“I only recommend purple shampoo on Level 9 or higher,” says Gina. “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 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.
Let the shampoo sit for two to five minutes depending on how brassy your hair is and how ashy you like your color, then rinse thoroughly. The difference between two minutes and four minutes with purple shampoo is a big one so keep an eye out. It may be helpful to set a timer so you don't go over.
Different shades of brassiness need different pigments to fight them. For example, orange brassiness needs a product with blue pigments to remove that orange brassiness. If you use a toner or colour with purple pigments in it on orange brassiness, it won't do anything.
The answer is in the color wheel. Shades that are direct counters will neutralize each other out. Austin-based colorist Samantha Kliebert (@sammiiestyles) pre-tones her brunettes with a blue shampoo to neutralize orange undertones. “If your highlights are NOT yellow, then a purple shampoo won't work.
If it's your first time using purple shampoo, it's best to stick to just once a week. Use a color-safe shampoo like our Color Assure Color Care Shampoo and Conditioner Set for Colored Treated Hair the rest of the week and slowly increase how many times you use it until you find your perfect shade.
No two purple shampoos are made the same. Some are almost too potent, risking a purplish tinge after just a minute of sitting on locks, taking hair extra-ashy. 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.
Simply put, whichever colors sit opposite one another on this wheel can cancel each other out. For example, blue neutralizes orange, green balances red, and purple tones down yellow hues. That means, in order to target yellow, you need a touch of violet in your formula.
This ultra-violet pigmented intensive shampoo instantly transforms even the most stubborn brassy tones into cooler, brighter blonde in just one wash. In term of how often you use this purple shampoo, we recommend using weekly or as needed to reach your desired level of cool tones.
In gray hair care, the only time you need to use purple shampoo is if your hair has permanent yellowing. It won't remove the permanent yellowing but will reduce its appearance. What Happens If You Use It Too Often? You don't want to use it more than once a week, as it can give your hair a lilac tinge.
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.
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.
If you are not looking to lighten you can use blue based ash blonde colors. Blue based colors and toners are good at killing yellow and they should be your first choice in such situations. Use Ugly Duckling's blue based ash blonde colors (anything ending in "1b"). Blue cancels out yellow on the color wheel.
What is a purple shampoo? A purple-colored shampoo contains purple pigment to neutralize brassy and yellow tones on lighter hair. “The main reason it is purple is that on the color wheel, it is the direct opposite color of yellow, which means purple and yellow will cancel one another out,” explains Kandasamy.
To fix yellow hair, you want purple. Since yellow and purple are opposite on the color wheel, they neutralize each other when combined. Choose a toner that matches your current hair color level. The level system ranges from 1 to 10 (1 is the darkest and 10 is the lightest).
When deciding how to tone yellow hair to ash, try using a violet shampoo first. As purple is the opposite of yellow on the colour spectrum, the shampoo's purple pigment draws out the yellow brassiness from your blonde, neutralises those unwanted tones, and makes your colour look cooler, healthier and more vibrant.
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 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.
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.
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.
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 short: No, you shouldn't put purple shampoo on dry hair. While it's true that dry hair will absorb more pigment, it's also uneven in its absorption. For most if not all of us—blonde or not—the ends tend to be drier and more porous than the rest of our hair. Ditto for any areas that were lightened with bleach.
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.