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All About Hair...and So Much More.
Welcome to All About Hair—where education meets inspiration for stylists and hair lovers alike.
Whether you’re starting your career behind the chair or just obsessed with all things hair, this channel is your go-to spot for real tips, honest advice, and plenty of inspiration.
You’ll find pro techniques, career-building tools, and everyday hair hacks—plus the encouragement to grow with confidence and creativity.
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All About Hair...and So Much More.
Top 5 Toning Mistakes Stylists Make—and How to Fix Them
Toning should feel like the finishing touch on a masterpiece, not a game of Russian roulette with unpredictable results. We break down the five most common toning mistakes and provide practical solutions to ensure consistent, beautiful results every time.
• One minute of toner processing equals one shampoo of longevity—rush the process and watch color fade fast
• Always tone on level: if you lightened to level 9, use a level 9 toner for effective neutralizing
• Uneven porosity creates blotchy results—use bond builders or porosity fillers before toning
• When going darker (more than 2-3 levels), always fill with warmth first to avoid muddy, green results
• Clarify your goals: know your starting level, target level, whether you need to fill, and if you want to enhance, erase, or neutralize
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Whether you're a new stylist still building confidence, or if you're a seasoned pro who runs into a few surprises behind the chair, today's episode is for you. We're talking about toning. You know that final touch that can either make your masterpiece shine or send you scrambling for Malibu Sea and a redo. If you've ever toned too dark, too ashy or wondered why did this toner fade after three shampoos, you're not alone, so let's unpack the five most common toning mistakes stylists make and, more importantly, let's learn how to avoid them at all costs. Welcome to All About Hair, where we talk shop, share stories and spill the secrets behind great hair and a great career. I'm your host, denise Kylitz, a former salon owner, educator and a lifelong hair crusader. Whether you're a new stylist building your book or just someone who loves learning about all things hair, you're in the right place. All things hair, you're in the right place. Okay, so toning should really feel like the icing on the cake, don't you think it shouldn't feel like you're playing Russian roulette with the color wheel? So why does it sometimes go sideways? Well, many of us were not taught toning rules deeply enough to make confident choices, especially when the canvas is so unpredictable. We've got uneven porosity, stubborn warmth, clients with virgin hair I'm saying that in quotes, that isn't so virgin, after all and toners that fade before the weekend. Now, let's be honest. Sometimes it's easier to blame the client's water or hot tools or shampoo than it is to take a hard look at what happened in the bowl. Right, we've all been there. So let's break down the top five toning mistakes and the real reasons they happen. Okay, so mistake number one your toner's fading way too fast. Have you ever had a toner that looked perfect for about five washes? Yeah, me too. Here's the deal. Toner longevity often comes down to one simple rule. At least that's how I've taught it. It's not science. We always used to say one minute of processing equals one shampoo. Let me repeat that. So one minute equals one shampoo. So if you leave it on for five minutes, it's going to last five shampoos. If you leave it on for 20 minutes, it's going to last five shampoos. If you leave it on for 20 minutes, it's going to last 20 shampoos. So if you've rinsed your toner too soon because the toner looked like it was done and you were getting, you know, scared that you were going to overtone it, you probably didn't give the oxidative dye time to grab hold and so that tone washed away within a week.
Speaker 1:Okay, so what do you do? Well, first of all, you need to tone on level. What does that mean? If you highlighted them to a level nine, then you need to tone at a level nine, not at an eight, not at a 10. Okay, and you need to trust the manufacturer's instructions and give your toner the full processing time to allow it to do its job. Full processing time to allow it to do its job. You want staying power, not short-term pretty, because don't you hate it when three days later, you see them and their hair is brassy. Now, okay, there are some people with overly porous hair. You need to teach them and you need to use their products to close that cuticle. I say it all the time right, and you also need to use products when you're putting the color on that fills in the holes and the porosity before you put the color on there. If you have questions about that, reach out to me. I'll let you know, and I also have a download that you can download it's free about becoming a great colorist. So just go over on my website, denisekeilertzcom, under my I think it's my store front and just download your free copy of how to become a Great Colorist and it'll teach you all these things. So all right.
Speaker 1:Mistake number two your toner turned out blotchy or it's uneven. Yep, this brings us right back to porosity. Uneven porosity equals uneven toner results. Yes, so think of the hair like a bumpy road, healthy mid-shafts, smooth ends are fried from previous lightning, full of potholes. We call them potholes. That's where toner pools, or it. You know it gets darker. It causes this like marbling looking effect or splotches or patchiness. So that's why you have to even out the porosity first, use a post-color treatment or a bond building product. Every color line out there seems to have a bond building product. This helps to level the playing field before you tone, helps fill in all the porosity and always work clean no drips, no stains. Make sure you're saturating the full hair so you don't have any dry spots and then you won't have blotchy or uneven color.
Speaker 1:Okay, mistake number three no change or toning at the wrong level. If you tone a level seven with a level nine toner, you might see a slight shift, but it won't be enough. Toners need equal or greater dilode to neutralize the warmth at the level that they're neutralizing. That's why I'm saying you tone on level. I used to make this mistake on my own hair because I didn't want my highlights to go too dark. I think we've all been there. So I would always tone with a lighter color and wondering why my highlights still looked orange. We've all done it, okay, so don't, don't worry about that. But if you can get in your mind, if you tone on level, so if you have to use swatches to check what canvas you're working with, you, don't tone lighter than the actual level.
Speaker 1:Trust your eyes and trust the science. If you just lighten them to a level eight, use a level eight toner. They're designed with the neutralizing base in there to neutralize out any of that warmth, if that's what you're trying to do. But it works on level. So if you didn't get them light enough and you're trying to tone them with a level 10, because all your toners you work with a level 10, it's not going to do anything. So a level 10 violet won't tone all your highlights. Believe me on this. Don't just reach for the same toner every time you're toning. You have to tone on level. That is a really, really hard rule to grasp. It really is because you think that it's going to cover up your tone or your highlights. It's not, trust me, it's not Okay, all right.
Speaker 1:Mistake number four your toner grab too drabby, ashy or green. Yes, we've all, we've all seen that, right, and you've probably all heard I want to go dark for fall. You know, when the autumn comes, great, and you go, reach for a toner and you just put it on there and the ends look like they look like seaweed because they turn green, right. Well, what happened? You skipped the filling part of the hair, right?
Speaker 1:If you're going to go more than two to three levels darker, you must always fill with warmth first. Always fill with warmth first. Do not skip this just because you're in a hurry. It will cost you time in the end. And I know some people say, hey, I could take a toner and I can add my warmth or my filler into my toner and then it won't turn muddy on me and maybe 20% of the time that works, but I can guarantee you it's not going to last very long. Okay, so if somebody comes in and they say they're a level nine, 10, and they and for autumn they want to go a level seven or six, even, you have to tone them, put that warmth back in their hair so that that toner has something to hold on to.
Speaker 1:That that is a common, common mistake and, yeah, sometimes we're just in a hurry and we forget or we just don't want to take the time. You know our next client's sitting there waiting because they're early, or whatever. You have to take the time. You have to do it. You have to do it right If you're going to do it at all. You got to do it right, right, right, all right.
Speaker 1:Mistake number five the result is way too dark. Oh, we have all been there and this one happens more often than we'd like to admit. Oh, my gosh, you chose the right toner, but the result still feels really heavy and shadowy, kind of Just darker than what you want it to look like. Why? Maybe the hair was over porous, maybe, or maybe you picked an ashy tone that lacked reflectiveness, maybe, or maybe you toned too dark without meaning to. We've all done that, okay.
Speaker 1:So you have to clarify your goals. What's the starting level? What's the target level? Do I need to fill? Do I want to enhance? Do I want to enhance, erase or neutralize Every time you color anybody's hair? Those are the questions that you have to ask Starting level, target level don't need to fill. And what am I trying to do with the tone of the hair? Pre-tone with intention, and always process the full time for lasting, predictable results. Always All right, so toning doesn't have to feel like guesswork.
Speaker 1:Okay, once you understand the why behind these mistakes and you learn how to fix them when they do happen, you're going to gain confidence, you're going to gain speed and you're going to gain reliability behind the chair. You will. It takes some time to do this, but just keep this episode and you know. Every time you need a little hint or or reminder, just listen to it again. It's short enough to listen to. Mistakes happen, but now you've got a toolbox of solutions to move through them like the professional that you are right.
Speaker 1:So, hey, thank you. Thank you for listening to the podcast. Make sure you go over to our YouTube, subscribe over there. We've got our foundational haircut series out and, like always, always remember when you know better, you do better. Thanks for tuning in to All About Hair. If you loved this episode, hit, subscribe, leave us a review and share it with a fellow stylist or hair-loving friend. You want more tips, tools and behind-the-scenes goodness, follow me on YouTube or head to my website at denisekeilitzcom. Yes, I know it's hard to spell, so don't worry, the link is in the show notes. Until next time time, keep learning, keep creating and keep loving what you do.
