There are many reason to use toners other than to cancel unwanted tones in the hair.
Most people have had a highlight service at some point in their color history. But I would venture to say that there are some benefits to toner that you have never heard before. You may have heard this word used in the salon but have no idea what it actually is. Am I right?
So to answer the question, what is toner and what does it do?
Toner is a Demi Permanent Hair Color that is often used to Cancel unwanted tones in the hair after a highlighting service. Such as Orange, Brassy, or Golden tones. It can even be used to cancel tones of green, blue, purple, red, etc.
But toner does more than cancel out unwanted tones.
Here are # reasons you need a toner at each lightening service.
1. Cancels unwanted tones leaving you with the tone you desire. As I mentioned above that is the number one used of a toner. But at the end of the day a toner should be used to enhance a blonde or used to give you the desired tone you are looking for. I don't know if you know this but all of the silver hair you see is actually because of a toner. The hair must first become yellow and then it can be silver.
2. Ph Balance. This is going to be a little hair nerdy for a minute. The hair is put through a lot of stress when lightening services are performed. All hairs ph is between a 4.5 and 5.5. When a lightening service is performed the hair goes to an alkaline state causing the hair to be stressed and possible to become brittle.
Using a toner restores the hair to its natural ph to protect the hair from further damage.
3. Softer Grow out. A trend in the hair industry right now is a service they call smudge and tone. This involves putting a toner at your root similar to your natural color and putting a very light toner on your ends to achieve your desired tone all over. The benefit to this service is that your color grows out much softer. The toner at the root allows you to have a nice transition as the toner fades and your color grows out.
4. Blending. Blonding services can result in severe damage if not done correctly. Each time you get your hair highlight your stylist should not be applying lightener to areas of the hair that already are very blonde. This can create uneven color. A toner allows you to match the newly colored hair to the previously colored hair make it look even and blended.
5. Shiny and glossy looking hair. A toner can actually add shine to the hair when the correct formula is used.
With all that being said, Many guest complaint that a toner does not last very long.
Toner is only designed to last based on washes. If you wash you hair too often your toner will fade quickly. However the longer a toner stays on the hair the longer it will last.
All though the color does wash out after so many washes it is still essential to have a toner because it does help with the things listed above.
Toner is not meant to be used as a corrective color. It is meant to enhance the color/blonde that you have as well as protect your hair from damage!
Let me know if you found this helpful and if you feel this gave you a better understanding of what toner is and why it is so important to your hair service.