Toning Technique for Outside Foils, Removing Warmth and More

 Cassandra McGlaughlin @cassandraplatinum is a color correction specialist, influencer and Redken Ambassador. In this recent post on Instagram, she shares some of her top tips for toning.

 “This was a 6-hour process and while the highlights are super impactful, what really made this color was the series of toning steps,” she explains. “I used toners in three separate steps to reduce warmth, even out the canvas and create long-lasting results.”

 Tips for Toning:  

1. "Don’t forget about the hair OUTSIDE the foils. When there is a strong line of demarcation or lots of unwanted warmth in the hair, you have to address it if you want to avoid foiling 90% of the hair, or taking your shadow root too low, or a too-dark tone in between the foils. In this case I only foiled about 50-60% of her hair with Redken FlashLift and 20 volume and then used Shades EQ 9b9p in between.

2. "Pre-tone for a lighter and more neutral end result. Sometimes using toners to cool off or neutralize our blondes can leave it a touch darker than we want. Especially if you automatically reach for the Ash bases (guilty!).  Pre-toning helps get rid of warmth without adding darkness or level so your final formula can be as light as possible. In the case I used Kenra Professional Rapid Toners Sv &Vp for 5 minutes."

3. "FORMULATION is King and swatch charts are your BFF. Know your color’s background, primary and secondary tones, know what they look like and what they are made of. For example the N series from Shades has a tan to brown background with a blue/violet tone. The color line used before Shades had a brown background and a yellow tone to the N series-- VERY DIFFERENT. The levels and the translucency were very different as well. But I paid attention, spent some time studying and practicing my formulas."

(Toner for this color: 5n6t blended into 7n7p blended into Clear, 9v9p).