What Exactly is Toner?

Toner is powerful!  It can transform a blonde in less than 20 minutes.  Often when I mention it to someone in my chair, they haven't heard of it and don't know what it does.
So what is toner?!
Toner is a glorious little thing.  It comes after bleaching the hair and neutralizes unwanted tones from the bleaching.  When you're going blonde, hair naturally pulls a lot of warm tones, thus leaving orange/brassy or yellow tones that aren't the most flattering.  The yellow I always refer to as "french fry yellow".  Who want's french fry yellow hair?!  Not this girl!
Toner is extremely helpful for hair.  It only effects the lighter hair, therefore not doing anything to your natural hair color.  Got french fry yellow?  A purple based toner helps neutralize. Hating the brassy orange tone of your blonde?  A blue based toner will take care of that.  What about that red hue left from lifting really dark hair?  A green based toner is the key!  
So, next time your stylist is mentioning that toner is an important part of the process, don't be afraid to ask about it and how it works.  I love chatting with my clients about why I'm doing something on their hair and seeing the "a-ha" moment when they get why it works that way.  

With love and hair,
Megan