How to Fix Bleached Hair That Turned Yellow? Easy Solutions

A bad at-home hair dye mishap is not a novel situation. Everyone has been in the situation of needing their hair done badly but not having the money or time to schedule an appointment with a skilled stylist at a salon. We, therefore, turn to some DIY solutions, including bleach in a box and dyes that contain ammonia.

The issue with this is that we frequently lack knowledge in this area, so a quick YouTube tutorial won’t really help much. You don’t have to spend days hiding under your blankets if your do-it-yourself color job turned out yellow.

You can get some simple fixes for bleached hair that turn yellow. You are supposed to add more bleach, try a toner, try a purple mask, and use a vinegar rinse.

However, what happens to your hair when you bleach it? Why does your hair turn yellow after bleaching it? How to tone yellow hair to ash? Don’t worry, I will answer all these questions in the post, please read on.

How to Fix Hair That Turned Yellow After Bleaching?

Asymmetry between your hair’s warm and cool tones causes yellow stains. Warm tones are prevailing in brassy hues, so you must neutralize and balance them to create a more dimensional hue. Brassy hues indicate that warm tones are prevailing.

Here are the four quickest ways to restore your hair to its ideal color if you need to know how to fix bleached hair that turned yellow.

Add More Bleach

You’re thinking—and I understand! Increase the original problem’s cause by adding more of it? No, thank you!

However, if you’re aiming for a light blonde tone, your brassiness and post-bleaching yellowing of your hair may be the result of insufficient bleaching. You must thoroughly remove the natural pigment from your hair if you want light, cool blonde tones.

If your natural color has warm undertones, a brassy color may indicate that not enough of your natural pigment has been removed to allow a lighter, cooler blonde to show through.

Naturally, as was previously mentioned, this is only true when achieving a blonde color. This will be of little use to you if you’re bleaching your hair to add a different bright, fun color.

But if you want to go blonde, just pick up some more bleach and developer and repeat the procedure. In order to prevent hair damage, you should closely monitor the procedure. If you require additional sessions, space them out over a few days or weeks.

Try a Toner

Another great method for coloring your hair appropriately is toner. It can give your hair the final boost to even out the tones because it is gentler than bleach.

Toner gives your overall final color shine and gloss by applying a semi-permanent, comparatively sheer wash of color. It’s a fantastic choice to make if your color could use a little tweaking.

The effects will be transient and will wear off over time because toner is semi-permanent. Toning, though gentler than bleaching, is still a chemical process that, depending on how healthy your hair is, may harm it. Just about every eight weeks is all that is advised. If you are familiar with your hair and what it can handle, you could go as little as every four weeks. However, it’s important to keep an eye on your hair’s health.

Selecting a color that contrasts the shade you’re trying to tone out of your hair is essential because toner cancels out undesirable tints in your hair. You will therefore need a purple toner if your hair is too brassy and has yellow undertones.

Violet or blue toner may also be effective if your skin tone tends to be more on the orange side.

Try a Purple Mask

Pigmented haircare items are also excellent for subtly toning hair that needs a little tweaking. Purchase a nourishing, purple-pigmented hair mask if your hair turned yellow after bleaching.

You can use pigmented products more frequently, up to twice a week if necessary, similar to less potent toners. They offer a semi-permanent deposit of neutralizing dyes that counteract too-warm hair color and leave you with a more aesthetically pleasing shade.

It’s still crucial to avoid using pigmented products excessively. Hair stains may result from using pigmented products excessively. Your blonde hair might turn purple instead of yellow, which is also probably not the style you want.

Use these pigmented products sparingly to ensure your safety. If your hair is yellow after bleaching, try a nourishing pigmented mask that can hydrate and repair your hair while also leaving behind neutralizing pigments to address the brassiness.

Within one use, you ought to see a difference. Following that, you can put the item back on the shelf in your bathroom or shower and wait to use it once more until the brassiness starts to show again.

Use a Vinegar Rinse

If your hair has been through the ringer and is dry and damaged, more natural alternatives might be best. For natural at-home toners, there are many fantastic DIY recipes available. One of the best types is diluted apple cider vinegar.

This natural product’s acidity, along with that of similar products, helps bleached hair’s pH return to normal, allowing it to retain all of its tones for a longer period of time and reducing the need to counteract overpowering warm tones.

Use it sparingly, as you would with anything else, to avoid damaging the pH of your hair. Always follow up with a thorough deep condition that is hydrating and nourishing.

What Happens to Your Hair When You Bleach It?

After bleaching, hair can occasionally turn yellow. Perhaps you’re in a hurry to figure out why it happens or how to fix it. Let’s first discuss the science behind hair bleaching, though, before moving on.

Different shades of hair color exist. 1 being the darkest and 10 being the lightest.

More melanin, a pigment, makes hair darker in color. Little to no pigment was present in lighter hair colors.

The two types of melanin found in hair are eumelanin and pheomelanin.

If your hair contains more pheomelanin, it will appear more orange and yellow. Your hair will appear more black or red as eumelanin levels increase.

Your hair’s melanin molecules will lose their pigment if you bleach it.

Your hair won’t go blonde right away, though. Your hair will first become lighter in yellow or reddish tones, depending on your natural hair color, thanks to the bleaching molecules.

Why Does Your Hair Turn Yellow After Bleaching It?

Now that the main question has been addressed, why does bleached hair turn yellow?

Here are some common reasons:

Rinsing Too Early

You will notice a significant color change in your hair after bleaching it. This is how hair bleaching functions.

However, some women become frightened when they notice their red hair turning orange. You should not.

The bleaching session will involve several stages of lightening for your hair. From dark, it will transition to red, red-orange, orange, yellow, and finally light blonde.

So, maintain your composure if you notice that your hair is turning orange or yellow. Wait for a few more minutes. The blonde hair you desire will then be yours.

Prevention: Follow the directions carefully and pay close attention to the application time. Never exceed or cut short the suggested time.

Wrong Products

You’ll need more peroxide when bleaching your dark hair.

You can use 10 or 20 vol peroxide to dye your hair platinum or ash blonde if it is already blonde.

However, if you want to lighten your black or brown hair, you’ll need more. To lighten your hair up to 7 levels, you should use a 30 volume developer. The bleach powder you use will also have an impact on the outcome.

If you have extremely dark hair, bleaching may leave your hair looking yellow or orange. Yes, even if you use the right amount of developer and follow the directions.

In this scenario, bleaching must be done again. Depending on how dark your hair is and how light you want it to become, you should wash it how frequently.

Before bleaching your hair again, give it at least four weeks to recover from the previous treatment.

Find the best products for your current hair color as a preventative measure. When bleaching very dark hair, more than one bleaching session will be required. That is, if you want to turn platinum blonde without harming your hair.

The Hair Color Fades

Hair loses its pigments when bleached. Your hair’s natural color, which is typically brassy and yellow, will become apparent in this way.

It won’t progress to white color for the majority of women after this stage. Prior to layering on the toner, some yellow undertones still exist.

Unfortunately, the toner will lose its color after washing. Your hair’s true color will become apparent as a result.

Even permanent hair dye only has a 6–8 week shelf life. The fact is that hair color ages. The color of your bleached hair will then be revealed.

To keep your hair color longer, you’d need a thorough hair care regimen. For colored hair, use purple shampoo. When caring for your hair every day, use conditioner. Purple hair masks can be used to counteract brassy tones.

Tap Water

This might surprise you. But the yellowing of your bleached hair can also be brought on by your tap water.

How? After bleaching, hair becomes very porous. This implies that it will absorb more water than it did previously.

You subject your hair to tap water when you frequently wash it. Your bleached hair may become damaged if it is exposed to significant mineral buildups. Tap water’s chemicals can make your hair color fade, leaving a yellow tint or exposing brassy tones.

The same holds true when using the pool. Because of the chlorine in the water, bleached hair can turn green when swimming in a pool.

Prevention: To reduce the mineral deposits in your tap water, use a shower filter. Wear a swimming cap, condition your hair with regular water before going swimming, and wash your hair first. Your hair will be shielded from the pool’s chlorine by doing this.

How to Get the Yellow Out of Bleached Hair?

Even though you try to go blonde, your skin ends up yellow. There are numerous ways to remove the yellow from your hair, so don’t worry. When bleaching goes wrong, here are ways to fix it:

Go Lighter by Bleaching Your Hair Again

Hair can turn yellow for a variety of reasons, including application errors and using the wrong products. The answer is simple in this situation.

Bleaching should be done again. Apply the proper products to your hair this time. Rinse your hair only when it is advised to. To get the outcomes you want, adhere to the label’s instructions.

Before bleaching your hair again, give it at least 3 weeks to recover from the previous treatment. Between bleaching sessions, condition, hydrate, and nourish your hair.

Go Darker by Dyeing Your Hair

Don’t you want to bleach your hair once more? The idea of having blonde hair may need to be abandoned.

You can dye your hair instead, it’s fine.

This is one of the simplest and quickest methods for eradicating the yellow tint on your hair.

Returning to your natural hair color or experimenting with others are both options. Pick colors for your hair that are darker than the yellow it is now.

Before you dye your hair, run a strand test. This guarantees that the dye deposits the desired shade.

You should also run a patch test. Make sure you are not allergic to the hair coloring products you selected by doing this.

Use Color-correcting Hair Care Products

Use color-correcting shampoos and conditioners instead of your regular hair care products. After a disastrous bleaching session, it’s a safer alternative to get rid of your hair’s yellow undertones.

Use these products with caution though. Unless you’re considering another hair color, using too much purple shampoo and conditioner can make your hair bright purple.

Consider Using a Vinegar Rinse for a More Natural Solution

Are you seeking a more organic remedy for your hair bleaching mishap? We got one for you!

A common home remedy for treatments at home is diluted apple cider vinegar. This miraculous item can also be used to eliminate the yellow undertones in your bleached hair.

This natural product is acidic, so exercise caution. Your bleached hair can lose some of its shine if it is overused, but it can also take away the brassiness.

It’s a smart idea to use it once per week. It makes sure you can benefit from it without being concerned about the risk of causing hair damage.

Use a Purple Mask

It is well known that bleaching ruins your hair. Consider using a hair mask to nourish your hair after bleaching.

To get rid of brassiness or unwanted yellow tones in your hair, use purple-pigmented hair masks. After just one use, you ought to start noticing changes.

Read about

• Can You Perm Bleached Hair? 
• Can You Bleach Wet Hair? 
• Can You Bleach Hair Twice In One Day? 

How to Tone Yellow Hair to Ash?

Your hair bleaching appointment didn’t go as planned, did it? Instead of the ash blonde you wanted, did you end up with yellow hair?

Hair bleaching mishaps are common, so you’re not alone. The good news is that you can find solutions to your hair problems in a variety of ways.

Your strange yellow hair can actually produce something lovely. Make your brassy hair the ideal backdrop for gorgeous ash blonde hair.

For information on how to reduce yellow hair to ash, see below.

Purple Toner

Purple toner works best on hair that has been bleached yellow. It is the quickest method for turning yellow hair ash blonde. Quickly is defined as within a few minutes.

Toner isn’t the simplest hair product to use, though. However, don’t worry; we are here to assist.

See below for a step-by-step tutorial on using a purple toner!

You’ll need,

• Purple toner
• 20 volume developer (peroxide)
• Applicator brush
• Mixing bowl
• Gloves

You’ll have to,

• Utilizing a 1:2 ratio, combine the toner and developer.
• With a hairbrush, detangle your hair.
• Put on gloves and use an applicator brush to spread the mixture through your hair.
• For the amount of time specified on the label, leave the toner in your hair.
• Rinse it out and use a moisturizing shampoo to wash your hair.
• Don’t forget about the severe condition.

Do you need any additional guidance? Here are a few extra pointers on how to guarantee consistent results.

• Thoroughly read the instructions.
• On towel-dried hair, use the toner.
• Apply as soon as you can for consistent results.
• Use your fingers to comb it.
• Wait until the tone you want is achieved.
• Check your hair occasionally.

Purple Shampoo

Did the bleaching cause your hair significant damage? It’s a bad idea to tone it. Instead, think about using purple shampoo.

You won’t need to use a developer, so it’s kinder to your hair. But it won’t eliminate your yellow tones as quickly as a toner.

When using toner, you can anticipate an immediate change in the color of your hair. However, the effects will be gradual if you choose a kinder purple shampoo. After three to four washings, you can anticipate results.

After using purple shampoo, is your hair still yellow? It happens.

It’s much simpler to switch to a purple shampoo than to tone, which is your current hair care product. However, it also has drawbacks of its own.

Regular use is required for purple shampoo. Then you will start to see results. Yellow tones will quickly begin to appear on your hair if you stop using your purple shampoo.

In order to achieve your desired blonde color, keep using it. If you start noticing yellowing on your hair again, don’t worry; you can keep using it.

Final Thoughts

Even if your bleaching procedure didn’t yield the results you were hoping for, you can still maximize your efforts and frequently salvage the color.

You still have plenty of options to keep your hair color looking flattering, whether you choose a toner, pigmented products, or natural pH balancers. You can also lighten your hair even more with bleach or darken it entirely with a different color.

You control the color of your hair, so try one of these yellow-busting techniques to quickly and easily regain your confidence and save your dye job.