Part of the keeping blonde bright guides. Start with How to keep blonde hair bright between salon visits, or see blonde and foils in the salon.
How it works
Violet sits opposite yellow on the colour wheel, so a small amount of violet pigment neutralises yellow. Purple shampoo carries that pigment in a shampoo base, deposits a sheer wash of it on the hair, and cancels the warmth that shows as your salon toner fades. It's a maintenance tool for the toner, and the toner does the real work.
How to use it
- Wet the hair fully and squeeze out the excess water so the pigment spreads evenly.
- Apply to the mid-lengths and ends first, where the hair is lightest and most porous, then work up to the roots.
- Leave it 2 to 3 minutes. On very light or porous hair, 1 to 2 minutes is enough. On a dark-base balayage, 3 to 5.
- Rinse with lukewarm water and follow with a proper conditioner or a mask, because purple shampoos are drying on their own.
- Use it once a week. Your regular sulphate-free shampoo does the other washes.
How often
Once a week is right for most blondes. Twice a week if you swim in the pool or the sea through summer, or if you're on tank or bore water. Once a fortnight if your hair is very fine or very light, because it takes the pigment fastest. Start it from week 3 or 4 after your colour, when the toner has started to soften; in the first fortnight the toner is doing the job on its own.
Purple or blue
Purple cancels yellow, so it suits light blondes: platinum, pearl, beige and ash on hair lifted to pale yellow. Blue cancels orange, so it suits darker bases: caramel or bronde balayage, brunettes with lightened ends, and anyone whose warmth shows as orange rather than yellow. If you're between the 2, a purple on the ends and a blue on the mid-lengths works, and your stylist will tell you which on the day. The balayage on dark hair guide covers the brunette side.
Signs you're using too much
Blonde that's gone dull, flat or slightly grey, a lilac cast in daylight, or hair that feels drier than it did. All 3 are pigment build-up. Skip the purple shampoo for 2 weeks, use a clarifying shampoo once, follow it with a mask, and the brightness comes back. A Malibu C treatment ($40) at the salon lifts build-up faster if it's stubborn.
Which one to use
The Kérastase and Redken blonde ranges on the retail wall at Jenna Ellen Hair are the ones the stylists use at the basin, and they're formulated to tone gently rather than stain. A purple shampoo that's nearly black in the bottle is very pigmented and needs a shorter time; a pale lilac one is gentle enough for every week.
What it can't do
Purple shampoo tones; it never lifts. If your hair has warmed to orange, a purple shampoo will make it muddy rather than cooler, because orange needs blue and usually needs a lift as well. That's a toner, a gloss, or a lift and tone in the salon, and the brassy hair guide explains which one. The rest of the blonde care routine is what keeps the shampoo's job small.