why purple shampoo?

I should preface this post by saying I am a natural blonde, not a real nice blonde but more of a mousy, dirty dishwater color. When I was a kid I would lighten my hair with lemon juice in the summer and it actually worked! As a working adult I barely see the sun in the summer so my sophomore year of college I started to get highlights in my hair. Ever since then, I have been getting my hair lightened either with highlights or balayage and been using purple shampoo to keep the brassiness out. The darker your natural hair is before going blonde, the more prone you will be to brassiness. Ever seen a blonde with hair that is rusty or orange in color? All they need is a little (well maybe a lot) of purple shampoo! Even if you are not going for a silvery blonde color it does a great job of making your hair looking brighter and more blonde. The more silver you want your hair to look the more often you should wash with purple shampoo.

My #1 favorite purple shampoo is DP hue, but since it is on the more expensive side I like to buy Shimmer Lights from the grocery and rotate them out (or on amazon for $8). The real game changer this year has been Kevin Murphy's cool angel. I believe they just started making this and it is hard to find online but it comes out like a grey colored conditioner and really does a great job of turning my hair almost completely silver. I only use this every once in awhile because it is really intense.

Check out my FAQ below!

FAQ

Will it turn my hair purple?

I get this question a lot, and actually the cashier at the grocery asked me this week which is what prompted me to write this post. No, it will not turn your hair purple even though the shampoo itself is a very dark purple color. The only time my hair has ever turned purple is when I was using a homemade purple conditioner made with actual temporary purple hair dye.

How often do you use it?

I use it every other day. Once a week is recommended but like I mentioned above I'm going for a very ashy, platinum color.

Is it just for blondes?

Nope! Even if you just had a few lighter blonde pieces or blonde balayage in your brunette hair it would do a great job of keeping your blonde strips from turning brassy. The color purple is in direct opposition to yellow on the color wheel and they cancel each other out! Toning blonde hair using purple cuts out the yellow shades and toning brunette hair with blue shampoo (you can buy this) neutralizes red tones.

Do you still get your hair toned professionally at the salon?

I do now with my new hair lady! I'll have to ask what she uses but I think it is Olaplex. I like to get it toned at the salon and then use the purple shampoo to maintenance.

Comment below with any questions!