Why does blonde hair turn yellow: the reason for its appearance and methods of neutralization

Reasons for the appearance of a yellow tint

A yellow tone on bleached hair appears, as a rule, as a result of the repeated manifestation of the natural melanin pigment or errors in the process of lightening and dyeing.

The strength of yellowness depends on the amount of coloring matter (paint, lightening powder), dyeing technology, individual color characteristics and the set of natural melanins.

Usually, it is more difficult for owners of dark and light brown hair to deal with the appearance of red, orange or yellow pigment after lightening, highlighting and even natural burning of hair under the influence of sunlight in the warm season, since its content in the structure is significant.

Violation of the rules for working with serious preparations for coloring or lightening is a guaranteed emergency that will have to be corrected. The consequences of violating the rules are destruction of the structure, breaking off hair, partial or complete hair loss, dissection at the ends, increased porosity, static, uncontrollability, dry scalp, etc., etc.

So, if at the beginning of the work we correctly assessed the quality and health of the hair, and correctly selected the lightening technique, then, as proof of our correctness, we will see strands of a delicate light yellow color, which are subsequently perfectly tinted with special preparations. But in any case, after 2-3 weeks of using any blonde, the same light light yellow background will appear again. So what should you do in this case?

There are also exceptions: hair with a light natural shade is lightened with virtually no yellowness. Owners of this color are the envy of all blondes on earth. These are natural blondes, light brown hair with a cool (greenish) tint and, as a rule, ladies of the “summer” color type.

Color correction immediately before or after coloring is often necessary for colorists. All clients are individual. In cases where the hair shade is not intense enough or there is an undesirable tone, additional measures cannot be avoided. Particularly in demand and effective in this case are procedures to neutralize yellowness that has arisen during or as a result of lightening. The main methods of neutralizing unwanted shades on blonde hair are universal, and hairdressers around the world have been using them in their daily practice for several years now.

Methods for neutralizing and enhancing shade

Color correction using the neutralization method is easy! For this purpose, compositions with the properties of shampoo or conditioner are often used, but with a large amount of purple pigment (yes, exactly according to all the rules of color).

These products can both neutralize yellowness and enhance the shade when tinting blonde hair. When highlighting and lightening, neutralization can be performed as an intermediate step using silver shampoo, and then fix the result with a neutralizing shampoo, as well as as a final step after using a color fixer, and then use a balm to neutralize the yellowness of the selected shade.

To enhance the shade, neutralizing products are used if the hair, due to its structure or other characteristics, does not allow the color to appear in full force. The problem is often solved by re-coloring or additional tinting, although color correction can often quickly correct the situation. For the procedure, it is important to choose a color that can enhance or emphasize the required basic tone.

Tinted balms or shampoos are used in their pure form on damp hair. You can treat individual strands without affecting the entire hair, or apply to all hair directly in the wash. You need to monitor the process of saturating your hair with pigment very carefully in order to stop the reaction in time. The degree of shade correction and exposure time are assessed visually: from a few seconds to 2–5 minutes with silver shampoo, up to 5–15 minutes with tint balm. The product must be washed off with clean running water without shampoo.

Based on materials from Your Hair magazine No. 4-2017