The Purple Shampoo Hack That Ensures A Brass-Free Blond

If you have dyed blond locks, then purple shampoo will become your best friend. John Frieda explains that the shampoo works by depositing pigment from the opposite side of the color wheel than what you're trying to cover up. Purple and yellow are complementary colors, so using the shampoo on your blonde hair will make it look more platinum instead of brassy.

When you get your hair professionally bleached, they'll tone it for you while you're there. However, once you're home, your strands may slowly turn more yellow than you'd like. This happens as you wash your mane, if you expose it to lots of UV rays from the sun, and if you go swimming in a pool treated with chlorine. That's why you want to supplement your color with a purple shampoo. Even brown-haired people can benefit from this product if they have highlights.

But while it's helpful to use a toning shampoo, this method can go awry. The purple dye is meant to neutralize any brassy yellow tones in your hair, but sometimes it's more pigmented than you need it to be. That's when it's best to start using this hack.

The best way to prevent your blond hair from turning purple after using your toning shampoo is by diluting it, according to Hailey Bieber's colorist Amanda Lee (via Well + Good). She recommends mixing your purple shampoo with your regular shampoo especially "if you're someone who wants to maintain the color in a very gradual way and not notice a big change after one wash." Doing this makes it okay to use the product every day without worrying that you'll leave the shower with a new dye job. Purple shampoo also has less cleaning agents than an average shampoo, so mixing the two makes it more effective at cleansing while minimizing the amount of color being deposited.

Shampoos Hub recommends using products of the same brand when mixing them like this. You also want to pay attention to each shampoo's benefits and not combine ones with opposing effects, or they will cancel out. This may be if you put your purple product that's meant for hydrating curly hair with one that's meant for straight strands. When you're ready to dilute your shampoo, you'll have to remove some of the regular product first to make room in the bottle. Then slowly add more purple until you've found measurements that work best for your hair. Starting with less is easier because you can always add more later instead of accidentally dying your hair with too much.

The amount of time you leave the purple shampoo in your hair will be affected by whether your hair is simply toned or dyed a completely new color. How long you leave the shampoo in also depends on the type of blond hair you have. If it's natural, you only need to let it sit for two to three minutes, per Living Proof. When it's freshly bleached, or you notice areas that need toning, you should leave it in for five to 15 minutes. You only want to give it up to 30 minutes if your hair is platinum blond. It's always best to stick to a shorter amount of time and rinse the shampoo out with cool water. Then repeat the process if it still looks brassy.

When you're washing your hair, you should always use warm water. That way, your strands can effectively absorb the purple toner. Then massage your diluted shampoo from your roots to the ends of your hair. Pay extra attention to the tips because they're more porous and can easily turn brassy, before following up with conditioner.