WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TONER & HAIR DYE?

Whether you want beachy highlights, cover grey, pump up shine or beat colour fade between appointments, our in-house colour master, James S, answers your top questions…

Let’s start with the basics

Hair dye is ‘permanent colour’ or a tint. A toner will be listed as a toner or gloss on our service menu.

What does a toner do?

A toner is brilliant if your highlights have oxidized a little (you’ll notice it looking brassy) and you want to restore it to an icy, creamy or beige shade between appointments. Likewise, if your hair is coloured red, but starting to look a bit faded, a toner will return it to its full, luminous, coppery glory.

What about hair dye?

Dye can be used to darken or lighten your hair. If you’re going lighter, taking it up around three shades at a time is a realistic expectation. Anything more drastic than that, and you risk damaging your hair. Naturally, hair dye is great for covering greys too.

How long does toner last?

It depends on the strength. For example, a dark brown toner applied to brunette hair will last longer than a translucent beige toner on top of highlighted hair. It also depends on the porosity of your hair.

Do I need to add a toner when I book my highlights or balayage appointment?

You can do if you know you usually have one. If you're new to us, we’d recommend you come for a colour consultation, so we can discuss how to achieve the look you want before we start.

Will a toner damage my hair?

Quite the contrary. In fact, we usually apply a toner after highlighting the hair. This is because hair dye is very alkaline. A toner helps neutralise this and rebalance the pH of the hair to boost shine and maintain good condition.

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