- If you’ve used an ammonia-free hair dye, you can re-apply toner to your hair almost immediately.
- But, if you have previously applied an ammonia hair color, you should wait 30-45 days to re-tone your hair.
- In either case, you should always make sure your hair is healthy to avoid further damage.
In Spain, it is very common to say, “Different strokes for different folks”. That saying seems to have been created specifically to describe tones in colorimetry.
Why do I say this?
The truth is that no matter how much time you take to choose the right tone, how correctly you apply and wait for the right exposure time, there’s usually something wrong.
Suddenly, that tone you have in your hair, is not the one you were looking for. Then, in no time, you’re texting WhatsApp, begging all your friends to lend you their hats.
Yes, hair tones are not a minor issue. Especially when the results are not as expected.
It is such a complex issue that the great beauty and hair product brands ask trichologists, who are specialists in pathologies of the scalp and hair follicles.
Why do they do that?
In order to be able to launch products that are absolutely safe to use on both your hair and scalp.
You must not lose sight of the fact that we are talking about hair dyes and toners and they contain chemicals. If they are not used properly, chemicals can cause hair disasters.
I don’t mean that you should settle and tolerate that color you don’t like in your hair. Instead, you should know exactly when you can apply another toner to put out that little fire. If you don’t wait long enough, you can end up with a bigger hair fire.
I guess that’s not what you want, is it?
So, if you want to tone your hair again, stay with me, because I’ll tell you:
- How long to wait to re-tone your hair if you don’t want to damage it
- How to evaluate if your hair is healthy to receive the new toner
- Tips to Keep in Mind Before Applying Toner Again
Tabla de Contenidos
How long should you wait to re-apply hair toner without damaging your hair?
To begin with, what part of your hair do you want to tone?
If it’s just a few highlights, you can do sun-kissed highlights, which do not harm your hair. What’s more, you can do it twice in a row if you want.
Now, in case you want to tone all your hair, it is very important that you go back in time to that exact moment when you firstly used the hair dye, and remember if the product contained ammonia.
Did it contain ammonia?
If the answer is yes, I have some bad news for you.
In that case, you’ll have to wait at least 30 to 45 days to tone your hair again.
That time is not capricious. Remember I told you about the trichologists? Well, these specialists claim that it takes the body 30 to 45 days to absorb the ammonia present in the dyes. And it doesn’t end there.
The amount of ammonia present in hair dyes is proportional to what the body can absorb in a month.
What does this mean?
That if you do two or three hair dyes in a month, you would be incorporating too much ammonia and chemicals into your body, which can cause an allergy or scalp reaction.
Therefore, if the dye you previously used contains ammonia, you should wait at least one month to tone your hair again.
If you previously used a tone-on-tone, which does not contain ammonia, you can tone your hair again immediately.
The same goes for toning highlights since you wouldn’t even have to tone the hair from the root.
How to assess if your hair is fit for toning again
Regardless of whether the dye you used previously contained ammonia, it is also important to take look at your hair.
- Are the ends split?
- Do you feel a lot of frizz, even though the air is 0% humidity?
- When you touch it, does it feel dry and rough?
In that case, your hair is in intensive care. Before you tone it up, you’ll need to restore the moisture it lost during the chemical process.
A good idea is to use intensive moisturizing treatments with coconut oil to regain lost moisture. Also, trimming the ends never hurts.
3 tips to keep in mind before toning your hair again
Now that you know how long you’ll have to wait to tone your hair again, it’s time for me to tell you some secrets. That way, you will be able to do it without having any hair problems. Are you taking notes?
- Apply a dye using 10 volume developer.
If the coloring you used previously was tone-on-tone, and you only applied it on the mid-lengths and not on the roots, you will be able to apply the new coloring without problems.
However, this time, I recommend you use a lower volume so it doesn’t dry out your hair. That is, if you used 20 volume developer the first time, I recommend that you use 10 volume developer now.
- If you previously used ammonia dye, then, apply a tone-on-tone next time.
This way, you will be able to tone the color you don’t like, but with much less aggression to your hair. Tone-on-tone coloring is ammonia-free, so you won’t run the risk of allergic reactions or drying out your hair.
- If you notice any discomfort on your scalp, do not dye your hair just now
If you feel your scalp is red, tight, painful, itchy, or otherwise uncomfortable, it is best to wait a few days until your scalp recovers its sebum again.
This is important because the sebum will act as natural protection against the dye. Did you know that sebum and perspiration, when mixed together, create an acid mantle on our scalp that facilitates moisturizing, making it more elastic?
Yes, the human organism is a perfect clockwork machine.
Conclusions
Once you are completely sure that you don’t like your new color, you always have the option of using a toner.
However, if you’ve first applied an ammonia hair color, you’ll have to wait thirty to forty-five days to dye again. However, if you’ve used a tone-on-tone, you’ll be able to tone your hair as soon as you want.
Even though colors in hair matter, safety, and health are the most important parts.
Now, tell me, how many days will you wait to tone your hair again?
