How Long Does Toner Last In Hair?

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There are many ways you can level up your hair. Some go for a new haircut while others love to change their color. To do that, you can use a hair dye or toner. 

Toners don’t add color to your hair. Instead, it simply cancels out unwanted tones you have. However, that resulting tone doesn’t last forever. Oh how we all wish it would!

So how long does toner last in hair? Well, the exact time will depend on a variety of factors such as what you used for toning, your hair care routine, and the other products you use in between. 

To give a rough estimate, hair toners will usually last from 2 to 6 weeks. But there are various techniques that could prolong or shorten the effects of the hair toner. We will discuss those further below. 


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How Long Does Toner Last In Hair?

Hair Toner

How long does hair toner last?

Hair toners will typically last for about 2 to 6 weeks depending on different factors. One of them is the type of toner you use. 

There are No products found. and toners made for home use. Typically those that are professional grade will outlast the ones meant for home use 

The reason for that is because professional toners work more quickly to cancel unwanted tones like those brassy reds or awkward greens. That’s because even if they are potent, hair professionals know how to work with them.

Toning shampoos are more gradual, and are much better for non-professionals. You’re way less likely to screw up with a toning shampoo than with a professional-grade toner.

A professional can easily adjust and use the color wheel to create the tone they want to achieve. 

On the other hand, those that are made for home use are more beginner-friendly. This means that using them will not lead to drastic or horrific changes in the hair. And they’re not typically bad for your hair.

That’s a very good thing!

They are easier to use but you just have to be diligent with the maintenance. 

Note that hair toner does expire after a few years, so be wary of using old product.


How To Make Hair Toner Results Last

Hair Toner

If you’ve achieved that ash gray hair that you’ve been dying to have, wouldn’t you want to make it look like that forever?

Forever is definitely an unattainable goal when it comes to hair toning, but if you neglect it, your ash will fade!

However, you can certainly do some things to your hair to make sure they look that great for a long period of time. They are as follows:

Get It Professionally Done

We are not discouraging you from your DIY hair adventures. But to achieve the tone you want, you better head to a salon so that you start with a good base. Professional-grade products are meant to last longer.

Plus, they can really nail the color, shade, or tone that you want. 

However, if you choose to DIY the procedure, you can also go it alone. Just remember to choose high-quality products and at least learn the color chart so you know what tones to cancel out to create the hair tone you want. 

Don’t Wash The Hair For At Least 48 Hours After Toning

After toning your hair, hair professionals will give you instructions on how you should properly take care of your hair. One of the most common instructions they give is to not wash your hair for about 48 hours after the toning

You need to give your hair ample time to absorb the product. The more products absorbed, the more effective your toning session would be.

If you wash within 48 hours, most of the toner applied to your hair will just be washed off. 

Get Yourself Some Toning Shampoo

If you want to make sure your new hair color lasts long, you also have to get some toning shampoo. Just make sure that you only use the toning shampoo after the 48-hour mark. 

The good thing about toning shampoos is that it helps with the maintenance of your hair. It keeps the brassiness at bay because it also has some toning properties. 

Toning shampoo is much easier to use than true hair toner. If you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, you should absolutely be using toning shampoo instead of a toner.

Toning shampoo is much easier to use than true hair toner. If you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, you should absolutely be using toning shampoo instead of a toner.

How Many Washes Does Toner Last?

Even if you are using toning shampoo, you should still avoid washing your hair often. Washing your hair every 3 days or more is okay especially if your hair isn’t really dirty. 

Washing and shampooing less often will help preserve the effects of the toner. That’s because it would prevent you from stripping most of the product out of your hair. 

Typically you can wash your hair 8-10 times before the toner significantly washes out.

Things You Should Avoid

In order to prevent the toner from being removed from your hair, you should avoid exposing your hair to saltwater. The saltiness of the water at the beach can increase the speed by which the toner fades.

Additionally, you should also avoid always exposing your hair to the sun. Wear something to cover up or spend more time indoors. 

Shampooing often even with toning shampoo can still wash off the effects of the toner. If you wash with shampoo that contains sodium lauryl sulfate, then your hair will tend to fade faster. 

Regular shampoo strips the hair of dirt plus the pigments of the toner too. Sodium lauryl sulfate (a common ingredient in shampoo) is great at cleansing. So regular shampoo use should be avoided to prolong the hair toner effects. 


Final Thoughts

Being blonde or having ash gray hair is made possible with the careful use of toners. Without toners, your cool-toned hair might take on the color of a buttery yellow or rusty orange. Toners do not add color to the hair but they cancel out the other tones of the hair to make it look better. 

How long do hair toners last?

Usually, the effects of the hair toner last for about 2-6 weeks on average. The exact time will depend on a variety of factors such as the type of hair toner you use.

In order to prolong the effects of the hair toner, there are a few things that you can do such as the following:

  • Hair toning is done by professionals.
  • Avoid washing for the first 48 hours
  • Use a toning shampoo
  • Avoid washing hair often
  • Avoid saltwater and too much sun exposure
  • Don’t use shampoo loaded with sodium lauryl sulfate

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Written by Kayla Young

Kayla is the founder of LuxeLuminous. She has worked professionally in the tanning industry for years. She has been interested in esthetics since childhood, and has tried every hair, skin, and makeup product ever produced (more or less).