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Most individuals happily exit a salon glowing and flaunting their new look, only to face a minor crisis soon after and end up googling how to fix over-processed highlights. 

However, before freaking out and rushing to another salon visit, let us assure you: there are home hair color correction methods available. 

What you might not realize is that toning down highlights at home only requires a few quick fixes, like using a highlight toner for brassy hair.

If, even after putting in all your efforts, you fail to fix brassy highlights or repair ashy highlights, don’t worry - we are here to help you correct hair color at home.

At times, using clarifying shampoo for dark highlights is all you need to let your hair shine back without any color touch-ups. Are you also struggling to find the right answers to fixing highlights at home? 

Then, this article will help you master the art of tone control using simple DIY highlight repair techniques that effortlessly bring joy back to your hair.

Understanding the Basics Before You Fix Brassy Highlights

Before jumping straight into solutions on how to fix highlights at home, let us first understand and shed some light on why brassy hair happens in the first place.

Brassy hair refers to the appearance of unwanted warm tones in your color-treated or highlighted hair, especially when you go a few shades lighter than your natural color by choosing shades like blonde, platinum, silver, or grey.

This discoloration can be frustrating for many individuals who anticipate cool ashy tones and end up with warm, yellow, or orange undertones instead.

To shade a darker base color, we first need to lighten the hair color with bleach, which leaves behind warm undertones.

We then color our hair in the desired shades, but brassy hair tends to show up within a few days of coloring. It happens because the cool tones fade due to environmental factors, hard water, product buildup, and improper color formation, allowing the underneath warm tones to resurface.

Got Brassy Hair? Here's How to Fix Highlights at Home Like a Pro

Before you invest in another expensive salon appointment, try following expert tips on how to fix highlights at home to professionally rescue your hair:

Highlight Toner for Brassy Hair

Viewing a rainbow spectrum, you will come to know that colors have unique ways of counteracting warm tones. The shades meeting in the opposite directions of a color wheel cancel each other out, neutralizing the effect of unwanted hues and proposing a reliable solution to correct hair color at home.

Highlight toners for brassy hair are specialized products formulated with the science of the color wheel principle, helping restore your desired shades. To answer how to fix highlights at home using these toners, they come in several forms, primarily including:

• Liquid toners are used with developers
• Toning shampoos and conditioners
• Hair masks with toning pigments

So, tone down highlights at home using any of these products from a reliable hair care brand. The following color-pigment pairings will help you choose the right toner to eliminate the warm tones in your hair:

• Green neutralizes red
• Purple neutralizes yellow
• Blue neutralizes orange

For instance, purple shampoo, conditioners, and hair masks are commonly available in stores around you to counteract brassy yellow tones.

Additionally, with these toners, use deeply repairing hair care products like Vince’s Intense Keratin Mask to strengthen your strands and help reverse the damaging effects of hair coloring and treatment.

Clarifying Shampoo for Dark Highlights

Deep hair cleansing to remove buildup, including excess oil, dirt, and product residues from your hair and scalp, can be achieved using a clarifying shampoo. As compared to traditional shampoos, they are relatively strong products for a more thorough cleanse and are not recommended for daily use.

Although the primary job of a clarifying shampoo is not to adjust your hair color, its high surfactant levels accelerate color fading. So, if your hair color is a few shades darker than expected or picks up brassy undertones, it can help lighten them slightly with a few washes. It is especially useful before toning and recoloring the hair.

However, as it can dry out your hair, never forget to follow with deeply nourishing Vince’s Re-Gain Leave In Hair Cream to strengthen hair strands and promote hair regrowth.

Refresh and Tone Down Highlights at Home with Hair Dye

As a temporary fix, semi-permanent hair dye is another way to treat mild brassiness by depositing color into your strands without lifting your natural hair color.

So you can refresh your tone by using gentle yet effective Vince’s Nurtural Hair Color for women. It not only comes in a fascinating range of shades to choose from, but also leaves your hair nourished with rich shades, without any assistance from harsh chemicals like ammonia.

Prevention Tips: Fix Brassy Highlights Before They Happen

Having a clear knowledge of how to fix highlights at home is quite useful for people who often dye their hair. However, shifting your focus to common prevention tips ensures your color-treated hair stays vibrant longer. The following are a few tips that delay color mishaps and help avoid brassiness in the first place:

• Avoid overusing heat styling tools on your hair, and if necessary, use a hair protectant first.
• Go for the right cleansing system by purchasing color-safe, sulfate-free shampoo.
• Strengthen your hair with routine maintenance using effective products like Vince’s anti-hair fall Biotin & Keratin Mask to avoid breakage and repair dull, damaged strands.
• Hot water can open the cuticle and let the color fade faster, so always choose cold water for cleansing hair.
• Avoid exposing your hair to the sun’s damaging rays by opting for shades and wearing hats.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: How can I fix highlights that are too brassy at home?

The best way to fix brassy hair at home is by neutralizing the warm undertones using hair toners, which come in different forms like shampoos and hair masks. A professional toner in blue counteracts orange brassiness, while a purple one neutralizes yellow. To temporarily fix your hair shade, Vince’s semi-permanent hair color is a gentle option, offering a variety of colors to adjust the shades of your highlights.

Q2: What should I do if my highlights are too light?

For a too-light highlights fix, a temporary semi-permanent hair dye in a shade slightly darker than your highlights can offer a great comeback solution. With a comprehensive range of colors, Vince’s Ammonia Free Nurtural Women Hair Color gives you a spectrum of shades while nourishing your strands. Choose your shade wisely to avoid ending up with the opposite problem of overly dark hair.

Q3: Can I fix highlights that are too dark without bleaching again?

The moment you realize your highlights are too dark, use a clarifying shampoo for dark highlights. These shampoos accelerate the fading of your hair color, but in the process, they can dry out your hair. So, follow up with deep-conditioning hair care products like Vince’s Re-Alive Hair Serum to nourish and revive the strands. For dark brassy highlights, you can use hair toners in suitable counteracting shades.

Q4: How long should I wait before correcting a highlight mistake?

It is advisable to give your hair 2 weeks to fully recover. For minor mistakes, you can undo the damage with clarifying or purple shampoo and toners. Otherwise, during those 2 weeks, use deep conditioning hair care products like Vince's Intense Keratin mask and Re-Alive Hair Serum to strengthen your strands and repair damage before further chemical processing.  

Q5: What is the best toner to fix at-home highlight mistakes?

Mastering how to fix highlights at home using toners requires an understanding of the color wheel principle. According to this principle, the colors in opposite directions cancel each other, neutralizing the effect of unwanted hues and correcting highlight mistakes. Purple toner neutralizes yellow tones, blue toner works well to counteract orange brassiness, and green toner nullifies red undertones.