It's worth noting that you might see the terms purple shampoo and silver shampoo used interchangeably, but each has a dedicated use: Purple shampoo minimizes yellow tones in lightened hair, while silver shampoo fights brassy tones that can crop up in white or gray locks specifically.
Both silver and purple shampoo are designed to neutralise yellow and brassy tones in blonde, silver and grey hair. If you've used either one, you'll have noticed that bright purple hue when you pop the lid and squeeze. Silver shampoo and purple shampoo use purple pigment to lighten and brighten.
Silver shampoo is designed for those with gray or silver hair, and as silver is opposite yellow on the color wheel. This shampoo fights brassy tones of yellow that can appear in your gray locks, and take away from your color. Thirdly, purple shampoo is used for blonde hair or those with blonde highlights.
The purple pigmented shampoo works to neutralise your hair's undertones, banishing the brass with each wash. Silver shampoo is also perfect for natural grey or greying hair, which can develop a yellow tinge when exposed to natural elements such as sun, rain and pollution.
There's no need to panic though! Using a purple shampoo on grey hair can help to remove brassy yellow shades, leaving you with a flattering silver undertone.
Silver shampoo is also perfect for natural grey hair which can develop a yellow tinge from exposure to elements such as wind, rain and pollution. The shampoo can help correct this brassy colour, as well as strengthen hair fibres.
"You want to stop using it two weeks before any lightening service. The purple shampoo can cause build up making the hair look dull and darker if overused." This makes the lightening process more difficult to create a seamless blend.
How often you use silver shampoo depends on your hair's condition, hair type, and the intensity of unwanted tones. Start with once a week and adjust the frequency based on the results.
Purple shampoo is a pigmented shampoo for blondes that neutralizes and removes unwanted brassy, yellow undertones. While your stylist uses a toner to eliminate these unwanted tones at the salon, you may notice yellow, orange, and red tones appearing in your hair as time passes. That's where purple shampoo comes in!
Light brown highlights are a good example of brown hair that can lean towards golden tones and therefore benefit from the neutralizing purple pigments in a silver shampoo. However, brown hair can sometimes have red tones rather than yellow, in which case you might not experience the same visible result.
If you happen to have dry hair, don't overdo it as it will soak up the colour pigments quicker and could scupper your blonde look. Using silver shampoo on blonde hair regularly will also give bright blondes a more ashy tone so bear that in mind too.
Purple shampoo deposits violet pigments onto the hair's surface to help offset yellow tones. It's most commonly recommended for those with cool-toned blonde, gray, or silver strands but can also help warmer blondes strike the ideal balance of warm but not brassy.
Leave on for 1-3 minutes, depending on your brassiness level and desired result. Conditioner: Follow up with our Colour Protect Purple Conditioner to simultaneously nourish and tone your hair. Smooth onto the lengths and ends of your hair and leave for up to 5 minutes before rinsing.
Our top pick for this category is Nexxus Blonde Assure Purple Shampoo Color Care Shampoo because it not only includes keratin protein but also effectively neutralizes brassy tones while nourishing strands. With just one wash, our hair looked much less brassy, even when we were long overdue for a highlight refresh.
This is the best purple shampoo I have tried so far. I left it on my hair for around 30 minutes with a shower cap and it turned my hair a bit purple and evened out tones. I would leave it for 15 minutes to avoid the purple. After washed it an additional time my hair color was even and the purple was gone.
Grey hair may be more prone to not only dryness but also breakage, so choose shampoos that contain ingredients like biotin or keratin. These ingredients can strengthen your hair, reduce breakage and help keep it shiny and healthy.
If you leave purple shampoo in your hair for 30 minutes, the risk of over-toning increases significantly. While purple shampoo is designed to neutralize brassy or yellow tones, leaving it on for an extended period can lead to overly cool or even purple-tinted hair, especially for those with light or porous hair.
Purple shampoo is for already bleached hair, so if you're hoping to lighten brown hair with purple shampoo, you'll be disappointed. This is all down to the fact that purple shampoo isn't lightening. Instead, it brightens blondes by canceling out yellow tones, which just happen to be opposite purple on the color wheel.
Did you know that our amazing Super Silver NO YELLOW Shampoo can also be used as a toner after lightening?
Purple shampoo, also known as silver shampoo, is a cleansing product formulated to neutralise those unwanted brassy tones in your hair. This shampoo is made for anyone with light hair (including blonde, platinum, gray, white, pastel, or highlighted), whether your hair is naturally light or colored in a salon.
The shampoo lathers up very well, leaving hair feeling clean. It enhances grey strands, while the conditioner locks in moisture and polishes dry, wiry silver strands.
Take a generous amount of L'Oréal Silver Shampoo in your hands and apply to your wet hair. Massage gently till it forms lather. Rinse thoroughly and follow in conjunction with L'Oréal Professionnel Série Expert conditioner or masque. Blow dry and style as usual.
Purple shampoo should be applied in the shower or during a hair wash. While your hair is wet, apply the shampoo and lather it onto your hair. The amount of shampoo that you use will vary depending on your choice of product and how brassy your hair is looking.
Brass usually shows up as yellow or orange tones in blonde hair and orange or red tones in brunette hair. Brassy hair is caused by an overabundance of warm pigments in your hair, usually caused by bleaching and the hair coloring process.