Part of the keeping blonde bright guides. Start with How to keep blonde hair bright between salon visits, or see blonde and foils in the salon.
What brassiness is
Every head of hair carries underlying pigment beneath its surface colour: red, orange and yellow, in proportions that depend on how dark the hair is. Lightener removes the surface colour and exposes that warmth, and the toner applied afterwards hides it. Brassiness is what you see when the toner has faded and the warmth is back on show. On naturally light hair it shows as yellow; on hair lifted from brown or black it shows as orange, because dark hair holds more red and orange underneath.
The 5 things on the Coast that speed it up
- UV. Sun oxidises toner and lifts warmth all day through summer. The NIWA UV index for Auckland runs high from November to March.
- Sea salt. Salt water dries the hair and strips toner faster than fresh water.
- Pool chlorine. Chlorine bonds to the hair and gives blonde a green-gold cast on top of the warmth.
- Tank and bore water. Homes in Dairy Flat, Wainui, rural Silverdale and towards Warkworth often run on it, and its minerals coat the hair, dull the blonde and push it warm. Auckland's town supply from Watercare is soft, which is why blondes in Orewa and Millwater see less of this than their neighbours on tank water.
- Hot tools and hot water. Both open the cuticle and let toner out.
Yellow or orange: the fix depends on which
Yellow means the hair was lifted to the right level and the toner has simply faded. A toner and blow-dry ($150) puts the cool back the same day, and a weekly purple shampoo keeps it there. This is the common case for blondes on light bases and for foils.
Orange means the hair sits below the level a cool toner can hold: it was lifted from a darker base and stopped at gold-orange, or it's faded a long way. A purple shampoo on orange makes it muddy. The route is a lift and tone, usually a session of foils or balayage to bring the level up, then a blue-based toner. It's planned at a free consultation with a strand test, and the dark to blonde guide explains the stages.
The salon fixes
- Toner and blow-dry, $150. Under an hour, for yellow.
- Malibu C, $40. A crystal gel that lifts mineral and chlorine build-up at the basin before the toner, so the toner takes evenly. Essential on tank water and for swimmers.
- Express refresh, $160. Hairline foils, a root shadow and a gloss for balayage that's warmed and softened together.
- A lift and tone. For orange, booked as foils or balayage after the consultation.
The home routine
Wash twice a week in lukewarm water with a sulphate-free shampoo. Purple shampoo once a week for light blondes, blue for darker bases, 2 to 3 minutes and then a mask; the purple shampoo guide has the method. Heat protectant before any hot tool, and a hat or a UV leave-in at the beach. Rinse your hair in fresh water before you swim so it takes up less salt or chlorine, and again straight after. On tank water, a shower-head filter is the single most useful thing you can buy.
When the warmth is the whole colour
If the blonde has gone warm from root to tip and the toner is only holding for a week, the colour underneath needs redoing rather than re-toning: a fresh lift to the right level, a proper toner and a root shadow so it lasts. That's a normal colour appointment rather than a correction, and the free 15-minute consultation is where it gets planned. The full blonde care routine keeps it cool afterwards.