DIY silver hair toner

Ever since I began transitioning to my natural silver hair, I’ve been on a mission to banish the yellow tones from my hair. And while there are many products you can find for this purpose, I love to keep things simple and save money at the same time. So I experimented and came up with an easy toner recipe for me and all you thrifty silver-haired sirens out there.

Make your own silver toning conditioner

All you need are two simple ingredients to make the perfect toner to keep your gray and silver hair bright—cheap white hair conditioner and semipermanent dye.

Suave conditioner and Arctic Fox transylvania dye

I use Suave coconut conditioner from Walmart (about $2) and Arctic Fox transylvania semipermanent dye ($13 to $18). I recommend getting the 4 ounce size because it will literally last for years using the small amount required for this recipe.

DIY toner recipe for silver hair

Take one cup of conditioner.

One cup conditioner

Add ¼ teaspoon Arctic Fox transylvania dye.

1/4 tsp Arctic Fox transylvania dye

Stir into the conditioner and mix well.

Stir dye into conditioner

After mixing, the conditioner looks like a medium shade of indigo blue.

Blue toning conditioner for silver hair

Transfer the toner to a pump bottle for easy use.

Store conditioner in a pump bottle

The great thing about this mixture is that it brightens hair without leaving a blue cast. But if you would rather be left with a subtle blue shade in your hair, simply double the amount of dye, using ½ teaspoon instead of ¼ teaspoon.

How to use toning conditioner

Use the toner on your hair once or twice a week.

After I wash my hair in the shower, I squeeze out excess water and apply about a tablespoon all over my hair.

One tablespoon toning conditioner per treatment

Then I comb through my hair with a wide-tooth comb, pin my hair up and continue on with my shower, rinsing my hair at the end.

Perfectly toned silver hair

My silver hair after using DIY toner

And this is lovely result, silver hair without any yellow or blue tones.

I hope you will give this DIY toner a try on your own silver tresses.