Should I Tone My Hair Before Dying it Pink? No! Here's what you should do instead

You don’t need to tone your hair before you dye it pink.
The first thing you should do is the strand test to see how your hair reacts to the pink dye. Also, to check if the pink you get is the pink you want.
If you don’t get the pink you want, bleach your hair to butter or pale blonde base color.
If you don’t want to bleach your hair again, the option is to choose another pink shade taking into account your yellow base color.

medium length hair

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Semi-permanent hair dyes in fantasy colors are wonderful. However, they’re an unknown world in hair coloring.

Do you know why?

To get the results you want, the most important thing is to consider the base color of your hair .

If you are thinking about toning your hair before dyeing it pink, you probably notice that you got some unwanted yellowish tones after bleaching.

So what’s the golden rule to make fantasy hair color look just as you see it on the hair dye box?

Have your hair bleached to almost white or at the very least, an extremely pale blonde.

Of course, you don’t have that color right now. So what did you come up with?

Neutralize those yellow tones using a purple toner. That would be wonderful for chasing away unwanted tones. However, it may be your worst decision if you’re looking for an immaculate pink.

Before you jump into toning your hair and end up with a rainbow on your head, there are two things to consider:

The pink shade you want to apply
Your hair’s base color

Why?

Let’s travel to the future.

Let’s say your hair is golden blonde and you apply a pastel pink to it. What color will your hair turn? Coral, which has nothing to do with pastel pink. If you like it, fine. If you don’t like it, you’ll cry your eyes out. However, if you apply a bubblegum pink hair dye over that same golden blonde, you’ll get just that, bubblegum pink.

Let’s keep travelling.

Let's say your hair is dark blonde and you apply a fuchsia. The result will be deep pink. However, if you were to apply a magenta pink, you would get just that, magenta pink.

Do you get the picture?

To make your hair the pink of your dreams you must take into account the base color. .

As you can see, the result of the pink semi-permanent hair color depends on the base color and the shade you choose. However, if you also add the effects of a violet toner, the range of possibilities regarding the results of the color expand. In many cases, it can be disastrous.

You’d be depositing violet pigments in your hair. If you don't color your hair correctly, the results will be uncertain.

If those uncertain results are not to your liking, you’ll have to bleach your hair. Then, your hair will suffer more damage because the toner is applied with a 20-volume developer. It’d add to the bleaching chemicals.

That's why instead of toner, the best is to do a strand test first. Based on the results, opt for bleaching.

Are you still not convinced?

Then read on because I'll tell you:

Why you shouldn’t tone your blonde hair before applying pink hair dye
Which pink shade to choose if you don’t want to bleach your hair

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Why you shouldn't tone blonde hair before applying pink hair color

bleaching

The short answer is: because you're exposing your hair to unnecessary damage, and you're playing with a double-edged sword. Trust me. Toner is a sword because the results can be chaotic if used by inexperienced hands.

Toner is a coloring tool that, applied with developer, creates a pigment film on the hair fiber. The pink hair dye you want to apply is also a coloring tool, in this case, a semi-permanent dye.

Therefore, the color result will be affected by the previous toner application, a mixture of colors.

The manufacturers of semi-permanent hair dyes are very clear about the results: the hair must have a very light color base, with a few exceptions, designed for use on dark hair. Of course, the results of these hair dyes will always be dark colors.

So, how can you tell if the pink you have chosen needs a light base color?

You can perform the strand test.

strand test before coloring

It’s a simple procedure that won't take more than forty minutes and will save you tears of despair.

How to do it?

Comb your hair into a ponytail and separate a small strand at the back.
Apply the pink hair dye of your choice and wait until the time indicated by the manufacturer.
Rinse the strand and observe the result.

According to what you observe, you’ll have to make a decision:

If you got the pink you were hoping for, you don’t need to bleach or use toner. Apply the pink semi-permanent hair dye to the rest of your hair and enjoy your new look.
If the pink is not what you expected, you’ll need to bleach your hair or choose another pink shade.

Do you prefer to bleach your hair? Then you should be aware that you may need more than one bleaching:

If the pink is orange like coral, you’ll need to bleach your hair once more.
If the pink looks dull or dark like a purple, you’ll have to go through two bleaching sessions.
If your pink looks too intense, almost red, you should bleach your hair at least three more times.

What if you don't want to bleach your hair?

You can choose another pink shade, and here's what they are.

Which pink shade to choose depending on the base yellow color if you don't want to bleach your hair

various light and dark shades

If you don't want to bleach your hair anymore, or if the result of the strand test is not what you expected, you can change the shade of pink. It’s easier to raise or lower a hair dye tone than to repair hair extremely damaged by such aggressive processes as bleaching.

Now I’ll tell you which pink shade to apply depending on your base color. As there’re several brands of semi-permanent hair dyes, I focused on one of the best known and easiest to apply at home: Manic Panic.

In addition, Manic Panic's pink dyes are the longest lasting ones.