Hair highlights can give you the new look you want. But the new look can be ruined if your highlights are too light or not as dark as you expected. Going to hair salons specializing in color is suggested, but if you want to do it yourself, follow the below guide.

Using A Toner For Darkening Hair Highlights

This is a temporary but easy way of making your light hair highlights darker. A toner uses pigments that attach the hair strands. These pigments make the light hair dark.

Choose The Color

Keep in mind that, you should follow the rule of darkening highlights with toner. The rule is to never go more than two shades darker than the color of your highlights. For instance, if your hair highlights shade is 6, you can choose the toner shade to be 5 or 4, but never anything less than 4. On the other hand, if the shade of your highlights is at 5, you can go for 4 or 3 toner shade.

Therefore, the first step for selecting a toner is determining the shade of your highlights. You can use any hair color level chart to do that. However, make sure that you use the level chart and toner of the same brand. It’s important because the color level can be different for different brands. So, select a brand and stick to it for this entire process.

Get The Toner

You can shop for a toner online but it’s better to visit a store where you can get help from a salesperson if needed. Select the toner of the brand and shade you’ve chosen.

Get A 10 Volume Developer

You will also need a 10 volume developer that will be mixed with the toner. Again, use the developer of the brand you bought the toner from. Bear in mind that you can’t use a toner solely without a developer because only their mixture will help you get the color you require.

Mix The Developer And The Toner

Read the instructions that will be inside or on the packing of the hair toner. They will show how much developer you need to mix with the toner. Generally, 2 parts developers is mixed with 1 part toner.

Apply The Mixture

This is the main step of the process. Before applying the mixture to your hair, you should decide if you want to use it for the highlighted hair or the entire head. You can section your hair if you want. Moreover, you shouldn’t fret if the toner is applied to some of the darker hair. The toner won’t make them darker.

Spread The Toner With A Comb

Combing after the application of toner is necessary to spread the toner throughout your hair. Make sure to comb your hair from the roots to the full length of hair. When done combing, clean the comb with water so there is no toner left on it else it may affect your hair the time you use it without the intention of toning your hair.

Wait For 20-30 Minutes

Read the instructions on the toner to learn the exact time you should leave the toner on your hair before rinsing. Usually, it’s 20-30 minutes. Keep a check on your hair and when you see your desired color level, wait another 5 minutes and then rinse it off.

The extra waiting time is important before cleaning your hair because some toner will be rinsed with water. If you rinse your hair immediately after seeing the desired color level, your hair may be a bit brighter than desired.

However, make sure that you don’t leave the toner on for more than 30 minutes. Keep a timer so you don’t forget it.

Rinse Your Hair

The last step is to rinse your hair. Use cold water and massage your scalp to clean the toner properly from your hair. If you shampoo your hair immediately after rinsing out the toner, the hair color comes out a bit lighter than what you need.

Conclusion

If you think your hair highlights are too bright, you can use the above-mentioned steps to make them darker. Get your hair professionally darkened by going to a hair color correction hair salon Rockville.