How to Tone Orange Hair Back to its Best

First – Is Their Hair Orange or Yellow?

Unwanted warmth in the hair tends to be either orange or yellow, and the depth of your client’s hair may affect what kind of brassiness appears. As you’ll see in the lightening curve, tinges of yellow are common in hair that’s on a level 7, 8, 9 and 10. Put simply, hair that fades yellow is typically a dark to very light blonde.

Meanwhile, orange tones usually appear in level 5, 6 or 7 hair – essentially, anything from your dark blondes to dark brunettes and redheads. But if you suspect your client’s hair is actually yellow – not orange – make sure you also check out our guide on how to tone yellow hair to perfection.

Why Does Hair Turn Orange?

You might be wondering what causes those orange tones in your client’s hair in the first place. They can crop up for a number of reasons, but these are just some of the most common brassy hair culprits:

Your client’s hair was coloured a balanced red hue, but their radiant shade has faded.
Their target shade was a warm dark blonde or brunette, but the warmth has become too prominent.
Dark locks were lifted to a level 5, 6 or 7, and orange tones are just part of the process. Next step: toning!

The good news is, for each of these causes there’s a toning formula to fix it up. Below, we reveal just some of the ways you can tone orange hair back to its red, dark blonde or brunette best.

The Colour Wheel Shows You Which Hues Tone Orange Hair

For neutralizing any unwanted tones in your client’s hair, the colour wheel has all the answers. It tells you which hues ‘cancel’ each other out for a balancing effect. In the case of orange hair, a touch of blue pigment will cool and calm too-warm locks, while a hint of violet is also helpful for yellow/orange strands on a level 7. Once you know how the wheel works, it’s easier to mix up a colour correcting formula; one that nixes warm tones to get your client closer to their perfect shade.

Get to Grips with Wella’s Easy Tone Numbering System

Wella Professionals tone numbering system.

Each colour in the Wella portfolio is typically made up of two or three digits: the first (before the stroke) denotes the depth, the second symbolizes the major tone, and the third (when it’s present) represents the minor tone.

The major and minor tone could be anything from a 0 to a 9, and to balance orange hair, you will typically look for a 1 (ash blue/green) or 8 (pearl blue) in the formula. This 1 or 8 could be either the major or the minor tone, depending on how much orange toning is required through your client’s hair. If there’s a lot of warmth to knock out, try making 1 or 8 your major for a flattering shot of coolness.

But, the great thing about having a major and a minor is that you’re able to add other hues in there too. For example, if you want to correct orange tinges while creating a golden blonde hue, you could try adding Koleston Perfect 8/38 to your formula. Meanwhile, if you’re taking locks super-cool and icy for a frosted chestnut brown shade, something like Illumina Color 5/81 would give you all the blue infusions needed to neutralize warmth. You can even use these formulas to pre-tone hair in need of deep correction, before toning a second time with the colour of your client’s dreams.

4 Orange Toning Formulas for Inspiration

1. Toning Orange Hair to a Dark Blonde

Back of client’s head with brassy, orange hair.

Back of client’s head with dark blonde, glossy hair.

Image Credit: @byalexmk

To bring dirty blonde hair back from the orangey brink, Alex MK toned overly warm locks with Illumina Color 5/02 + 5/81 + 6/16 + 4% through the roots, and 8/38 + 8/1 + Silver Mauve + 1.9% on the lengths. The result? A cooler, crisper dark blonde with a seamless root shadow.

2. Toning Orange Hair to a Creamy Blonde

Client with dark brown roots and orange-blonde mid-lengths and ends.

Client with stone blonde hair styled in a blow-dry.

Image Credit: @ninanears

Now, this is a big transformation. From brassy balayage to creamy blonde highlights, Nina Nears’ client underwent a mane makeover that featured a surprisingly simple formula. First, orange tones were lifted out with root-to-tip strokes of BlondorPlex + 6%, and then Color Touch 6/0 + 1.9% was applied in between for soft, subtle lowlights.

3. Toning Orange Hair to a Dark Brown

Client with brassy tones through brown hair.

Client with flawless espresso brown hair.

Image Credit: @terricolours_bloominhair

Brassy balayage, be gone! Terri Harris took this client’s hair back to dark brown perfection by overlaying Color Touch 5/1 + 4/0 + 1.9%; a deep formula with ash blue tones to banish excess warmth. Simple yet oh-so effective, the quick colour correction resulted in a silky espresso mane that transcends trends and seasons – it’s always in style.

4. Toning Orange Hair with a Shinefinity Glaze

Client with blonde hair and brassy orange tones.

Image Credit: @oz_beauties

A Shinefinity Glaze offers your client a subtle and translucent finish, but here’s proof that its shine-boosting powers can even extend to a colour correction. To nix yellow/orange tones, the team at Oz Beauties pre-lightened locks, then applied two alternating Shinefinity formulas: 05/98 + 07/81 and 09/61 + 07/59, both using the bottle activator.

Will Purple Shampoo Help Orange Hair?

If your client’s hair is on the yellow end of the orange spectrum, a purple shampoo can help to correct and neutralize their brassy hair. This is because violet sits opposite yellow on the colour wheel, allowing it to cancel out those unwanted tones and leave strands beautifully balanced. So, for those clients who do have hints of yellow, recommend they add INVIGO Cool Blonde Color Refreshing Shampoo to their kit. All they have to do is lather up, leave it to do its work for 2-5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly. Bye bye, brassy tones.

How to Tone Orange Hair Back to its Best

First – Is Their Hair Orange or Yellow?

Why Does Hair Turn Orange?

The Colour Wheel Shows You Which Hues Tone Orange Hair

Get to Grips with Wella’s Easy Tone Numbering System