Answer: Once your hair has been wet down and shampooed with a regular sulphate free shampoo to cleanse it, my advice would be to step out of the shower and strategically concentrate on applying the purple shampoo to the brassier (yellow) parts of the hair.
“So if you wash your hair twice a week, use the purple shampoo only once a week to keep the hair bright but not yellow.” Harwood also adds that purple shampoo can be mixed with regular shampoo to add some of the violet pigment into a regular hair cleansing routine without any risk of going overboard.
If you waited 72 hours before washing your hair after it was bleached, you could use the purple shampoo the next time you shower. If it hasn't been up to 72 hours, shy away from the purple shampoo until your next wash day, so it doesn't potentially ruin your hair tone.
Using gentle circular motions work the product around the scalp, between strands, and down the shaft. Let the product sit on your strands a bit longer than you might a traditional shampoo. About one or two minutes but not much longer than that, as it can be drying.
Pro Tip: To get a clean, even canvas before toning, apply the purple shampoo at the bowl from roots to ends. This will completely saturate the hair, pre-toning the freshly lightened strands.
One of the main reasons why it's important to wash your hair before getting a toning treatment is because your stylist needs to be able to see your natural hair color. This is especially important if you're looking to achieve a specific tone or shade.
However, we don't recommend this trick. Because hair is more porous Opens in a new tab when it's dry, the violet shampoo can absorb unevenly, resulting in a patchy, purple effect. Stick to massaging it into wet hair for the most flawless finish, and make sure you rinse it out thoroughly.
It's important to note that the pigment in purple shampoo isn't a lightener or hair dye but a gentle toner that works overtime. So it can't darken your hair or make it any lighter. For this reason, if your hair tone is too dark, it won't make it any brighter.
DON'T use purple shampoo on very dry hair
It's important to get the hair into a healthy condition before drenching it in purple shampoo to make it less porous.
The brightening effect caused by purple shampoo is actually illusionary. It happens because of an effect called bluing. While your hair might be very slightly darker than before, it will not look darker, because of the ways our eyes perceive color.
Zoe's answer: Leaving purple shampoo in your hair for longer than the recommended time is not always a good idea. The longer you leave it, the more pigments will be deposited on your hair and they could even stain it permanently.
Purple shampoo is for already bleached hair, so if you're hoping to lighten brown hair with purple shampoo, you'll be disappointed. This is all down to the fact that purple shampoo isn't lightening. Instead, it brightens blondes by canceling out yellow tones, which just happen to be opposite purple on the color wheel.
If you want to get cooler blonde hair color, you can wash your hair with purple shampoo several times in a row until you reach the desired hue. Then, start alternating it with a regular shampoo. If you use purple shampoo too often or keep it for too long, you can get a purple tint to your blonde hair color.
Did you know that most purple shampoos can make your hair too dry? It's designed to remove brassiness from your hair, but if used incorrectly they can leave a buildup on your strands that makes them brittle and dull.
Blonde hair goes through a lot (especially if you've recently bleached your hair!) and it can sometimes look yellow, dull or even brassy. Purple shampoo, or sometimes even silver shampoo, cools down the tone of your hair and neutralises the brassiness, keeping your blonde stronger for longer.
Should I Use Purple Conditioner Too? According to Kell and Brown, a purple conditioner will have the same effect as the shampoo, and using both may actually dry out your hair, Kell adds. Plus, purple shampoo will immediately tone your hair after a wash, so doubling purple hair products is unnecessary.
One of the main concerns is that purple shampoo can strip away natural oils from the hair, leaving it dry and brittle. This can be especially problematic for those with already dry or damaged hair. Another potential risk of using purple shampoo is that it can cause discolouration in certain situations.
If this is your first time and you aren't sure how long to leave it on, start with 5-10 minutes. If you don't get the results you want, leave it on for 10-15 minutes during your next treatment. If you leave the shampoo on longer than 15 minutes, your hair may take on a lilac tint.
“I only recommend purple shampoo on Level 9 or higher,” says Gina. “Purple shampoo does not cancel out orange so if the hair has any orange or yellow orange tones in it, the purple shampoo would actually make them warmer depositing red into the hair.”
If your hair is actually orangey, it needs to either be colored professionally, or lifted out with lightener. Yellow hair can be helped with purple shampoo, by sometimes even that isn't enough. Hard water and other outside elements cause build up on the hair that also needs to be lifted out.
It will also lighten any natural hair, causing it to turn orange or yellow and giving highlighted hair a solid look. Too much purple tone in these products can cause the hair to look dull and over toned.
Purple shampoo works the same way to eliminate brassiness on brown hair as it does on blonde. It helps to prevent color fade, while emphasizing shine, keeping brown hair vibrant and rich. Using purple shampoo on brown hair regularly will take out any unwanted warm tones in your strands.
Many people's locks can benefit from purple shampoo. One demographic who may want to give a purple shampoo a whirl is those with graying, gray, or white hair. Purple shampoo can banish brassiness far away from your silver strands, leaving you with hair that is lustrous and bright.
It's also important to follow the directions on your purple shampoo's packaging: Don't leave it on your hair too long (usually no more than five minutes). If used incorrectly, "purple shampoo can stain your hair for weeks or even months,” Maine says.
Purple shampoo is a toning shampoo specially designed for blonde hair. It features crushed violet pigments that neutralize style-ruining brassy and yellow tones. On the color wheel, purple is the opposite of yellow, which is why purple pigments cancel out brassy, yellow tones.