Questions about color remover, bleach bath and toner

You need to wait a minimum of one week before doing any further processes.

The orange colour may be staining from the red in the auburn colour, and sometimes stained hair just won't lift past a certain point.

What colour are you aiming for?  We can advise better if we know where you're hoping to end up.

The toner of course won't remove the orangey colour but, instead, it will cover it up and neutralise the tone.

I wonder what level you're starting out with in terms of lightness, what toner you used, and how long you left it in?  Purple toner helps to neutralise yellows and should do something on ginger if left on long enough.  But on hair that is more orange than yellow, a toner leaning toward more of a blue might be needed.

I was hoping to get to a level 9 ash blonde. I started at a level 4 or 5. I used a Wella toner T11 left it on for 15  minutes. If there is no possibility of getting the orange , should I just aim for brown? Right now my hair is probably a level 8 with a little lighter roots.

I can't stand this orange hair. I think I want to go a light brown I know I need to use a semi perm color. Can I put a brown over the orange or do I need to use something else. Please please help me.

Moderator combined posts.

I've read that T11 has a golden base, not an ash one--I'm not surprised it didn't touch the orange; it sounds like it's used to warm up ash/platinum hair rather than tone out brass.  To tone the orange, you will need a shade of blue diluted in conditioner.  The best way to find out which shade is to use the computer to create a negative image of your current haircolour, as Alexia suggested.  Start by just dipping the very edge of your brush in the toner and adding to a bowl full of conditioner.  You may need to do a couple more "dips" to make it stronger, depending on how intense your orange is.

It will make a weird sludgy brown, but you can use this as a base to put a nice brown over the top.  If you did your colour remover/bleach bath sections less than a week ago, I'd suggest using a pure semi brown over the top (Adore have a lovely range).  If you did it a week ago or more, you can use a demi that the shops sell (often marketed as semis, but they use a low-volume peroxide, so they're demis).

Bear in mind that the one-week waiting period is a rule of thumb after colour removers and bleach baths to give the hair time to relax.  If you use a full strength bleach, a very strong bleach bath or a permanent colour, you need to give it one month between processes.

Can you recommend any semi's I can get in the US? Also if I decide to go back to red will it cover without doing a blue toner first? I have never used semi's. ONce my hair grows a bit and my roots show will a semi cover grey hair?

In stores you should be able to find Manic Panic in Sally's and Spencer's, Hot Topic may have Color Fiend or NRage. If you are close to NYC Ricky's should have Manic Panic and Special Effects. You should be able to order any brand you want online if you don't mind doing that.