How to Fix Orange & Brassy Hair with Ash Blue Additive

If you’ve ever lightened dark hair and ended up with pumpkin orange or yellow‑orange bands instead of a cool blonde or soft brown, you are not alone.

Brassy tones are the natural underlying pigment in levels 6–8, and they will always show through unless you neutralize them correctly. That’s exactly what Ash Blue Additive is designed to do.

Why orange and yellow keep coming back

Orange hair

Orange and brassy hair

When you lift a level 4 brown or darker, you expose strong red–orange and orange pigment in the mid‑lengths and ends, and yellow–orange through the top and front. Even when you apply an ash blonde afterwards, there often isn’t enough cool pigment in the formula to fully cancel that warmth, so you’re left with:

Orangey or coppery mid‑lengths and ends
Yellow‑orange or “gold band” through the mid‑shaft
Dull, slightly greenish or muddy roots if the ash is too strong only at the regrowth

Instead of re‑darkening the hair or repeatedly re‑toning, Ash Blue Additive lets you build the extra cool pigment directly into your target shade so you neutralize brass as you color.

What Ash Blue Additive actually does

The Hair Color Wheel

Do you remember the Color Wheel? All haidressers learn it. It's the basic principle behind why blue works so well in targeting orange.

Blue is the exact opposite of orange on the color wheel. 

When you place blue dyes on top of orange hair, you kill orange.

Ash Blue Additive is a concentrated, blue‑based ash pigment designed to be mixed into level 6, 7 or 8 permanent or demi‑permanent color.

The blue reflect targets orange and yellow‑orange tones in levels 6–8 and helps “kill” visible brass.

Because it is highly pigmented, it slightly deepens the final result by about one level, giving a more controlled, medium‑blonde or soft brown finish instead of a washed‑out, warm look.

The conditioning base is formulated for professional use, so hair feels soft and bouncy after processing rather than dry and crunchy.

In other words, you are not just masking brass; you are reformulating your color to have the right balance of cool pigment from the start.

How to use Ash Blue Additive step by step

For best results, always follow the usage rules for this type of additive: too little will not neutralize enough warmth, and too much can over‑darken or over‑dull the hair.

1. Choose your base shade appropriately.

Select a level 6, 7 or 8 shade that matches the depth you want after neutralization.

Remember that the additive will deepen the result by roughly one level, so if you are torn between two shades, choose the lighter one.

2. Measure your additive

Squeeze approximately one inch of Ash Blue Additive into your color bowl.
Add one full tube of your chosen level 6, 7 or 8 color.
Mix thoroughly so the blue pigment is evenly dispersed.

3. Mix with developer

Once your color and additive are blended, mix 1:1 with the appropriate developer strength for your service. 20 vol would be the most appropriate strength for toning and refining, 10 Vol if you are planning on toning down a color level.
Stir until the texture is smooth and uniform.

4. Apply and process

Apply to towel‑dried or dry hair, focusing on the orange and yellow‑orange areas first (often mid‑lengths and ends).
Process for about 30 minutes, checking visually as you go.
When the warmth is neutralized and the tone looks balanced, emulsify with a little warm water and rinse.

5. Cleanse and care

Wash with a gentle, low‑pH shampoo to help close the cuticle.
Follow with a nourishing conditioner or mask so the new tone looks shiny and reflective.

Used this way, Ash Blue Additive becomes part of your standard formula, not a separate “fix” you have to perform afterwards.

Who is Ash Blue Additive perfect for?

Ash Blue Additive is a smart tool whenever you are working at levels 6–8 and want to avoid brass:

Clients who have lightened from levels 3–5 and are left with orange or yellow‑orange lengths.
Neutral or cool medium blondes that repeatedly fade warm, even when you use ash shades.
Anyone who wants a softer, neutral brown or dark blonde after years of box dye or overlapping color.
Corrective color situations where re‑darkening is the only alternative if you cannot control warmth.

By building the additive into your formula, you deliver the target shade and the neutralization in one step.

A real‑life result: “Fixed my orange hair completely”

One customer described lightening over ten years of level 4 brown dye, only to end up with hair that was “literally pumpkin orange” through the mids, with level 8 on top and a deeper level 6 on the ends. After trying a standard level 7 blue‑based ash blonde from a retail store, she was left with greenish‑brown roots and orangey‑brown ends—exactly the sort of uneven correction that makes people want to give up and go dark again.

Instead, she switched to a professional level 6.1B formula and added Ash Blue Additive into her mix, following a color consultation. The result was a pretty, neutral brown with the brass fully toned out, no green cast at the roots, and a noticeably softer, more volumized feel to the hair compared with the dry, crunchy result she had experienced from her previous color.

Her experience captures the two core benefits of using Ash Blue Additive correctly:

Color control – the brass is neutralized, and the final shade looks intentionally cool‑neutral rather than “corrected” or muddy.
Hair quality – the formula leaves the hair feeling soft and bouncy, so the end result looks healthy as well as well‑toned.

Which products should I mix Ash Blue Additive with?

You can mix them with any color from base 4 all the way up to base 7.

We would recommend in particular that you use them with Ugly Duckling's Blue ash blonde series. They will work with your Ash Blue Additive and help orange neutralizatin.

You can also use them with base colors. With Ugly Duckling Color Gel 6N or 7N for example.

Why add Ash Blue to your core formulas

For many colorists and serious DIY color enthusiasts, Ash Blue Additive quickly becomes a staple rather than an occasional fix. Built into your level 6–8 formulas, it allows you to:

Confidently lift and tone darker bases without ending up orange or overly warm.
Offer cooler, more sophisticated blondes and soft browns that stay true longer.
Reduce the need for repeated toning services, which can over‑process fragile hair.
Deliver both cosmetic and tactile improvement—better color and better feel—in a single service.

If brassiness is the one thing standing between your clients (or your own hair) and the medium blonde or neutral brown you actually want, Ash Blue Additive is a simple, professional way to take back control of your color.

WATCH SOME VIDEOS OF ASH BLUE ADDITIVE IN USE:

Hair by Elona Taki

Hair by Elona Taki