up with highlights that have a blue tint do this. Lather up with dandruff shampoo to speed up the fade out.
Then give you hair some TLC after the dandruff shampoo onslaught. One way to do so is to apply quality hair mask to rehydrate your mane.
Q2: What to do about two-color situations like ombre?
Ah, the beautiful world of ombre hair! Dealing with two more less distinct colors can be a bit of a challenge when they need toning. But fear not, I’ve got some awesome advice for you.
So, when it comes to ombre hair here’s the deal.
Assuming you’re working with some paler blonde color you’ve got a couple of options.
First off, you can create two different mixes — one for the bit that has turned orange/reddish. And another for the blonde part that’s too yellowed.
This way, you can tackle each color separately and get the best results.
But what if you only need to address oranges mid-strand or higher? But the ombre-d ends are mostly okay for now?
- Put your hair in a low ponytail
- Coat as much of the the ends with coconut oil as needed to keep the dye from making contact when rinsing
- Tackle the hair above the elastic with your blue black dye concoction as needed
- Rinse over the sink with your head down to keep the rinse water far away from ends
See? You’ve got this!
And again, after any color treatment, it’s important to give your hair some extra love and attention.
That usually means hydration to keep it moisturized and healthy. All to maintain those stunning results.
Finally let’s talk
Q3: How to handle once stunning balayage color gone orange?
When it comes to treating balayage color it can be done but things are more complicated.
It will also probably take longer for you to get the hang of how to do it.
And depending on how your color was painted on and how well it blends some cases may require working with very small sections. Either that or forget about sectioning all together.
Anyway here are seven hacks to try that can help you get started.
Hack #1: For one with both darker and lighter bits in need of attention it’s probably best to work with two variations of this toner.
With one follow the standard recipe for the darker orangier hair.
And for a second, do say a 50% diluted version, for any yellowed blonder mid-lengths on down.
Hack #2: Oh and if dealing with both yellow and orange brassiness start with the warmer orange sections first. That will take the longest to tone. Giving you time to still get to the yellow lengths without over processing the orangest bits while doing so.
Hack #3: Be ready to pretty much be cold water rinsing right away once all the hair has been treated.
Hack #4: It’s also crucial to be quick about this. And work with dry hair.
Hack #5: Given how time sensitive this is it best to work multi color situations in sections. Like four to six. Moving from section to section, applying then rinsing each in turn with cold water.
Hack #6: Some find if just dealing brassy yellow ends you’ll probably want grab your dye brush. Then hit the yellowed blonde bits as needed.
Again working with purpose and speed when applying the rinsage mix.
Hack #7: Finally as suggested earlier, some may be get away with simply slathering the magic mix over your entire head (after a strand test naturally). The idea here is this elixir will work it’s toning magic on the various shades just right without a lot of bother.
Yeah, I know. I told you this was a little trickier.
Mistakes To Avoid When Doing Rinsage
Prevention is better than cure. Although keeping it real, people will move heaven and earth to get a cure for what ails their hair color and pretty much ignore steps that could keep them from needing any cures to begin with.
While having laid out some cures already here’s some tips that will keep you from needing them.
Mistake To Avoid #1: Don’t leave the rinsage mixture on any longer than necessary to do the job.
Yes it’s super easy to let the mix sit on your hair for too long. (And too long can be a second longer than 2 minutes for some.) But giving it too much time on your hair can result in color change before you even rinse it out.
Mistake To Avoid #2: Failing to do a strand test – already covered earlier but worth mentioning again.
Mistake To Avoid #3: Not taking into consideration the extent of damage your hair has. Which can leave sections, like the ends, quite porous and prone to absorbing more pigment than you anticipated. Which can lead to trouble.
Mistake To Avoid #4: Going gung ho with too much blue black dye. This is powerful stuff so you’re better off sneaking up on the perfect recipe for your hair by gradually increasing the concentration rather than getting carried away at the start.
Bottom line? Don’t be afraid to experiment and try different methods, like rinsage, to correct brassy color. Sure it may not work for you. But then again it might. And won’t that be sweet.
Anyway we’ve given you tons of ideas here. So with a little patience and care you can get your hair back to the shade you desire should the worst happen.
Mastering tips like these requires knowing tips like these. No worries. We’ve got you covered. All you need do is follow our Pinterest boards bristling with ideas and you’ll know what to do. Guaranteed.
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