I Dyed My Hair and it Turned Orange, How do I Fix it easily?

Did you dye your hair, and it turned orange?

 

The first thing you should do is not freak out. There’s a solution for everything, even this.

The second thing you should do is take a close look at your hair in good lighting.

Does your hair just have a few orange tones, or is it completely orange?

 

Because that is what will determine which solution is best for you.

 

As you can see, they’re two different situations that have two different solutions.

After all, unwanted orange tones in your hair are one thing, and it’s an entirely different problem to have carrot-colored hair, far from what you were looking for.

 

If you have some unwanted orange tones, they’re a consequence of the process of bleaching your hair.  you must understand how the bleach mix works on your hair. 

Your hair is made up of proteins, specifically keratin and pigment. Each of us has a unique mix of pigment, but one factor is true across all people: the darker your hair is, the more pigment it contains.

 

When you bleach your hair, the cool color pigments, the smallest molecules, are the first ones to disappear. In contrast, the warm color pigments, like gold and orange, are larger molecules and, in addition to being present in larger quantities, they also stay in your hair for longer.

And that is when the orange tones appear.  When those tones appear, the first thing many people do is go out to buy a dye to get rid of those unwanted tones. 

 

But, there’s a problem.

Color kits don’t work on everyone’s hair in the same way. When you look at the picture on the box, what they don’t usually tell you is that their results show you how they should look on virgin hair.

That means that they’re made to appeal to a broad range of people, and they don’t take into consideration your natural hair color before you dye it, nor the underlying pigments, nor any accumulation of any other hair products. The result?

 

 You dye your hair after bleaching it, and the disaster begins because if you didn’t choose the right dye, your hair can end up with unwanted orange tones, or, worse yet, a total orange carrot top. 

And by now, you’re probably asking, is there a solution?

 

Of course! It just comes down to choosing the right dye to use on your bleached hair to make sure no orange appears. So, stick with me, because I’m going to tell you:

 

How to get rid of orange tones after using dye on bleached hair

If you’ve bleached your hair before, you probably noticed that there are always some orange tones that appear since colors like brown 4, light brown 5, and dark blonde 6 all have orange pigmentation.

That is why, after bleaching your hair, those unwanted orange colors appear, and to get rid of them, you’ll need to use a dye. Will any blonde dye work?

 

 No! You’ll need to use an ash-toned dye.  

How do you know if a dye has an ash tone?

 

All boxes of dyes have a number that identifies their color.

For example:

 

This number represents the color level, from 1.0 black being the darkest to 10.0 platinum blonde the lightest.

 

 And some dyes have a secondary number, and this is the number that you’re going to need to pay special attention to since it is the one that determines the dye’s tone. 

For example:

 

When you bleach your hair and orange tones appear, you should choose a dye with ash tones, indicated by the number 1.

By this point, you’ll probably have realized that the dye that you used on your bleached hair did not have ash tones. So, what you need to do now is pick the same color of the dye, but with an ash tone.

 

That way, the ash dye will cancel out the orange tones since all colors have an opposite that cancels them out. In this case, blue – or ash – cancels out orange.

For example:

 

That way, you won’t lose the color you got by bleaching your hair; you’ll just cancel out those unwanted orange tones.

It’s crucial to keep the same “level” (which is that first number) so that orange tones don’t appear again when you use the dye.

 

Now, what happened if, after bleaching your hair and using a dye, it turned out totally orange?

I’ll tell you about what happened and how to fix it in just a second.

 

How to fix bleached hair that turned orange after using dye

If your hair turned out completely orange after using a dye, it’s because you made a big mistake when you choose the dye. I would even go so far as to bet that you chose a dye with brassy tones.

 

 Don’t feel bad. It’s a common mistake since you probably chose the dye-based on the photo on the box and the color of the model’s hair was not the same orange you’re dealing with now.  

 

But, it’s important to know that the higher the number of the color, the lighter it is, and if you add a brassy tone, then you’ll be using an orange-colored dye on your hair.

For example:

 

 In this case, because all of your hair is orange and you weren’t looking to be a red-head, instead you want to be blonde, you should use a blue toner on your hair, which will completely cancel out that color. 

You’ll need to buy:

 

Steps:

 

Look at your hair. No orange left, right? Not even a little bit?

Now you can smile big and jump for joy.

 

Conclusions

It’s important that after the process of bleaching and dyeing your hair, if you find that your hair turned out orange, you differentiate between if you only have orange tones in your hair or if your hair ended up completely orange. The right solution for you will depend on that difference.

 

Orange is a bright color, full of energy and life, but if it’s not the one you were looking for, it can turn into a big punishment. Luckily, now you know how to get it out of your hair.