Do this, look like this
Here’s the thing about tinting your tresses. You sashay out of the salon with a shampoo ad-worthy sheen … only for the awesome ashy brown hue to turn horribly brassy mere minutes later, it would seem.
Beautiful brown hair devolving into an “ah beng” carrot-top colour? This is where regular “toning” of your tresses comes in. Posher folks may opt for a professional top-up every week or so – an expensive exercise in vanity which may not sit well with more modest pockets.
My suggestion: For maximum shine and minimum spend, purple shampoo is where it’s at. As in, shampoo that oozes out of the bottle in a shade that brings to mind Barney the Dinosaur.
How does purple shampoo work? Elementary, my dear. Take it from my go-to hair hunk Michael Chiew, leading stylist at Hairloom: “If you look at a colour wheel, you’ll notice that purple is positioned exactly opposite of the colour yellow,” he explains. “What this means in practice is that purple pigments will cancel out unwanted yellow tones in your hair.”
Game to try a cool new spin on the ol’ “lather, rinse, repeat” adage? A neat way of introducing purple shampoos into your routine, particularly if your follicles are fragile, is to use them as a gentle post-wash treatment.
Think of this hair hack as being homologous to the double cleansing component of your skincare ritual. As with your facial cleansing oil, your regular shampoo spirits away the day’s dirt and debris for fuller penetration of the goodness from your purple shampoo. Post-rinse, your locks may be so lush as to be able to skip conditioner.
Simply let the purple product sit for a minute or so, then splash off thoroughly. Sidebar: For the uninitiated, don’t be shocked if your shower water churns itself up into a violent violet colour – purple shampoo ain’t called purple shampoo for nothing!
Some final pointers: Purple shampoos can be a bit much for everyday use, so reserve them for a weekly treat for your tresses. And as for product recommendations, try this terrific trio for starters: Color Save by Schwarzkopf, Color Endure by Joico and L’Oreal Professionnel’s Expert Serie Silver Shampoo. If you know of any others on the mane market, well, you know the drill: Spill it in the comments below.
Good luck with your new protective purple shield; we swear we won’t judge if your newly rejuvenated crop compels you to perform a slow-mo shampoo commercial hair flip!
Want more? Check out this curated selection of the best lightweight hair serums, all guaranteed to give you instant gloss and gleam.
