Toning is often necessary for women who bleach their hair, especially when going from a dark natural base to light browns and blondes.
While blondes often tone their hair to get just the right shade they’re looking for, brunettes and redheads can also benefit from high-quality hair toners!
However, understanding exactly how toners work and how they can potentially harm your hair is an essential step to take for the best overall results.
Read on to learn the risks involved with overtoning your hair and why you should never tone your hair twice in a short period.
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Can I Tone My Hair Twice?
You can tone your hair twice, but you shouldn't tone your hair twice during a short period of time. Toning your hair twice in one day will significantly damage your hair.
So, if you hate your toned hair, you will have to deal with it for a little while (more on this later on in this article). Even toning your hair twice within one or two weeks can result in damage.
Key Takeaways
- Toning Frequency and Risks. Avoid toning your hair a second time in a short period (like twice in one day or week) to prevent serious damage such as dryness, breakage, and hair loss. This is crucial for maintaining hair health, especially after chemical processes like bleaching.
- Hair Toner Types and Use. Use high-quality toner suited for your hair type and color, whether it’s for reducing yellow tones in blonde hair or orange tones in brunettes. Purple shampoo and blue shampoo are common toning shampoos for these purposes.
- Waiting Period Between Toning. Wait at least four weeks before a second toning session to allow your hair time to recover. This waiting period helps you avoid potential damage to the hair shaft and hair follicles.
- Hair Care Post-Toning. After toning, use hair care products like a deep conditioning treatment or a coconut oil hair mask to restore your hair’s natural oils. This step is important for hair that has undergone a chemical process like toning or dye job.
- Professional Guidance for Toning. Consult a hair colorist for advice tailored to your specific hair needs. Colorist can help if you’re considering a color change or using ammonia-based toners. They can help you choose the right products and methods to achieve the desired color without much damage.
Toning is the process of altering or visibly correcting tones in already-dyed hair. If your bleached blonde hair is brassy or yellow, a blue toner can fix it in a snap.
For brown hair that looks just a bit too orange, a blue toner (e.g., blue toning shampoos) can tone it right down.
When used correctly, a toner (e.g., purple toner, green toner) can give you the perfect color shade to match your skin undertone, natural pigment, and personal preferences.
Understanding the toner you’re using and how long sessions should be spaced apart is key to preserving the health of your hair.
Technically, you can tone your hair an unlimited amount of times. But you should always ensure that you’re distancing these sessions out.
Plus, pay attention to the health of your hair and avoid toning if your hair is feeling brittle or damaged!
Risks of Toning Your Hair Too Often
When you tone your hair too much, you face many risks that could affect the overall state of your hair. In the section below, we’ll fill you in on the dangers of toning your hair too often.
Knowing these risks and how to avoid them will enable you to achieve your dream hair shade without frying your hair to oblivion.
Risk 1: Your Hair Can Become Damaged
What is the first and most common risk of toning your hair too often? Damaged hair in the form of split ends and breakage. After overtoning your hair, it will not only look duller and frizzier, but it will feel rougher and even stringy in some cases.
If you’ve overtoned your hair and it’s starting to look or feel damaged, stop toning your hair and give it some TLC.
Just because your hair is damaged doesn’t mean you can’t ever tone your hair again. But you should work on bringing your hair back to life before doing so.
Do some deep conditioning treatments, limit heat usage, and style your hair more infrequently - you’ll notice a real difference in the health of your hair before long.
Risk 2: Your Hair Can Dry Out
Super dry hair is another major risk of toning your hair too often. After a toning session, many notice that their hair is slightly drier than usual. This is normal and results from the harsh ingredients that open up your cuticle before depositing the toner’s pigment.
One of the most common signs of hair damage is dryness. So, the second you realize that your hair is drying out, you should stop toning your hair (and doing other chemical hair processes as well).
Toning already dry hair will just make it drier, eventually leading to split ends and breakage.
If you want healthy curls, you should focus on keeping your hair hydrated. This means that you may have to push back toning for as long as a few months. Once your hair feels hydrated and bounces back as it should, you can start to tone it again!
Risk 3: Hair Can Fall Out
Now, let’s talk about the most extreme thing that could happen if you tone your hair too much - hair loss. Why?
The chemicals in the toner can damage your hair so badly that it gets to the point that your hair is too weak to tolerate styling or maintenance of any kind. That’s when you’ll notice increased hair fallout.
Overtoning shouldn’t cause your hair to fall out in one clump — but no amount of hair loss is good. Also, the amount of hair lost during toning may vary, but the thing to remember is that it is entirely avoidable.
Just follow the instructions on your toner packaging and avoid using it too often.
How Long to Wait Before Toning Again
We’ve discussed the risks of toning your hair too often. Now, let’s get into how long you have to wait before toning your hair again. While every toner type varies, you should wait about four weeks between toning sessions in general.
So, if you were thinking about toning your hair twice in one day or twice in one week, stop right there! For the health of your hair, you’ll have to wait it out for a while. We don't recommend that you tone your hair twice on the same day.
What if your hair is already damaged from a previous toning, bleaching, or dyeing session?
You’re going to want to wait for at least 7 to 8 weeks before you tone again — or wait until your hair is back to its normal state - however long that takes.
To keep your hair as healthy as possible, do whatever you have to do to wait the appropriate amount of time before toning again. You can try wigs or wear your hair in a low ponytail to make the color less noticeable until you can re-tone it.
Get to Know Your Toner
Getting to know the toner you’re using, as well as taking note of how long your toner is supposed to last, can also help you understand the best timeframe for your toning sessions.
Different types of toners last varying lengths of time. The average toner is semi-permanent or demi-permanent and lasts anywhere from 4-6 weeks. You should wait that long before using it again.
Permanent toners, which are to be used with a 20-volume developer, last much longer and should not be applied multiple times over the course of a couple of months.
However, some toners are considered temporary rinses that can be used as needed.
So, we recommend getting to know your toner to find out how often you should tone your hair.
Contact a Professional Colorist
If you’re still not feeling confident about how long you should wait between toning sessions, professional assistance can help. Colorists are available to give you a professional consultation to tell you precisely what you need to do to achieve your desired results.
You can go in for an in-person consultation if you’d like or describe your hair issues over the phone. Some colorists charge for consultations, so be prepared to fork over some coins.
The correct information can be the difference between a successful toning session and a hair failure. We recommend washing your hair with a sulfate-free shampoo before visiting a professional colorist, so they're working with clean hair as they design your hair care routine.
- Do You Tone Your Hair Wet or Dry?
- What Does Toner Do to Brown Hair?
- How To Get Toner Out of Hair Without Damage
- How Long Does Overtone Last
Conclusion
Toning your hair twice within a short period can result in significant damage to the hair. If you have already toned your hair and want to tone it again, wait at least four weeks before doing so.
However, you should refer back to the 'Get to know your toner' section of this article to understand that four weeks is only an estimate, and the type of toner you're using will determine how long you should wait.
Using a toner is a quick and easy way to fine-tune your hair hue and eliminate brassy yellow or orange tones. However, toners need to be used at the right frequency for the best results.
We hope that this article has given you all you need to get the color result you want without sacrificing your hair. We wish you the best!
