Blue shampoos are designed to counteract orange tones in brunette hair, while purple shampoos are used to banish brass in blonde hair. If you make the leap from brunette to blonde hair, make sure to switch to a purple shampoo to counteract the yellow tones that often appear in color-treated blonde hair.
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.
If you're blonde, you should totally should stay away from blue shampoo, because as L'Oréal Paris Creative Director of Style and Color Jonathan Colombini explains, “it won't damage [blonde hair] but it could turn your blondest blondes a little muddy or even cast a blue tint."
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.
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.
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.
In colour theory, purple is opposite on the wheel to yellow, so the purple colour in the shampoo balances out the blonde colour, acting as a toner that helps to reduce yellow and orange hues and transform your hair into cool, hydrated blonde.
What does blue shampoo do? Blue shampoo is intended to neutralize orange, brassy, copper, or golden tones from lightened or highlighted brunette hair, although it also works on virgin hair. Brunette hair has warm orange undertones, so the underlying orange pigment is exposed when it's bleached.
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.
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.
Who Should Use Blue or Purple Shampoo? Both blue and purple shampoos are used to color-correct dyed or lightened hair. Blue shampoos are designed to counteract orange tones in brunette hair, while purple shampoos are used to banish brass in blonde hair.
How long should I leave blue shampoo in my hair? Depending on your hair's level of brassiness, you can leave blue shampoo on your hair for longer. For more intense results, leave blue shampoo on your hair for 2-3 minutes before rinsing. Follow with a blue conditioner to soften and smooth your hair.
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.
How Often Should Blondes Use Purple Shampoo? Purple shampoo is meant to be used when your hair is looking brassy, not every day. A good rule is one to three times a week. How often you use it should depend on how often you wash your hair and how long it takes for it to look brassy.
Sure you can! I mix blue (Poseidon) Arctic Fox with my purple conditioner to get rid of the orange and yellow tones in my brunette hair, It works really well. The same could be done with shampoo.
Summer can be particularly harsh on blondes thanks to environmental factors like the sun, chlorine, salt water and more. In order to keep your blonde looking cool while preventing brassy hair, purple shampoo is an absolute necessity.
Why purple shampoo is bad for your hair? 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.
Purple shampoo can actually strip the hair of the toner, which will likely leave you with a mixture of yellow, ashy and grey tones throughout your hair.
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.
Instead of actually turning your hair blue, it removes brassy tones so that your beautiful brunette shines through. Washing several times a week with a blue shampoo and conditioner like our Blue Crush shampoo and conditioner helps keep your beautiful brown locks shiny, toned and fresh.
Hairstyling pros recommend sudsing up with blue shampoo once a week to cancel orange or red tones out of brown hair color. For more toning, leave it in your hair for two or three minutes before rinsing.
Your first time, leave the formula on for the lowest amount of time the bottle recommends. Finish With a Rich Conditioner: Purple shampoos can be drying, so be sure to rinse thoroughly and follow up with a luxurious, moisturizing conditioner or hair mask.
While purple shampoo can often dry out hair, purple conditioner is supposed to smooth, soften and intensely moisturize.