Finally figured out why my balayage highlights kept turning out muddy

I've been doing hair for about 4 years now and I kept seeing other stylists in my salon struggle with the same thing. Their blonde highlights would look gray or greenish after toning. I noticed last month that they were using the same brush for the lightener AND the toner without cleaning it between. That little bit of leftover bleach in the bristles was reacting with the toner and making everything go muddy. I started keeping a separate bottle of water on my station to rinse my brush between steps. Now every blonde I do comes out clean and bright. Has anyone else dealt with this or have other tricks for keeping tones from mixing wrong?

2 comments

2 Comments

paige5141mo ago

Wow, so that's why my kitchen sponge keeps tasting like bleach.

stella3071mo agoTop Commenter

And honestly I've been there too. I once tried to be all eco-friendly with a homemade bleach spray for my counters and then accidentally used that same spray bottle to wet my sponge the next day. Let's just say my morning coffee had a weird tang to it that morning and I couldn't figure out why until I sniffed my sponge. Now I keep my cleaning supplies in a completely different cabinet, labeled with big red markers like I'm a toddler-proofing my own home. Your mileage may vary but I swear my dishwasher has saved me from myself more times than I can count.