Kayla Young
Fading hair dye, heat styling, environmental factors, hair products, and even aging can bring out brassy yellow undertones. Purple shampoo has become every blonde’s must-have product in their hair care arsenal for keeping their tresses cool and shiny, without the brassy undertones.
With purple shampoo having become every blonde’s new BFF, it’s easy to see why you’d think that using a product that makes your hair look fabulous as often as possible would make sense. But how much is too much? Is it bad to use purple shampoo every day?
In this article, we are going to take a look at purple shampoo, what it does, how often you should be using it, and what can happen if you use too much.
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Is It Bad To Use Purple Shampoo Every Day?
If you’re wondering – is it bad to use purple shampoo every day? – let’s just say that you shouldn’t and you can chalk it up to ‘too much of a good thing’.
If you use purple shampoo every day, after a while you will start to see changes in your hair – not the good kind.
Don’t worry, your hair won’t fall out or anything.
But you might not get the same results you got when you first started using it.
What Happens If You Use Purple Shampoo Too Often?
If you use purple shampoo too often, it can leave a buildup on your hair that can make it brittle and dull. That buildup can also make lighter hair appear darker.
Not only does purple shampoo tend to be more drying than regular shampoo, overuse can also leave your hair with a purple tinge.
Purple shampoo is meant to be used to tone your hair when you start seeing brassy undertones. It’s not meant replace your regular shampoo for everyday use.
What Is Purple Shampoo?
Purple shampoo is a color-depositing shampoo designed to neutralize unwanted brassy yellow tones in blonde and light-colored hair.
Why Purple?
Purple might seem like an odd choice for blonde hair, but there’s a method to the madness. Rather than changing your hair color, like bleach or dye, purple shampoo neutralizes the yellow tones.
It all has to do with color theory which dictates that colors opposite each other on the color wheel cancel each other out.
Purple is opposite yellow, so purple shampoo tones down brassy yellow tones in your hair.
Now you may have noticed that purple shampoo is not the only color depositing shampoo out there. Apart from purple, color depositing shampoos also come in blue, green, and red, each of which neutralize a different tone in the hair.
Blondes and those with light-colored hair tend to produce yellow undertones, which is why purple should be their go-to toning shampoo to get rid of the brassy yellow tones.
Brown hair typically produces warmer, orange undertones. Brunettes should be using blue shampoo to neutralize the brassy copper tones.
Those with very dark or black hair have more red undertones. For them, a green shampoo will remove the red.
Though no one has naturally green undertones, green happens. Whether it’s from hard water, swimming, or using the wrong hair dye or toner for your specific shade and tone of hair, a red shampoo will take care of the green and return it back to a hair color from this planet.
What Will Purple Shampoo Do To Orange Hair?
No products found.Purple shampoo will neutralize yellow, not orange tones. If you are looking to get rid of unwanted orange tones in your hair, have a look back at the color wheel – blue is opposite orange.
You should be using a blue colour depositing shampoo, like Fanola No Orange Shampoo .
Does purple shampoo lighten hair?
Purple shampoo will not lift or lighten the hair. Unlike bleach or dye, a color depositing shampoo only coats the exterior of the hair strand rather than penetrating the hair structure.
A purple shampoo simply deposits color to neutralize unwanted brassy yellow undertones.
However, there are lightening shampoos available that will gently lighten blonde and very light shades of brown hair. Lightening shampoos work using ingredients that are meant to lighten the color of the hair over time, without the use of harsh chemicals.
Lightening shampoos will not give you instant results and require consistent use over a period of time to make a difference. They can be used on color-treated, highlighted, or natural hair.
Lightening shampoos are good for subtle lightening, as well as bringing out and emphasizing highlights. But you will never achieve a dramatic change in color.
That’s to say: if you have dark brown hair, lightening shampoos will not make your hair blonde.
They work best on dark to medium blonde hair.
If you are a brunette and looking to give your highlights a boost, then a lightening shampoo will work well for that but is unlikely to make much of a difference on your brown hair.
Should I Put Purple Shampoo On Wet Or Dry Hair?
There are those that will tell you that you can put purple shampoo on both wet and dry hair, but we would not recommend it. Though dry hair will absorb the color pigment more quickly, it will also absorb it more unevenly.
The ends of your hair, as well as any areas that have been bleached, like if you have highlights or balayage, are more porous.
Putting purple shampoo on dry (as opposed to wet) hair can result in a patchy finish with some areas absorbing the color more than others.
If you want an all-over smooth and even, finished look, use purple shampoo on wet hair.
How Often Should You Use Purple Shampoo On Your Hair?
If it’s your first time using a purple shampoo, start off with once a week. A once a week purple shampoo regimen should be enough to keep your brassiness at bay. If you are starting off with a lot of yellow and you don’t feel once a week is making enough of a difference, you can try twice a week.
But don’t overdo it.
How Should You Leave Purple Shampoo On Your Hair?
After wetting your hair, lather in your purple shampoo and leave it on 2-3 minutes, then rinse. You may find you might want to adjust your timing (by a few minutes) depending on how much brassy yellow you’ve got going on.
But don’t leave it in too long or you’ll end up with purple hair or grey hair!
