My bleached hair is quite porous — how do I avoid uneven or overly dark results? — TONING SEMI-PERMANENT TONING SEMI-PERMANENT EFFECT COLOR Bad Girl GRAY 150ML

Lightened hair often has a raised, uneven cuticle that acts like a sponge for direct dyes. With Ice Dragon, this can mean the ends turn a deep gunmetal while the roots stay pale. To control the deposit:

• Do a strand test on a hidden section at the nape — apply, time it, rinse, dry, and judge. This is the single most reliable predictor.
• Dilute the toner with a white conditioner (1:1 or 1:2) for the first application. You can always go stronger next time; you can’t easily lift excess direct pigment.
• Shorten the processing time. Start checking at 5 minutes; many porous bases only need 5–10 minutes instead of the full 15–20.
• Apply to damp, not soaking-wet hair. Excess water dilutes the pigment unevenly; towel-dried hair gives more consistent uptake.
• Work quickly and evenly. Use a tint brush, section the hair, and saturate each strand — don’t just comb through.

If you do end up too dark, a clarifying shampoo or a vitamin C crush treatment (powder mixed with shampoo) can lift some of the direct pigment in the first 24–48 hours. After that, it simply fades with normal washing.