Blue Rinses & Glosses

[Domino]

Now that I have successfully lightened my henna and got a caramel shade about level 7.5, I am looking to tone down the orange. I've noticed that especially people with gray-silver hair and brassy tones have had success with using blue rinses or blue deposit only glosses.

I am currently considering getting a manic panic one but there are so many beautiful blue shades that I don't know which one would be good for covering my orange-ish tones. Also, does anyone have a recipe for a manic panic gloss?

Also I asked a few local sellers about indigo but all they have is a bright blue powder for laundry and not the powdered herb itself? Is this one safe to use on hair?

Another wild idea I got was adding a drop or two of the methylene blue used for aquariums to my final rinse. I think you can tell this was inspired by the Mrs. Stewart's bluing which is not available locally here :)

Please share your opinion :joy:

[stachelbeere]

I'm interested in the same topic :) joining in!

[luxepiggy]

Note that if you use a blue gloss, the overall colour level of your hair will darken as well. I am naturally a level 2/borderline level 3, and putting bright royal blue deposit-dye on top takes me to a superdark blue-black. Just something you may want to keep in mind, since you mentioned that you had just lightened to reach your desired colour.

If you do decide to do a gloss, one popular technique is to mix MP with your fave deep conditioner to dilute the colour.

[AmyBeth]

Test strand, test strand, test strand.:D

[Domino]

I'm okay with a little darkening since my natural is a bit darker than my current color. What would be the ratio of conditioner to MP? I have no idea how strong the dyes are, and I don't even know how much hair one box would cover. Let's assume I'm going for a very weak gloss for my BSL hair :)

[Agnieszka]

I really recommend Aveda Malva Blue conditioner. It's really concentrated, it worked for me but I was putting it on blonde highlights.

[hellucy]

Funny you should post this - Today I bought Crazy color Sky Blue (deposit only dye) and was planning on mixing it with conditioner to try and tone down my henna orange ends as I now have about 4" of virgin roots. I'm not sure how well it will work or whether I'll have to reapply it every wash but I'm willing to try and if my hair goes blue its fine as it's school holidays so I wont get in trouble for turning up to work with blue hair:eek:

[Domino]

Agnieszka, unfortunately colored shampoo or conditioners are not available where I live. That's why I'm exploring other options, otherwise blue conditioner would be my first choice.

Hellucy, please keep us posted on how it turns out!

On the other hand, further online research revealed that I can find some silver permanent dye if I try hard enough. Now I'm not sure whether I should go for blue or silver.

[jacqueline101]

I'd make sure your hair is healthy enough to color. I agree that certain colors lighten a few shades. You might have to have to go to a beauty shop.

[Magalo]

Be carefull with manic panic over orange. A green-base blue will turn brown, you need one with a red base!

[akilina]

I like manic panic virgin snow :) however, results may very but in using it on my own hair, best results come from very light hair.
Someone here on lhc suggested me doing a mermaid soak in verrrryyyyy diluted genician violet :) it's incredibly cheap too! I never tried it but its worth a go.

[Domino]

I want to tone down the orange while keeping slight yellow tones, that's why I thought a green-blue would be better. My natural tone is extremely ashy with light blondish highlights, though it is around a level 6 so I'm not sure virgin snow would be enough. So you're saying, violet/purple tones would work better than a blue or green-blue?

I will look for both methylene blue and gentian violet tomorrow, hopefully I can find them in pharmacies here.

[10000days]

Also I asked a few local sellers about indigo but all they have is a bright blue powder for laundry and not the powdered herb itself? Is this one safe to use on hair?


NO IT'S NOT!!!!!!!
I did a test on shed hair from my hair brush using a brown laundry dye and the hair came out frazzled and stretchy and broke. Steer clear!!!

[Domino]

Wow, thanks for the warning! I was planning to go buy a little amount to strand test, you saved me the trouble :)

[10000days]

Happy to help! :)

[2peasinapod]

Not henna, but I tried to lighten my hair and got a whole bunch of unflattering red tones instead. What I did was dye my hair with blue koolaid by mixing the koolaid with conditioner, then letting it sit under a shower cap for a few hours. I made my own purple conditioner by mixing a bit of purple koolaid in with my regular conditioner. I use that every time I wash my hair now. It worked great, and my hair looks like it did before.

Good luck to you!

ETA: My hair is between level 4 and 5 if that helps

[Domino]

So I went out and got me a local brand's blue veggie dye. It is a true prussian blue and stains everywhere :D I mixed a tiny bit, like just the very tip of a teaspoon into 3/4 cup of my regular conditioner and applied to my hair, avoiding the scalp because people, this stuff STAINS! Waited about 10 minutes, rinsed a whole lot of smurf colored water, S&C'ed and dried now. It toned the henna down quite well, under certain lights henna still shines through but otherwise, it looks pretty much a beautiful light-medium brown, very similar to my natural color. We'll see in a few weeks how this compares when the roots grow in. But I'm willing to do this gloss as it fades because I really liked this color :)

I'm officially not a redhead anymore :o

Oh and Kool-Aid is not available here either. I searched a few brands here but none had any blue or purple colored drink mix. Thanks anyway, 2peasinapod.

[door72067]

Not henna, but I tried to lighten my hair and got a whole bunch of unflattering red tones instead. What I did was dye my hair with blue koolaid by mixing the koolaid with conditioner, then letting it sit under a shower cap for a few hours. I made my own purple conditioner by mixing a bit of purple koolaid in with my regular conditioner. I use that every time I wash my hair now. It worked great, and my hair looks like it did before.

Good luck to you!

ETA: My hair is between level 4 and 5 if that helps


I use unsweetened kool aid powder the same way, just not every time I wash...only when the brassiness needs toning down

[hellucy]

So I went out and got me a local brand's blue veggie dye. It is a true prussian blue and stains everywhere :D I mixed a tiny bit, like just the very tip of a teaspoon into 3/4 cup of my regular conditioner and applied to my hair, avoiding the scalp because people, this stuff STAINS! Waited about 10 minutes, rinsed a whole lot of smurf colored water, S&C'ed and dried now. It toned the henna down quite well, under certain lights henna still shines through but otherwise, it looks pretty much a beautiful light-medium brown, very similar to my natural color. We'll see in a few weeks how this compares when the roots grow in. But I'm willing to do this gloss as it fades because I really liked this color :)

I'm officially not a redhead anymore :o

Oh and Kool-Aid is not available here either. I searched a few brands here but none had any blue or purple colored drink mix. Thanks anyway, 2peasinapod.

I'm glad it worked for you, I tried but I don't think I put enough dye in my conditioner as it toned a tiny bit but not enough for my liking so i'm going to do it again but with a higher dye to conditioner ratio.
Bonus of the process after 45 minutes of intensive mask conditioner my hair felt super soft & moisturised, my dry ends feel great :happydance:

[Agnieszka]

Someone here on lhc suggested me doing a mermaid soak in verrrryyyyy diluted genician violet :) it's incredibly cheap too! I never tried it but its worth a go.

I used to use genician violet for some time. It really works! I used to mix one drop with my conditioner or just add to water and soak my hair. It is a little drying but really works and made my post bleach hair silver and it used to be yellow

[massivecnqstdr]

I like manic panic virgin snow :) however, results may very but in using it on my own hair, best results come from very light hair.
Someone here on lhc suggested me doing a mermaid soak in verrrryyyyy diluted genician violet :) it's incredibly cheap too! I never tried it but its worth a go.
I actually just tried to use this on level 8 hair and it didn't tone. :S Just my :twocents:
It worked great when I had bleached hair level 9 and up, but 8 and lower I notice no discernible toning.
I think a blue-violet color like that is the right idea, though, it would just need to be stronger. Maybe mix the virgin snow with a darker color? Or stick with the conditioner idea. Just expect a bit of mess :P

[jillosity]

use anything before using indigo, your hair will shine a murky green in some lights if you apply it over medium/light hair, and it never ever washes out. ever.

[2peasinapod]

Glad to hear you found something that worked for you! It's so nice when you actually like the color of your hair, isn't it? ;)


I use unsweetened kool aid powder the same way, just not every time I wash...only when the brassiness needs toning down

I only wash my hair once every week and a half or so, so using my homemade purple conditioner every time keeps the redness down. I also rinse my hair with white vinegar (before conditioning). I read that white vinegar helps seal in the color, and it seems to be working. I know ACV always brought out the red tones, even when my hair was virgin, so you should definitely avoid.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who uses koolaid like this. I felt a bit silly the first time, but it works, and I'm not the only one! :)

[akilina]

I actually just tried to use this on level 8 hair and it didn't tone. :S Just my :twocents:
It worked great when I had bleached hair level 9 and up, but 8 and lower I notice no discernible toning.
I think a blue-violet color like that is the right idea, though, it would just need to be stronger. Maybe mix the virgin snow with a darker color? Or stick with the conditioner idea. Just expect a bit of mess :P
Well, yeah, that's exactly what I said..."it works best on very light hair" and then threw out a suggestion of something that might actually work instead.
Someone put virgin snow on their hair (I think it was sheeshami) who doesn't have extremely light hair and if I remember the photos correctly it did have a very slight effect.

[Domino]

Okay so I have been experimenting with the blues :) and wanted to share my results in case it helps someone even though I do not have pictures.

Firstly I bought two different veggie dyes, one in violet and one in blue. The violet one turned out to be too reddish for my purposes but I tried the blue, mixing a tiny bit with a handful of conditioner and waiting for 10 minutes before rinsing. It toned down the orange but was strangely streaky, my BF commented that I had a blue streak near my face :) It was cute, but may not be your thing, so if anyone tries that make sure your application is even.

Next I harvested some hair from my brush and tried dipping it in a methylene blue-water mix. Actually, it was 2 drops of methylene blue to 2 tbs. of water. The color turned out beautifully ashy, under all types of lighting. I suppose this is because the methylene blue is slightly more teal-like than the dye I had, that one was a smurf-y color. I need something slightly, very slightly green to look natural instead of a full on blue.

As I'm typing this I have a mix of conditioner, methylene blue and dye on my head. I just eyeballed it till I got a nice light teal-blue color in the conditioner and applied, avoiding my roots. I will update when I wash it out, hopefully it turns out well!


ETA: I must have been skimpy (again!) with the blue since the difference is minimal. I will try more blue the next time, till I reach the color on the test ball. BTW, anyone know of a method I can use a liquid as a toner without conditioner? Maybe I should make a rinse out of the methylene blue, but it might stain everywhere.

[katiebeans]

ETA: I must have been skimpy (again!) with the blue since the difference is minimal. I will try more blue the next time, till I reach the color on the test ball. BTW, anyone know of a method I can use a liquid as a toner without conditioner? Maybe I should make a rinse out of the methylene blue, but it might stain everywhere.

After lightening my hair in the past I have used blueberries to tone down the yellows. I would boil 1 cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen) in 2-3 cups of water. After 5 minutes I let it cool some and then used a sieve to strain the blue/purple liquid out. Then I let it sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight, and finally pour it over my hair in the shower and let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing. I saw results after one use, and even better results after 2 or 3 uses. I am not sure how this would affect orange tones. Maybe a more diluted solution would produce a more blue shade that might prove more useful in your situation.

P.S.: In a rush to go out one night, I used this while it was still pretty warm. I had just lightened my hair that day and after rinsing I found that it had lightly turned my hair blue, hah. I didn't mind, because it looked a whole lot better than yellow, but some might refer to that as a DIY hair disaster.

[Domino]

Katiebeans, sounds like it would be so yummy and blueberry blue hair sounds lovely in my opinion. I will look for some blueberries the next time I go shopping, thanks for the tip :) Then I can bake the boiled blueberries into a cake or dessert, win-win.

[Sagi1982]

Hmmm.... one of my (orange-y, because it was dyed black before) bleached strands is dyed violet. It fades to an awesome silver when washed out, so maybe a diluted violet dye will help?

[breezefaerie]

Those of you who have used Genetian Violet, can you tell me exactly how you did it?
I purchased some and added what I thought was a little bit to a bottle of conditioner and the entire bottle turned a VERY BRIGHT purple. Like screaming purple. I honestly was afraid to put it on my head as I am not looking to rock purple hair - just bring out my silvers.

I tried mixing a small amount of my purple conditioner with regualr conditioner but don't think I added enough as there was no change to my hair.

[XcaliburGirl]

Be carefull with manic panic over orange. A green-base blue will turn brown, you need one with a red base!


I want to tone down the orange while keeping slight yellow tones, that's why I thought a green-blue would be better. My natural tone is extremely ashy with light blondish highlights, though it is around a level 6 so I'm not sure virgin snow would be enough. So you're saying, violet/purple tones would work better than a blue or green-blue?

I will look for both methylene blue and gentian violet tomorrow, hopefully I can find them in pharmacies here.

Just to echo Magalo's warning, I used Manic Panic's After Midnight on bleached ends that were an orangy shade about level 7 (my hair seems to be resistant to bleaching). It very quickly faded to a green color, which started out kind of pretty, but soon became ugly.

[Domino]

breezefaerie, I haven't used genitian violet but I've tried methylene blue instead. I added 7-8 drops to a cup of conditioner and applied it like a DT, avoiding the scalp because that stuff stains horribly. Then I washed it out as normal. I did it two wash days in a row and it toned down my reddish orange-ish tones nicely. Just make sure you mix and apply the whole thing evenly, one time I wasn't careful and had a blue green streak for 2 weeks :)

[breezefaerie]

Thanks :)
I added a few drops to a pitcher of water and rinsed my hair with that. Not sure that it did anything at all though.