Why does my gray hair turn orange when I dye it brown

The most common colouring challenge colourists encounter is unwanted warmth.

Table of Contents Show

Why does hair turn orange?
Natural contributing pigment is the varying degree of warmth exposed during the lightening process.
How do I get rid of unwanted orange/brassiness?
How can you prevent brassy colour outcomes in future?
Can gray hair be colored brown?
Why does my hair look orange after dying it brown?
Why does my GREY hair go ginger when I dye it brown?
How do you get orange out of GREY hair?

It happens often enough that there are more than 5 million results for the Google search ‘dyed hair blonde turned orange’.

Why does hair turn orange?

Hair colour is a combination of various colour pigments, including the visible colour and underlying colour. The darker your natural colour, the more pigment it contains.

All hair has red within its base colour. Black has a large quantity of dark red base pigment, brunettes have an orange base pigment.

When you lighten your colour you reveal pigments which usually are not visible in hair, and which are all predominantly red or orange. The cool toned colour pigments within your hair are the smallest and they are the first to be lifted out of your hair during the lightening process. There are more warmer (red and orange) molecules than cool colour molecules, and the warmer pigments are larger, so they are the last to be lifted out of hair.

Natural contributing pigment is the varying degree of warmth exposed during the lightening process.

As hair lightens, melanin is removed in order of the size of the molecule, which ranges from darkest to lightest, and as a result the underlying tones are exposed. The brassy/reddish/yellow colours are the largest colour pigments, and the most difficult colour pigment to remove, which is why all colour always gets warmer when it is lightened.

The natural pigment left in the hair at the desired level is referred to as Natural Contributing Pigment (NCP).

As all NCP is warm, typically the best option to manage unwanted warmth is to select a cool colour which will neutralise warmth.

Understanding and accounting for NCP is critical in correct colour selection for colouring.

NCP is one of the most important factors to consider to ensure a successful colour outcome.

Your hair turns brassy/orange when you lighten it because the warm colour molecules are the last to be lifted during a lightening process.

For a successful, balanced lighter colour outcome, you need to first lift out all the warm colour pigments.

How do I get rid of unwanted orange/brassiness?

If you have brassiness in your colour, you can either:

Lighten your hair further to remove all the warm pigments and recolour your hair,
Add some depth and cool secondary tones, or
Neutralize the unwanted tones by using a cool based toner.

An option for lightening is a bleach wash, which you can do at home to lighten your hair by more than two colour levels.

It is essential to select cool based colours to recolour your hair after a lightening process as they can neutralise warm colours.

A cool based toner will also be effective in counter-acting and neutralizing unwanted warm tones.

How can you prevent brassy colour outcomes in future?

Select a colour within two colour levels of your natural hair colour. We have a ‘recommended for’ range listed with all our lighter colours to help you work out if that colour is an option for you.

Cool based colour selections very important to stay on top of any unwanted warmth. Choose cool colours when lightening for their blue/violet undertones which will neutralize unwanted warmth.

I can’t stop recommending your product!! The Shade is incredible, my colour is amazing, pure, clean blonde. No brassy overtones and not a hint of purple. This is a superior product and the results I get are so much better than I was getting for $120 a month at a salon! Congratulations on an amazing product!
R. Waterhouse

The colour is excellent, and true to the images on the website, not brassy at all and I have a lot of red pigment in my hair naturally.
K. Ndaira

I was after a more ashy blonde as my blonde was starting to look a bit brassy. So I tried the San Remo after consulting with (colourist) Camilla. The result looks like I’ve had a toner put on my hair – it’s definitely more ashy so it has delivered. Also my hair feels lovely. Will continue using 😊
S. Katharine

Can gray hair be colored brown?

Gray hair can be colored many different shades, such as platinum blonde, medium brown, or pure black (for this color, we recommend Simply Color Jet Black 1.0).

Why does my hair look orange after dying it brown?

Dark hair has many underlying pigments that give your rich brown or ebony strands depth and dimension. Red and orange pigments are the most dominant undertones in dark hair. So if you don't bleach enough of those pigments out, you end up with an unflattering brassy orange.

Why does my GREY hair go ginger when I dye it brown?

Your hair turns brassy/orange when you lighten it because the warm colour molecules are the last to be lifted during a lightening process. For a successful, balanced lighter colour outcome, you need to first lift out all the warm colour pigments.

How do you get orange out of GREY hair?

You can use a toning shampoo. If your hair is orange, use a blue shampoo. If your hair is yellow, use a purple shampoo. You can also apply a toner to get the orange out of your hair.