The short answer: No! People have been trying this technique because your hair will absorb more of the purple pigment when it's dry.
The purple shampoo bottle will tell you to apply it to wet hair in the shower for 10 minutes, but the hack is to apply it to dry hair and leave it on for upwards of 15 minutes and then wash it out.
OK, so what is the best way to use purple shampoo? Well, for starters, you want to apply it on completely wet hair. (Note: If you have especially dry or brittle ends, we'd also recommend putting a tiny amount of conditioner on just the tips to prevent them from absorbing too much pigment.)
It's thought that by applying pigment to dry strands (which are more absorbent), the end result will be more vivid. This might be the case for some people, but there's also the risk of more porous, damaged sections of the hair (the ends) absorbing more pigment than the newer hair towards the root.
Because it does not contain an ingredient that will chemically change the color of your hair, purple shampoo cannot truly lighten hair. If anything, purple shampoo may make your hair temporarily slightly darker.
A purple shampoo will not dye your hair but if you leave it on for too long you could find yourself with a little lilac staining. It's easy enough to get rid of – just wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo to reduce the tint!
This is were the over using it can cause problems. "You want to stop using it two weeks before any lightening service. The purple shampoo can cause build up making the hair look dull and darker if overused." This makes the lightening process more difficult to create a seamless blend.
Too Much of a Good Thing: Purple Shampoo Left On Too Long
You can, in fact, over-tone your hair. Leaving purple shampoo in your hair for an hour or more can cause your hair to look dull and lifeless. To leave purple shampoo for more than 10 minutes is already too much.
Others may be too weak, meaning they need 10 minutes or more to make a noticeable difference to brassy tones if they manage to do anything at all. However, we've created the 'Goldilocks' of purple shampoos; a product with just the right level of purple tones, which takes 3-5 minutes to work its magic on brassy strands.
There's two reasons why your hair is still brassy after toning or colouring. Either the undertone of the toner/colour is wrong, or the product is too light for you.
Our purple shampoo is designed to be used as a daily shampoo until your desired color is achieved. Once you've reached your perfect blonde color, alternate between purple shampoo and your regular shampoo.
Should you apply purple shampoo on dry hair? The short answer: No! People have been trying this technique because your hair will absorb more of the purple pigment when it's dry. “Unfortunately, hair is not evenly absorbent when dry due to porosity levels,” Maine explains.
Purple shampoo is a toning shampoo specially designed for blonde hair, silver hair, bleached hair, or brassy hair. It features crushed violet pigments that neutralize style-ruining brassy and yellow tones.
Unless you have white hair or gray hair, you shouldn't leave the purple shampoo on for longer than 15 minutes at a time. If you're already leaving the shampoo on for less than 15 minutes and you're noticing a purple tone, then try leaving the product on for even less time.
Purple shampoo is a toning shampoo used for all shades of blonde hair to help preserve its color and keep locks looking healthy and vibrant. The shampoo essentially acts as a color-correcting toner for your hair without you ever having to step foot in a salon.
The reason purple shampoo works is that purple is opposite yellow on the color wheel, so the purple pigments in the shampoo cancel out the yellow tones, leaving hair looking brighter and cooler in tone.
Purple shampoos contain a purple pigment that neutralizes yellow and brassy tones on lighter hair. The primary reason it has a purple color is that, on the color wheel, it is the direct opposite color of yellow. This means that purple and yellow colors will always cancel each other out.
Purple counteracts yellow, blue counteracts orange. They are opposites on the color wheel, so that's why. So if your hair has an orangey hue, the reality is, purple shampoo won't work.
Keep in mind that purple shampoo does not replace your regular shampoo and should only be used once or twice a week. Doss warns that there is such a thing as too much purple. “When you eliminate too much yellow, it visually ends up darker and a lot of people don't want it to look darker,” she says.
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.
Purple shampoo neutralises brassiness but enhances blonde pigmentation. To maintain a silver shade, your shampoo requires a stronger colour neutralisation. Silver shampoo is formulated with deeper purple pigments to target yellow tones in a much stronger way.
Brassy hair is caused by an overabundance of warm pigments in your hair, usually caused by bleaching and the hair coloring process. Brass usually shows up as yellow or orange tones in blonde hair and orange or red tones in brunette hair.
Yes, purple shampoo could be making your blonde look darker — but don't worry, it's fixable.