ASK GAIL: WHAT DOES PURPLE SHAMPOO DO? IS PURPLE SHAMPOO BAD FOR YOUR HAIR?
Purple shampoo is a bit of a mystery. Some blondes swear by it. Other blondes swear AT it. Brunettes ask - can I even use purple shampoo on brown hair? There are a lot of questions - but thankfully, we’ve got the woman with all the answers. Today, we’re asking Gail what does purple shampoo do? And is purple shampoo bad for your hair?
In case you’re new here: Gail Federici is the founder and CEO of Color Wow.
She’s well known in the beauty world for her breakthrough innovative products, and she’s kind of a serial entrepreneur and actually created the first line for blondes years ago (that company sold for a cool $450 million… so yeah she knows what she’s talking about).
SO GAIL, WHAT DOES PURPLE SHAMPOO DO?
So, if you look at a color wheel, purple is opposite orange, which means the two colors neutralize or cancel each other out. So the theory went, if you make shampoo purple, it should neutralize brassy hair,” shares Gail.
HOW DOES PURPLE SHAMPOO WORK?
“A shampoo gets diluted with water and is eventually rinsed out of your hair. So to have any visible color-correcting impact, the intensity of the purple in the shampoo formula has to be an inky dark dye. It stains your hair, but it’s also super messy.”
Yes, we know. It gets all over the bathroom, stains towels, and clothes. Delightful.
BUT DOES PURPLE SHAMPOO WORK? WHAT DOES PURPLE SHAMPOO DO TO BLONDE HAIR?
It’s really hard to get the process right. If you rinse out too much purple dye, there’s zero brightening benefit to your blonde.
On the other hand (or should we say on both stained hands) if you leave the shampoo on your hair too long, or don’t rinse out enough, your hair will turn a grungy, grapey-gray.
DOES PURPLE SHAMPOO DAMAGE HAIR?
Color-treated blonde hair is super light and it shows dark stains easily. But when hair is chemically-lightened (“lifted”) it can be dehydrated and extremely porous.
When you have high porosity blonde hair, it sucks in dark purple dye easily and that’s how you end up with that unappealing shade of “purple haze”. It’s not necessarily damaging, but it is definitely ruining your color.
WHAT IF I'M NOT BLONDE? WHAT DOES PURPLE SHAMPOO DO TO BROWN HAIR?
Purple inky dye isn’t going to help brunettes bounce back from brassiness. That’s why there’s such a thing as blue shampoo. When it comes to blue shampoo vs purple shampoo, the blue hue is better for brunettes.
But it’s still super dark, messy, and it’s hard to get the rinse out just right.
SO NOW WHAT? HOW DO I DEAL WITH ORANGE HAIR?
Our Color Wow solution to negating brassiness without the mess is to take the purple out of shampoo and put it where it makes sense… in a leave-in product.
Because you don’t rinse off a styling product, much less dye is required to make a real difference. Less dye, less mess. It’s simple and easy.
WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO AVOID BLONDE BRASSY HAIR?
Choose a purple-tinted leave-in product that counter balances any discoloration. We put a pale purple in our Color Wow Color Control Purple Toning + Styling Foam formula for blondes, so it cools, calms and brightens all shades of blonde… from ashy to platinum to honey to caramel…plus it gives hair incredible bounce. It’s a modern mousse with a hint of tint!
WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO AVOID BRASSY BROWN HAIR?
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Read more about shampoos and hair washing hacks on the Color Wow blog:
