Should I be using a purple shampoo is a great question but first we must answer:
What is a purple shampoo?
A purple shampoo is just that, purple. It is a very dark almost eggplant color. It is used to tone out golden/brassy hair on blondes. Today you will see a lot of post in Instagram with hair stylist using it at the wash station.
Great, so it’s used for blondes. That makes it easy. Well unfortunately it is used incorrectly quite frequently. So, I’m here to help you out.
Not all blondes need to use it.
WHAT!!! That’s right, blondes that only want an “ashy, white or silvery blonde should use it. If you love your champagne, butter, rose gold, honey or caramel blonde then put it down and walk away.
A purple shampoo will do nothing for anyone darker than a medium blonde. I get this a lot.
“My hair is brassy (orange). I have been using a purple shampoo and it doesn’t work.” Well that comes back to our good old color wheel that we learned about in grade school. As a hair stylist we live and breath the color wheel to get you your goal hair color on a daily basis. As a regular person who doesn’t need to remember the color wheel as in depth. Let’s take a look.
- The color wheel basic is across the color wheel neutralizes a color, anything to the sides of the color will enhance the color. What that means is we use a purple shampoo to neutralize yellow in the hair. If you have “brassy” hair (orange) you are enhancing the color and wasting your time and money trying to change it with the purple shampoo.
What can you do to "fix" your brassy (orange) hair color?
Go to your hair stylist for another session of coloring or they can put a color on top of your color to neutralize the brass. This can not be fixed with over the counter or home care products.
This is Guy Tang’s work below. He had to do another session to get her out of the “brassy orange” stage. You can not use a purple shampoo on the hair color on the left and expect to have no brass in the hair. It is impossible. This has nothing to do with the stylist not doing the job correctly or incorrectly. It has to do with what your hair can do at the time.
Did you know that your hair texture plays into account for brassy hair.
Yes. If you have coarse or medium brown hair color your hair has a lot more “red” in the hair follicle and that means it is hard to get out and hide. That means your hair that was blonde when you left the salon will turn brass quicker than anyone else’s hair. So you will use purple shampoo more often then stated below.
Now that we have that covered let’s talk about the next thing. How often should you be using your purple shampoo?
- In the beginning (right after you had your hair done) you will most-likely not use it unless you are an everyday hair washer.
- After the first week or two you may start to notice your hair looking a little warmer. That is when you start using it.
- This will be once or twice a week. (depending on your desired color and frequency of washing)
- As the third and fourth week come around you will most likely be using it every other wash.
- By the end of your fourth week you should be in to see your stylist for your hair to be colored again or to add a gloss to your hair.
Seems easy right. Here’s our Facebook Live we did on the subject. I hope this helps you. I would love to hear from you in the comments below.