Why did my client's blonde hair turn green?
Let's face it. It's a pretty horrible result, and almost certainly not what your client wanted.
Has this ever happened to you?
Then read on...
Green hair - why does it happen?
What is causing the hair to go green?
Unless you or she actually colored it green, the reason why hair turns green is to do with the Color Wheel.
Most probably you did not bleach your client's hair enough. It may have been lifted to around level 7 or 8 and not level 9 or 10.
A picture of hair that has been inconsistently lifted.
If you tried to put a blue based toner on to hair color which was level 7-8, then the rules of Color Theory mean that:
Yellow + Blue = Green.
See the chart below.
Look at where yellow is and look at where blue is.
As you can see, the mix of the two is green.
In the same way, the mix of yellow and red is orange and the mixture of aquamarine and purple is blue.
 Hair_Color_wheel (1).png)
Hair Color Wheel: Yellow + Blue = Green
What should I do to cancel the green?
You cannot and should not dump more color onto the hair to "cancel" it - color on color does not work & no stylist should do that.
Especially blue toner on top of very yellow hair.
Instead, you need to lift very very well, using a good quality bleach. Then tone.
That would be the correct way, and that's the way a good hairdresser would do it.
How much do I need to lift with my bleach? And how long should I leave it in?
Use a good quality bleach with good lifting power.
We would recommend Ugly Duckling's Brilliant Blondexx. It has Bond Protect built in and will protect the hair and the roots as it lifts.
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Brilliant Blondexx 7 level bleach with Bond Protect
Make a mix with 20 Vol developer in a ratio of 1 part bleach to 2 parts developer.
Stir extremely well until the mixture is a smooth, rich, oily cream. This is the texture that Brilliant Blondexx has.
Then apply quickly, saturating the hair really well and working in nice, orderly sections.
For full head applications, start at the back where the hair is the thickest and work your way around.
For very long hair, leave the root area until the last to stop it over-processing at that part.
When lifting, make sure you lift all the way to level 9/10 and all the color build-up has been removed.
Peel back the bleach mixture while the mixture is processing to check and be absolutely sure.
This is how bleach should be applied. Note how well saturated the hair is. If you are using Brilliant Blondexx, you can apply all the way up to the root area.
Once lifted, correctly, and rinsed, this is what it will look like when towel-dried and combed.
Note there is now less yellow in the hair.
There is some, but not so much that it will interfere with a blue-based or a purple-based toner.
Now you are ready to tone.
This is what level 10 bleached hair looks like
How should I tone the hair once I have bleached?
After you have bleached correctly & fully, go ahead and use any of these Ugly Duckling toners.
Intense pearl blonde toner 100V
Intense silver blonde toner 100B
If there is still a lot of yellow in the hair, or you believe it should be lifted by at least one level more, then use the intense toners.
Otherwise, use the non-lift regular toners.
All these toners contain a lot of blue and purple pigments. They tone yellow hair very well. But they are formulated in such a way that they won't stain.
And because you have lifted the hair up really well, it won't turn green either.
Hair lifted correctly & toned with Pearl Blonde Toner 10V.
Hair by Elona Taki
Can't I just use tomato ketchup or any other red-based food pigment? I heard that red is the opposite of green on the color wheel and that should work.
Putting tomato ketchup on your hair to get rid of green is one of the least intelligent things you could possibly do.
People learn the color wheel in cosmetology school and they think that you can dump color on top of color to cancel.
This only really works if you are happy going down and darkening.
Otherwise, don't be a lazy hairdresser.
Lift the yellow out first, or lift the green out if it has not turned green. Use a quality bleach when doing so.
And then tone.
What about if I don't want to use bleach?
If your client is dead set against using bleach, and her hair is yellow level 7-8. use Ugly Duckling Intense pearl blonde toner 100V or Intense silver blonde toner 100B with 20 Vol.
These toners do have lift and you should be able to get much of the yellow out this way.
