Yellow hue in blonde hair
Blonde is one of the most popular hair colours. However, many blondes have the same problem – they lighten their hair and get a shock when they look in the mirror. Their hair is not a beautiful, shiny blonde – it is more of a yellow! Here is more information on why this happens and how you can reduce the yellow hue.
What happens to the hair when it is dyed blonde?
The hair has two colour pigments: the black-brown eumelanin and the red-orange pheomelanin. All hair colours are comprised of these two pigments. When the hair is dyed blonde, hydrogen peroxide is used to reduce the dark eumelanin in the hair so that the lighter pheomelanin remains. Therefore, the natural dark pigment is removed from the hair to lighten it. During this process, the hair takes on colour nuances from red to orange and yellow until the desired blonde is achieved. Thus, lightening or dyeing the hair blonde is referred to as bleaching the hair.
Why does the yellow hue appear?
If you wash out the blonde dye too soon, the lightening process is stopped too early and can result in the wrong colour: the hair appears orange or yellow.
Particularly those who prefer to dye their hair blonde at home should be very careful.
Note the following tips:
- If you check your hair colour process and it is not as expected, do not panic and wash the colour out prematurely if your hair looks yellow or orange. The bleach hasn’t had sufficient time and must be left in the hair for longer.
- Do not leave the product in the hair for longer than stated on the packaging. If you have rinsed out the lightening product too early, you can reapply it and leave it in for the remaining amount of time.
To be on the safe side, have your hair dyed blonde by a professional!
Freshly bleached hair reacts very sensitively to chlorine, salt water and heat. If you have lightened your hair before your summer holiday, your hair may appear yellow or green after a few days. This is not due to the chlorine itself, but the care and cleaning agents used against algae in the swimming pool. These include copper compounds that oxidise when they come into contact with oxygen. This is shown as a green colour, which is particularly visible on blonde hair.
Banishing the yellow hue
There are now a few remedies to banish the undesirable yellow hue from the hair. In colour theory, colours that are opposite each other in the colour wheel are complementary. One property of complementary colours is that they neutralise each other if they are mixed together. They will always give a neutral grey.
So-called silver shampoos contain violet colour pigments and counteract this undesirable yellow hue. The violet colour pigments build up on the hair with each wash, thereby reducing the yellow hue in blonde and grey hair.
Do you experience this unattractive yellow hue on holiday and need help fast? Remedies such as washing your hair with a dissolved aspirin tablet or lemon juice are said to be a quick solution.
Silver shampoo from Plantur 39
The Plantur 39 Colour Silver Phyto-Caffeine Shampoo offers help to this particular problem. Strong violet colour pigments build up on the hair with each wash, thereby reducing the yellow hue in blonde or grey hair and giving it an elegant silver sheen. Leave the shampoo on for 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the desired colour intensity, before rinsing it out. The Plantur 39 Colour Silver Colour Conditioner is also available, which boosts the colour-intensifying effect of the shampoo. Both products contain the proven Caffeine-Complex and helps to prevent menopausal hair loss.
[1] Statista, Deals.com, June 2014
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