How to tint dark hair and choose the perfect shade

Tinting your dark hair can be a life-changing experience that lets you try new things or update your appearance. The correct shade selection is essential, whether your goal is to make a bold statement or a subtle change. You can bring out the best in your natural color or totally change it to fit your style with the appropriate technique.

It takes more than just choosing a color you like to find the ideal tint. You’ll need to take into account the undertones in your hair, your skin tone, and the overall look you’re going for. You can choose a solution that best suits your individual style and distinctive features with the aid of this guide.

Prepare to discover the best options for your dark hair by experimenting with a variety of shades. With the correct advice, you can attain a gorgeous appearance that you’ll want to wear every day.

What is

Tinting is a short-term coloring technique that calls for specific makeup. These include mascara, mousses, varnishes, balms, tonics, and tinted shampoos.

Some people’s results remain on their heads until their first wash, while others can tolerate four to seven shampoo applications before the color becomes less saturated.

It all comes down to the temporary dye’s effect principle. It is fixed on the surface rather than penetrating the structure of the hair shaft like the more aggressive permanent dye does. This means that both drastically altering the image and fixing the effect will take a considerable amount of time. Tonics and similar preparations are primarily used to shade an existing color, give it more depth, and allow it to interact with new hues.

Furthermore. Natural ingredients such as onion peel, ground coffee, cocoa, and oak bark can be used to tone dark hair.

Pros and cons of toning

To obtain a comprehensive understanding, it is helpful to compare the benefits and drawbacks of any procedure. On the other hand, these lists frequently draw from both positive and negative user reviews.

Regarding the benefits of toning in a dark color, they say as follows:

• increases the saturation of the natural color, makes it more expressive;
• gives additional shine to the hair;
• hides the flaws of inept highlighting or coloring;
• minimally harms the strands;
• disguises the border between colored and natural curls;
• opens up space for experiments – you can periodically try new shades;
• washes out quickly, which is important if you categorically do not like the new hair color;
• perfectly emphasizes the advantages of appearance;
• available for home use;
• has a cumulative effect: the shade will become brighter over and over again if you use the same product regularly;
• most products for short-term coloring have a reasonable price.

Among the drawbacks are the following elements:

• toning on dark hair involves preliminary bleaching of the curls, if you want to dye your hair ash or other light shades;
• you can only change your natural color by a few tones;
• choosing a color for brunettes is a serious process, since not every tone will be noticeable on such hair;
• the effect of coloring with a tonic does not last long and depends on how often you wash your hair;
• dyes can leave marks on bed linen, towels.

Please be aware that you will need to tone frequently in order to maintain the desired outcome.

Choosing a tonic

Generally speaking, girls who have the color types "winter" and "autumn" are the ones with dark curls. Every one of them possesses unique external features:

• "winter" type — black or deep brown hair, white skin and dark eyes (blue, green, brown);
• "autumn" — reddish or copper curls, golden skin and nutty, amber eyes.

Individuals with a "winter" color type should select cool hues (chocolate with hints of purple, or ash-brown).

Copper, red, ginger tonic, as well as caramel and honey colors, are appropriate for a warm autumn color type.

Additional suggestions for selecting a hair color for dark hair:

1. Brunettes will enhance the depth of their natural color if they use a black tonic.
2. The best options are eggplant, burgundy, mahogany, mahogany, plum, chocolate, cinnamon. These tones fit well on brown hair, but on a burning brunette they can give only a light shade.
3. Light or light brown toning of black hair is impossible without bleaching, although stylists still advise to refuse overly blond colors.
4. Gray and silver colors (but only after preliminary bleaching) are the choice of "winter" fair-skinned girls with light eyes.

The curls’ length can also provide some fascinating advice on how to tone down the image. Using the coloring technique, short strands can be dyed in shades of red, brown, or purple-burgundy. Please take note that they should complement the primary color of the hair as well as one another.

You can achieve ombre, shatush, or balayage styles when dying medium-length dark hair or curls that fall below the middle of the back with tonic. It suffices to select the color that best suits your skin tone (warm or cold).

Features of toning for dark hair

1. Choose shades that are not too different from the natural color of the hair.
2. Do not keep the lightening composition on the curls for too long, so as not to spoil them. If the results of bleaching do not satisfy you, repeat the procedure in a couple of weeks.
3. If you have a lot of gray hair in your dark hair, try gray or silver shades. But keep in mind that they have many limitations and unfavorably emphasize flaws in your appearance, and also visually add age.
4. The darker the original color, the fewer options for choosing a tint.
5. Pay attention to the manufacturer"s recommendations, compare photos before and after tinting, which are contained in thematic reviews.

Suggestions. Start giving your curls intense care a month before the procedure: apply masks, refrain from frequent styling, and use a hair dryer, curling iron, or straightening iron less frequently. Trim dry ends or get a fashionable haircut.

Finding the ideal balance between your desired hue and natural hair color can make all the difference in the world when it comes to your appearance when choosing the right shade for dark hair tinting. Knowing how various shades work with dark hair will help you achieve a stunning look, whether you want to add subtle highlights or a bold new color to your locks. This guide will show you how to choose the right tint to bring out the best in your hair and ensure that your new color blends in perfectly with your current look.

Tinting techniques

Dyeing your hair with a toner won’t be difficult if you’ve at least once changed the color of your natural hair. How-to guide for coloring dark hair at home:

1. Test the selected tint. Drop a little tonic/balm on the inside of your wrist, behind your ear, or on the bend of your elbow. Make sure that the skin has not reacted with redness, itching, peeling, rash.
2. Wash your hair, dry the strands slightly. They should remain barely damp.
3. Protect your clothes with a waterproof cape or an old robe, T-shirt.
4. Comb your hair thoroughly, dividing it into sections at the temples, on the back of the head and the crown.
5. Secure each zone with a convenient hair clip or clip.
6. Pour a little product into a small bowl or squeeze it out of the bottle.
7. Put on rubber or disposable gloves.
8. Divide the hair from the back of the head into thin strands.
9. Color them one by one with a brush or sponge. Move from the roots to the ends. Try to work quickly, but carefully.
10. After finishing with the curls on the back of the head, proceed to the hair on the temples, crown. The coloring process is identical.
11. Leave the colored hair on 15–30 minutes (manufacturers provide more precise recommendations on the bottles of the preparations).
12. Rinse off the composition with warm, then cool water. In the end, it should become transparent.

Take note! Every item on hand, including combs, hairpins, and containers, should be free of metal components. Even though they are mild, tinting agents’ composition is artificial and can react with metal.

If you have dark hair or brown hair and purchased a dark toner, this coloring method works best. If bleach was your choice for a light tinting agent:

1. Do not wash your hair for 3-4 days so that the sebum serves as additional protection for the curls from the oxidizer.
2. Prepare the bleaching agent as indicated by the manufacturer. Do not take a metal container.
3. Lubricate the hairline with greasy cream/petroleum jelly.
4. Put on an old robe, T-shirt or waterproof cape.
5. Divide the hair into zones. In each of them, alternately form individual strands and color. On short curls, the bleaching composition is applied from the root zone, on long ones – from the ends and up.
6. After treating the entire head of hair, do not insulate it. Wait the time recommended by the manufacturer (no more than 20-30 minutes).
7. Wash your hair with shampoo.

Although you can give the bleached locks a little "break," it is preferable to apply a tonic the same day.

The ombre technique can be used at home to tone hair as follows:

1. Not very clean strands are pre-bleached to the desired level. To do this, divide the hair into 6-8 approximately equal parts and tie ponytails at the same height.
2. Apply the lightening composition to the edges of the ponytails, up to the elastic bands.
3. Leave for the required time and wash off.
4. Apply the toning agent using the classic technology. You can no longer collect your hair in ponytails.
5. Sometimes the dyed strands are wrapped in foil so that the composition does not stain the rest of the curls.
6. After the required time, wash off the tonic with plenty of water.

Furthermore. You can also use tint preparations for balayage or shatush, as well as for highlighting and coloring. Lighten individual strands starting at the tips or from the roots, and make sure you follow the directions specific to each coloring technique.

The effect of coloring

Girls who choose to tone their hair in dark shades do so in order to achieve glossy, gorgeous, healthy curls with rich color. Avoid doing this procedure in the first two to three days after coloring your hair because the initial effect will last until your next hair wash. After that, the color progressively fades and washes out, though this is not apparent on dark strands.

Make corrections once or twice a month if you want to keep your hair’s color consistent. Remember to use nourishing, moisturizing, and restorative masks in between.

Simply put, stay away from using natural oils as they can cause the color to fade. Keep your curls safe from chlorinated water and UV rays. If you adhere to a few basic guidelines, coloring your dark hair will become enjoyable and possibly even a routine process for you.

The hair coloring methods listed below appear chic and captivating:

• marble coloring;
• grunge style coloring;
• block hair coloring;
• 3D and 7D coloring techniques;
• pixel coloring;
• "Tiger"s eye" style coloring;
• stencil hair coloring.

Try different shades and update your appearance by tinting your dark hair. You can accomplish a gorgeous transformation that goes well with your style by selecting the appropriate color and application method. Knowing your options is essential, regardless of whether you’re going for a modest adjustment or a dramatic statement.

When choosing a shade, don’t forget to take your skin tone and preferences into account. Select hues that go well with your lifestyle and accentuate your inherent beauty. You can make the best decision and guarantee that your hair stays vibrant and healthy by seeking professional advice.

Tinting dark hair can be a satisfying experience if done correctly. Take pleasure in the process and confidently rock your new appearance. Cheers to tinting!

Video on the topic

HAIR TINTING and natural base

ALL ABOUT TONICA DYE

What is the difference between 1.5% and 3% when coloring or toning hair | What to tone hair with Eva Lorman