There's also platinum shampoo, a special type of toning shampoo that works just like purple shampoo, with a few key differences. Platinum shampoo, also known as silver shampoo or platinum blonde shampoo, is a type of shampoo formulated to remove yellow tones from hair.
Purple shampoo does not replace your regular shampoo as they have different functions. The purpose of a standard shampoo is to moisturize and remove dirt, debris, and oils that have amassed upon your scalp and throughout your hair. Purple shampoo, on the other hand, is focused on toning.
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This innovative formula works to illuminate blonde, bleached, or lightened hair without any violet toning pigment, so it's a really great option for everyday use.
While you should stick with purple or blue shampoo most of the time, you do have the option to use both if you have multiple undertones. But a good rule of thumb is that a blue shampoo is best for dark hair and brunettes; and purple shampoo is better for blondes, silver or gray hair.
Blue shampoos are designed to counteract orange tones in brunette hair, while purple shampoos are used to banish brass in blonde hair.
Purple shampoo, or sometimes even silver shampoo, cools down the tone of your hair and neutralises the brassiness, keeping your blonde stronger for longer.
Apply a dollop of Color Balance Purple Shampoo into your hands, and emulsify it (rub between your palms). You'll notice the deep purple begin to turn foamy, creamy, and a paler shade of lavender. Now, apply this emulsified lather to your hair; massage in, and let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing.
Start by emptying out a bottle of white shampoo into a plastic bowl (if the shampoo is colored, the dye will not turn the shampoo purple, and therefore, it won't work). Then add 2-3 drops of gentian violet dye. You can adjust the ratio depending on your desired effect and how severely your color has faded.
The Bottom Line: Use purple shampoo to tone yellow, usually blonde hair, and blue shampoo to tone orange, usually brunette hair. When deciding how to fix orange hair, you might try using a toner to get rid of the orange pigment. Toning neutralizes unwanted brassy tones to reveal a cooler blonde or light brown shade.
You can also bleach your hair or use a lighter coloured hair dye to reduce the orange and yellow tones. Choose an ash blonde or a light blonde shade, apply and wash as per the box instructions. This helps to neutralise the undertones of yellow and orange.
Call your stylist for a toner or gloss.
Hair toners are used to help neutralize any unwanted brassy or warm tones, and can include demi-permanent color or glosses, which can be applied by a professional colorist at the hair salon for best results.
If you think of the color wheel, blue and purple are located directly opposite yellow and orange, which is why blue and purple-pigmented shampoo helps to correct color and remove brassy tones from the hair.
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.
Silver Shampoo, which can also be called purple shampoo, is a shampoo with violet pigments. The violet pigments neutralize the yellow tones in your hair. By using a silver shampoo, you will get rid of brassy, yellow, and golden tones.
Previously ashy cool toned blondes can start to look yellow when the toners applied in salon start to fade. To bring your blonde back to bright you need to deposit some gentle pigments back into the hair, with a blue or purple shampoo, to neutralise the warm tone.
Is purple shampoo a toner? Any product that dispenses pigment to adjust hair tone can be considered a toner, and that includes purple shampoo. Its pigments work to neutralize brass.
First things first, we want to let you in on a secret — there is no difference between silver shampoo and purple shampoo. Just like purple shampoo, the term silver shampoo refers to a pigmented shampoo that's purple in color and helps neutralize brassy, yellow tones in blonde and silver hair.
“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 on the yellowish, orange end of the spectrum, purple shampoo will fix it. Like blue shampoo, purple shampoo is another at-home option with color pigments that's formulated to neutralize brassy yellow and orange tones in color-treated hair.