Blonde hair looks sexy and attractive, but its care can be demanding. To keep it looking its best, you need to dye your hair regularly; otherwise, you can see some unwanted yellow tones after only two weeks. These brassy tones can spoil your look.
Luckily, there is a solution for ladies who like ashy, platinum, and extremely light blonde hair – a purple shampoo. It works in favor of your lightened strands between two salon visits, making them silky and shiny with no yellow and orange tones. So what does purple shampoo do, and how can you benefit from it?
How Purple Shampoo Works
After hair dyeing, the dye washes off and loses its shine and intensity. Thus unwanted brassy tones can appear on bleached hair, sometimes as soon as you leave your hairstylist. That happens because ”leftovers” of your natural hair color pigment come to the surface. And the darker your natural hair color, the more visible this problem will be.
These can be quite annoying, so using purple shampoo can help you get rid of them. You might wonder what purple has to do with yellow, but if you look at the color wheel, you’ll see these two colors are on opposite sides. It means that crushed violet pigments in this shampoo repeal the yellow and brassy tones that pop up after dyeing.
How to Use Purple Shampoo
Hair experts suggest using purple shampoo twice for a single hair wash, first for washing and then for toning hair. This way, the hair will be cleaner, and the follicles will open to receive purple pigment that’ll cancel out yellow or brassy tones.
Using purple shampoo is easy; all you need to do is follow these steps:
- Wet the hair.
- Apply purple shampoo and rub it into your hair, giving your scalp a good massage.
- Rinse your hair and apply purple shampoo for the second time.
- Make sure the strands are covered from the roots to the tops
- Now, leave the purple shampoo for about two or three minutes.
- After the second rinsing, you should use a color-depositing conditioner
to fix the violet pigment in the hair structure.
Choosing the Right Purple Shampoo For You
Before using it on your color-treated hair, you must choose the right purple shampoo for your hair type and color. In general, always use premium products from proven brands, and make sure your hairstylist uses them, too.
Quality purple shampoos have a thick consistency and deep purple color. If possible, look for a sulfate-free formula and nourishing ingredients. It’s the best choice for color-treated hair to keep it healthy, moisturized, and good-looking.
If you have gray, silver, or white hair, opt for darker purple shampoo, as its brassiness can be stubborn. On the contrary, if you have very light blonde hair, your choice should be brighter purple shampoo, as brassy tones from blonde hair are easier to remove.
Purple shampoo is a good choice for colored hair, but in case you have naturally dark hair, it won’t work. If you take a peek at a color wheel, you’ll see much better choices than purple color for brunette or brown hair toning.
Who Needs Purple Shampoo?
If you dye your hair blonde, purple shampoo acts as a neutralizer for brassy tones, but it also helps natural blonds to keep unwanted warm tones away and achieve a silver hair look. And if you dye your hair purple, this toning shampoo will add purple pigments to it, making the color more intense. But does purple shampoo work on other hair colors?
Purple shampoo is a toning shampoo specially designed for blonde and silver hair, but it can have benefits for ladies with other hair colors. For instance, yellow and copper tones can pop up on red hair, too, so purple shampoo can cancel them out. Don’t worry; this is a color-safe shampoo, and your red hair color won’t lose its intensity.
As for gray and white hair, purple toning shampoo repels brassy or yellow hues and gets cooler tones to the surface, but this is a slippery field, as overusing purple shampoos on gray hair can leave you with violet hues. In that case, you can try another clarifying shampoo to neutralize brassy yellow tones and avoid over-toning.
If you have brown hair with blonde highlights, you can use purple shampoo to neutralize yellow tones. But in the case of darker shades, purple shampoo won’t achieve the full effect as in lighter hair, so you might want to try another hair treatment.
How Often Should You Use Purple Shampoo?
If you want to eliminate brassiness, regular application of purple shampoo is a must. Using it once or twice a week will do, as it’s not intended to replace your regular shampoo (you can try blonde hair shampoos
). In case of more intense brassy hair, you can go with it three times, but be careful not to overuse purple shampoo.
This product will neutralize style-ruining brassy and yellow tones, but if you overdo it on color-treated hair, purple shampoo can have the complete opposite effect – your hair will darken. The good thing is that it won’t leave you with damaged hair, but still be careful. Use purple shampoo following the manufacturer’s instructions, which will differ depending on your hair type and color.
Get the Most of Using Purple Shampoo
Purple shampoo features crushed violet pigments that’ll provide their maximum if you use this product as stated:
- Always use purple shampoo on wet hair. Rumors have it that this product will provide better effects when applied to dry hair, but that’s not true. Dry strands can’t absorb shampoo evenly, so you risk being left with patchy and damaged hair.
- Scalp massage will ensure your color-treated strands are fully covered with purple shampoo. Only that way can you get maximum effect and even hair toning.
- Don’t forget about a conditioner. Bleached hair is porous, and some purple shampoos can dry it even more. Leave-in conditioners will keep your hair hydrated.
More Tips on Preventing Unwanted Yellow Tones
Many factors affect the appearance of unwanted yellow tones in your blonde, silver, and gray hair. Besides using purple shampoo, here are a few more tips to keep cool tones in your lightened strands.
- Frequent hair washing can wash your dye away, so try not to wash your hair too often. Switch to a shampoo and other hair care products for color-treated hair, as they already contain ingredients that’ll prevent dye fading.
- Tap water contains minerals and metals that can affect your bleached hair and make it even more porous. If possible, get a showerhead filter to purify tap water.
- Chlorine from pools can make your hair green, so avoid wetting your hair if you dye it soon. But if you can’t avoid that, make sure to wet your hair before entering the chlorinated pool.
- Protect your hair from the sun by wearing a hat or scarf and applying COOLA Organic Scalp Spray & Hair sunscreen with SPF 30.
- Use moisturizing products like a hair mask. The Bold Uniq Purple hair mask will provide excellent care for your blonde hair.
- Hair glosses can also tone your blonde hair.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Leave Purple Shampoo Longer?
For starters, leave the purple shampoo on your blonde hair for no more than three minutes. If you see no difference after a couple of washes, extend that period to five minutes and then 10 minutes until you see it works. If you have white or gray hair, you can go with 15 minutes, but no longer than that.
When to Use Purple Shampoo After Bleaching?
Using purple shampoo on bleached hair is recommended after 48 hours. Bleached hair is slightly damaged on purpose, so it can ”soak” color pigments and seal them into strands, which happens after 48 to 72 hours. Using purple shampoo before that can make your new hair color look washed out.
Does Purple Shampoo Make Hair Lighter?
Purple shampoos are for already lightened hair, so if you plan to use it on your brown or brunette hair to make it lighter, it won’t work. It can brighten your blonde hair tone a bit, but it does that by canceling brassy or yellow hues and making cool tones stand out.
Wrap Up
If you want your blonde hair to be vibrant and cool-toned, purple shampoo should become a part of your hair care routine. Regular use will provide excellent results and make your colored hair look its best. But keep in mind that this shampoo doesn’t have the same effect for everyone, so make sure to use it stated for your hair type and color.