If you have platinum, gray, or silver hair, you can leave the purple shampoo on for up to 30 minutes, depending on how brassy or discolored your hair is.
If you leave it on for too long and don't like the result, don't panic. Simply wash your hair again with a clarifying shampoo and it should dull down the silver-tone from even the best purple shampoo for silver hair. Remember to always condition your hair after washing, especially when using a clarifying product.
Purple shampoo doesn't remove the yellow color but is designed to tone down the yellow in gray and white hair. It tones the color in your hair from warm tones (yellow) to cool (silver). Purple shampoo is only a temporary solution for yellows in your gray hair.
Keep in mind that purple shampoo does not replace your regular shampoo and should only be used once or twice a week. Doss warns that there is such a thing as too much purple. “When you eliminate too much yellow, it visually ends up darker and a lot of people don't want it to look darker,” she says.
Zoe's answer: Leaving purple shampoo in your hair for longer than the recommended time is not always a good idea. The longer you leave it, the more pigments will be deposited on your hair and they could even stain it permanently.
You'll leave the shampoo on for 5-15 minutes before rinsing with cool water if your colored hair has been recently dyed or is discolored. If it's your first time trying purple shampoo, experiment with leaving it on for only 5-10 minutes before washing it out.
How long you leave it in for depends on your hair type. Warm Blondes: Leave in for 1-3 minutes before rinsing. Neutral Blondes: Leave for 3-5 minutes before rinsing. Cool Blondes: Wait 5-15 minutes before rinsing.
"Depending upon how white you want your grey hair to appear would determine the frequency of use," says Small. "For natural-looking gray hair I would use purple shampoo once a week, and for more extreme, icier grey looks, I would use purple shampoo every other wash."
A small amount goes a long way. Use two teaspoons of baking soda to two teaspoons of shampoo for long hair. Mix and coat your hair gently from root to tips, leave on hair for around 3 minutes and then rinse thoroughly, you can shampoo again if you feel you want to get all the baking soda out, and then do the QSH mask.
If you leave purple shampoo on for too long, you may find yourself with a little lilac hue. This color is not permanent and is more likely to happen if you have very light blonde hair or if your hair is dry and damaged. To remove the purple hue, switch to regular shampoo for your next few washes.
Purple shampoo neutralises brassiness but enhances blonde pigmentation. To maintain a silver shade, your shampoo requires a stronger colour neutralisation. Silver shampoo is formulated with deeper purple pigments to target yellow tones in a much stronger way.
Technically, purple shampoo turns grey hair a slightly darker color than before you used it. However, because of the way color passes through the eyes, you won't notice a darkening effect.
Try a purple shampoo: If you have blonde hair to blend or dingier grays that need brightened, a purple toning shampoo can help. Duenas recommends Aloxxi's Violet Shampoo. “It has a very strong violet pigment that will help fight brassiness and make your gray the most beautiful it can be,” he says.
As we mentioned, gray hair's lack of sebum can make it feel dry. To reduce further dryness, you'll want to wash it as infrequently as possible. "Washing every other day or three to four times a week can help with this," says Mazzei.
Use a Clarifying Shampoo
To keep the gray hair more bright and shiny, I suggest switching your favorite hair cleanser for a clarifying shampoo like Living Proof Triple Detox Shampoo once a week. This will remove impurities and surface buildup from your gray hair which will result in a nicer tone.
Therefore, applying purple shampoo will neutralize yellow undertones in your hair. Meanwhile, blue shampoo will neutralize orange undertones in your hair. According to color theory, brunettes should reach for a blue shampoo. Purple shampoos, on the other hand, are better for blondes, silver or grey hair.
Because hair is more porous Opens in a new tab when it's dry, the violet shampoo can absorb unevenly, resulting in a patchy, purple effect. Stick to massaging it into wet hair for the most flawless finish, and make sure you rinse it out thoroughly.
OK, so what is the best way to use purple shampoo? Well, for starters, you want to apply it on completely wet hair. (Note: If you have especially dry or brittle ends, we'd also recommend putting a tiny amount of conditioner on just the tips to prevent them from absorbing too much pigment.)
If you want to use a purple shampoo, Maine recommends “soaking your hair with water and even adding a little conditioner on your ends” beforehand, to prevent the porous tips from absorbing too much pigment.
Too Much of a Good Thing: Purple Shampoo Left On Too Long
You can, in fact, over-tone your hair. Leaving purple shampoo in your hair for an hour or more can cause your hair to look dull and lifeless. To leave purple shampoo for more than 10 minutes is already too much.