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.
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.
Depending your level of brassiness, 2-3 minutes should be enough time for the shampoo to do its work. After the time has passed, rinse thoroughly with cool water. Repeat if needed. The toning effect will increase the longer the product remains on your strands.
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.
You can leave a purple shampoo on your hair for an hour. However, if you choose to leave the pigmented shampoo on your hair for longer than thirty minutes, your hair might turn the color of the shampoo instead of correcting brassy tones. It's best to start with less time and more when using purple or blue shampoo.
If it remains, your hair is either resistant to lifting (that's why a colorist would normally do a patch test to see how your hair will react) or you rinsed the bleach too soon. This means that you can get rid of orange hair by repeating the bleaching process.
Depending on your hair's level of brassiness, leave the purple shampoo on for two to three minutes. Rinse the shampoo out. Apply a purple conditioner to nourish your hair and prevent breakage.
How often you use it should depend on how often you wash your hair and how long it takes for it to look brassy. If you wash your hair twice a week, then you may find that using purple shampoo once a week works best.
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.
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.
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!
Some blondes swear by locking in the purple toning with a purple conditioner. However, as the purple shampoo does most of the work, we think it's OK to use any conditioner you like. After rinsing, try a deep moisturizing hair mask to soften your hair, and smooth frizz. This is essential if you have bleached hair.
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.)
We've all wondered whether you can put purple shampoo on dry hair at some point, so we're here to set the record straight: toning shampoo should only ever be used on wet hair!
Purple shampoo should be applied in the shower or during a hair wash. While your hair is wet, apply the shampoo and lather it onto your hair. The amount of shampoo that you use will vary depending on your choice of product and how brassy your hair is looking.
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.
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.
The short answer: No! People have been trying this technique because your hair will absorb more of the purple pigment when it's dry.
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.
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 is meant to only be used weekly or when your hair is looking brassy — not every day. Generally, you'll want to incorporate it into your hair care routine one to three times a week in place of your usual shampoo for color-treated hair.
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.
If you were a blonde to start with and you've ended up with orange hair after bleaching, it could be due to a build-up of chemicals or minerals in your hair. Brassiness can also happen if you've been in the sea or a chlorinated pool frequently.