We updated this article in June 2022 ensure all products were in stock, and to add more insight and information about each featured product. Our original top-rated picks remain the same.
Nothing turns heads like shiny, freshly-colored blonde hair. But nothing lasts forever and your gleaming, sun-kissed shade of blonde can turn brassy and dull quicker than you’d like. But there is a solution for keeping your hair color vibrant and preventing brassiness and fading: toner, a haircare product tinted with pigments that boosts blonde shades and cancels out unwanted yellow or orange hues.
“Using a toner will enhance or neutralize your color,” explains Aura Friedman, Senior Colorist and Creative Director at Suite Caroline Salon in New York City. Hair can get brassy when your color starts to fade, which happens for many different reasons, including sun exposure, minerals in water, shampoos that strip color and the stress of heat styling. “By neutralizing hair color, the brassiness will be removed — and if you love your current shade, toner can work with your hair to keep the colors you like most and make them even more vibrant,” she says.
You can have toner tailored to your specific hair color applied by a professional colorist in the salon, but if you don’t have the time or the money, you can also try an effective at-home toner product. These masks, sprays, drops, treatments and conditioners will help tame brassy blonde hair color at home to get rid of unwanted yellow, red and orange shades at an affordable price. Here, the best toners for blonde hair according to hair color experts and enthusiastic online reviews.
Our top picks:
You can read more about how we chose the best toners for blonde hair — plus everything you need to know to shop for and use them — at the end of this guide. Looking for more ways to make blonde hair shine? Check out our guides to the best purple shampoos and the best shampoos for color-treated hair.
1
Best Overall Toner for Blonde Hair
Mixed Feelings Leave-In Blonde Drops
- Time-saving
- Works on many shades
The ultimate time-saver, IGK’s toning leave-in toning drops take away the need for an extra step in your haircare routine. “Just add three to eight drops of the versatile purple formula into any of your haircare products and mix together before applying,” advises Friedman. The best part: It works on a variety of blonde shades, from bleached to dark or even silver hair, to brighten and banish brassiness.”One product to add to my regular hair products instead of cluttering my bathroom and suitcase with three (toning shampoo, conditioner and mask) — love it,” says one Sephora reviewer.
• Key Ingredients: Violet pigments, castor oil, protein
• Formula: Mix-in drops
• Size: 1 oz.
2
Best Value Toner for Blonde Hair
Nutrisse Ultra Color Blonde Anti-Brass Toner
- Nourishing formula
- Good value
Don’t let the pricetag fool you — this budget-friendly double-duty Garnier toning treatment packs a big punch thanks to bonus conditioning benefits. “I like that this gives hair cool toning and a deep treatment at the same time with nourishing botanical oils like black currant, olive and avocado,” says GH Beauty Director April Franzino. This treatment can be used on both color-treated and natural blondes and (bonus!) smells amazing.
• Key Ingredients: Cool-toned pigments, botanical oils
• Formula: Cream mask
• Size: 5.1 oz.
3
Best Toner for Yellow Blonde Hair
BlondeMe Tone Enhancing Spray Conditioner
- Detangles hair
- Made with cool-toned anti-yellow pigments
The easiest (and least messy) way to tone hair? Use a spray, like this one from Schwarzkopf. The leave-in conditioner refreshes and revives color — thanks to its cool, anti-yellow pigments — while also detangling, softening and hydrating hair. Spray onto dry or damp strands for a quick blonde-boosting fix. “A must for blondes who tend to turn yellowish in between coloring sessions,” says one Amazon reviewer. “It truly made my hair shine and the smell is incredible!”
• Key Ingredients: Violet pigments, hydrolyzed silk, panthenol
• Formula: Spray leave-in conditioner
• Size: 5 oz.
4
Best Purple Toner for Blonde Hair
Purple Hair Mask
- Contains UV filters to protect color
- Strengthens hair
Strengthen, moisturize and brighten your locks with this B Uniq best-seller from Amazon. The ultra-pigmented purple mask enhances blonde, platinum and even white hair. A mix of jojoba, marula and coconut oils deeply nourish hair, while soy proteins and vitamin B5 help fortify and soften strands. “I’m in the sun a lot, so the UV filters in this mask help keep my color from fading,” a reviewer said.
• Key Ingredients: Purple pigments; jojoba, marula and coconut oils
• Formula: Cream mask
• Size: 6.76 oz.
5
Best Blue Toner for Blonde Hair
Color Balance Blue Conditioner
- Softens strands and reduces frizz
- Protects against discoloration
Say goodbye to unwanted orange streaks. This Joico conditioner’s tone-correcting blue pigments attach to hair fibers to neutralize rusty tones. Plus, a powerful peptide complex repairs damage, fights frizz and adds shine. “It leaves hair conditioned and no color residue left behind,” shares one Walmart user.
• Key Ingredients: Blue pigments, keratin, UV absorbers
• Formula: Cream conditioner
• Size: 8.5 oz.
6
Best Toner for Ash Blonde Hair
Hair Color Permanent Liquid Hair Toner in Light Ash Blonde
- Leaves hair shiny
- Prevents color fading
A top-selling toner at Walmart, this permanent icy blonde hair formula from Wella will instantly revive cool shades, neutralize brassy tones and prevent future fading. “I love that it leaves my hair super shiny,” a reviewer said.
• Key Ingredients: Fatty acids, vitamin C, shine enhancers
• Formula: Liquid toner
• Size: 1.4 oz.
7
Best Toner for Ombré Blonde Hair
Violet Crush Purple Conditioner
- Brightens ombré hair color
- Softening effects
- Good value
This nourishing John Frieda conditioner refreshes your ombré color with violet pigments, known to brighten hair, reduce brassiness and absorb UV damage, preventing further discoloration. When you tone ombré hair, “only use the product on the ends where hair is blonde — don’t touch your roots, or it will change your overall hair color,” Friedman advises.
• Key Ingredients: Violet pigments, glycerin, castor oil, lavender extract
• Formula: Cream conditioner
• Size: 8.3 oz.
8
Best Toner for Medium Blonde Hair
Alchemic Conditioner Golden
- Nourishing formula
- Intensifies shine
This toning deep conditioner from Davines is perfect for those with golden and honey blonde hair colors. “It helps bring back richness to hair color and makes it sparkle in the sunlight,” Friedman says.
• Key Ingredients: Golden pigments, jojoba oil, vitamin E
• Formula: Cream deep conditioner
• Size: 8.84 oz.
9
Best Toner for Bleached Blonde Hair
Virgin Snow Hair Toner
- Softening formula
- Great for white and blonde hair
Manic Panic’s blue-tinted toner is perfect for the lightest (and whitest!) blonde shades. Bleached hair gets dried out easily, so the fact that this treatment doubles as a hydrating mask will keep hair healthy and vibrant longer. “It got rid of brass in my hair,” shares on Amazon reviewer. “It also made my hair super soft.”
• Key Ingredients: Blue pigments, aloe
• Formula: Semi-permanent hair color cream
• Size: 4 oz.
10
Best Toner for Silver Blonde Hair
Alchemic Conditioner Silver
- Evens out tone
- Softens strands
- Detangles
Silver and gray hair deserves some brightening love, too. This rich Davines conditioner helps enhance and even out platinum, silver and cool blonde shades. “It’s safe to use and will transform your color to your desired tone,” Friedman notes.
• Key Ingredients: Violet pigments, jojoba oil, vitamin E
• Formula: Cream deep conditoner
• Size: 8 oz.
11
Best Toner for Highlighted Blonde Hair
Shade Variation Mask
- Nourishing formula
- Adds shine
With a moisturizing blend of almond butter, shea butter and buriti oil to nourish strands, and a mix of iris and iridescent pigments to neutralize brassy tones, revive highlights and restore shine, this luxe color-correcting Christophe Robin mask is worth the splurge. It’s specially formulated with a balanced pH of 4.5 to help evenly distribute color. “This mask helps keep my blonde highlighted hair from turning brassy in between salon visits,” shares one Dermstore reviewer. “It also helps my color stay in longer so I can go longer between having it colored.” Apply onto clean, damp hair and leave on from between five and 30 minutes depending on your desired intensity (start with five minutes for your first use to see how it affects your shade).
• Key Ingredients: Iris and iridescent pigments, almond and shea butters, buriti oil
• Formula: Cream mask
• Size: 8.33 oz.
12
Best Toner for Brassy Blonde Hair
Icelandic Blonde Conditioner
- Softening formula
- Adds shine
Talk about a triple threat: Thanks to natural plum extracts, powerful botanicals and a violet tint, this Philip B deep conditioning treatment cancels out brassy tones, while hydrating hair and adding shine. “As someone who is letting her gray/white hair naturally grow out, this product is helping my hair stay shiny and not turn brassy, which is always an issue with light hair,” a reviewer shares.
• Key Ingredients: Grapeseed oil, plum extract
• Formula: Cream conditioner
• Size: 6 oz.
How we choose the best toners for blonde hair
The Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab scientists test hundreds of hair products every year, from shampoos and conditioners to hair masks, leave-in conditioners and every hair styling product on the market, including hair serums, mousses, hairsprays, dry shampoos and more. While the GH Beauty Lab hasn’t yet formally tested toners for blonde hair in our Labs, these products on this list are a mix of Beauty Lab expert- and professional colorist-recommended formulas, along with top-rated picks from throughly vetted online reviews.
What to look for when shopping for the best toner for blonde hair
“Toner is a science,” Friedman explains. “If you apply too much, hair becomes dull and dark, but if you don’t use it at all, hair can become brassy.” Follow her guidelines to choose the right one for you:
✔️ Consider the formula. At-home toner options include rinses, drops, sprays, glosses and purple shampoos, but Friedman prefers toning conditioners, treatments and masks for their added moisturizing benefits.
✔️ Check the tint. You may notice that there are both purple and blue tinted formulas that can help tone hair. Purple formulas help cancel unwanted yellow or brassy tones, as purple and yellow are opposite on the color wheel and neutralize each other. Blue formulas are best for orange undertones and brassiness, and perform that same function. So choosing the right one for you depends on whether you have unwanted yellow or orange brassy tones in your hair color.
✔️ Take your hair type into account. If your hair dry or damaged, a toning product that is more nourishing (like conditioners or masks) will be the most beneficial. Shampoos, drops, glosses, rinses and sprays are great for hair types that don’t have as much damage and need more of a color and shine boost.
How do you use a toner for blonde hair?
Here are Friedman’s pro tips for the best results when applying a toner for blonde hair:
✔️ Wait two weeks post-bleach before toning hair at home, she advises. If your hair is bleached in the salon, though, your colorist should use a toner immediately after for the best results.
✔️ Use the product once per week for maximum vibrancy and to extend the life of your hair color.
✔️ Pinpoint the brassiest areas of hair and apply toner only on those spots, she advises. Unless all of your hair is discolored, if you apply toner all over your head, the color of the brassy sections won’t match with the rest of your hair.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
Dori Price has over 15 years of experience researching and writing haircare and hairstyling stories, combining her knowledge with the expertise of top industry professionals such as hairstylists, hair colorists and trichologists. She is an expert in all hair product categories, from shampoos, conditioners, treatments, styling products and tools to hair color, professional services and more.
Dori Price
Freelance Beauty Editor
Dori Price is a Boston-born, New York City-based freelance writer, editor and beauty, style, and wellness expert who was the Beauty & Fashion Director at Family Circle for 13 years before she joined Good Housekeeping, Prevention and Woman’s Day as a freelance beauty editor.
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