Glowing Hair? 3 Major Causes Of Brassiness And How To Fix Them

Brassiness is one of the most common problems encountered in hair color. So what is it exactly? Brassy is the term given to hair that has an unnatural color appearance due to the presence of too much yellow, gold, or red within the hair. Brassiness is a persistent problem for many people, and it can be difficult to get rid of it completely once it occurs. Fortunately, though, you can get rid of it. It takes a little bit of trial and error and the aid of a colorist that's well-versed in corrective color to fix these common problems that cause brassiness:

Stopping Lightening Prematurely

When you lighten your hair to a light blonde or platinum color, you have to make sure you've left the lightener on long enough or you will end up with gold or yellow hair. You see, hair goes through several color stages as it lightens. Brown hair will first appear red, then it will pass through orange, gold, yellow, and pale yellow on it's way to platinum. If you stop prematurely, you will end up in the gold or yellow stages. To fix this problem, you must reapply the lightener to bring the hair above the yellow stages. 

Lightening Too Much

You can also lighten too much. If you don't want light blond or platinum hair, you shouldn't lighten your hair to those stages. You should only lighten your hair to the level that you desire. For example, if you want caramel highlights, you should only lighten your hair to the orange-gold stage before applying your toner or caramel color. If you lighten too much, the caramel color will lack depth, resulting in a brassy appearance. If you lighten your hair past the desired shade, apply a filler to replace the missing color depth before applying the toner. 

Failure To Create Color Base

Brassiness also occurs when you're going darker, especially if you don't recreate the color base or place the color depth back into the hair. Brown hair has a balance of tones in it, including blue, green, yellow, gold, and red. If you don't have a balance of tones, specifically if you're lacking blue and green tones, your hair will appear brassy. To prevent this from happening, apply a filler with an ash or beige base, green or blue, when you're coloring your light hair dark using a red or orange based color. 

Color correction is tricky, so it's best to always have a professional help you out with it. Even the pros have difficulty getting color perfect during a corrective procedure. It can take several applications and techniques to get the look you desire. Contact a salon like Texture Salon & Spa of Madison Inc. for more information.

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