Violet shampoo is one of the best ways to keep blonde hair looking beautiful and to prevent warmth in the color. The violet tone in the shampoo combats unwanted yellow in blonde hair, neutralizing it and giving your blonde hair a cooler appearance without the warm brassiness you don't want.
What is violet shampoo?
Violet shampoo is a toning shampoo containing violet pigment. Violet itself is the complementary tone to yellow, and when both of these colors are present in your hair, a neutral tone results. Violet shampoos add violet into your blonde hair to 'tone out' visible yellow and gold tones, helping you to maintain a blonde color that isn't brassy.
Not all shampoo is equal
Violet shampoo varies widely in how concentrated it is, and even whether it is actually a pure violet tone or contains a mixture of tones. A violet shampoo that isn't as concentrated has a weaker toning effect and won't produce any results on darker blonde hair, whilst a highly concentrated violet shampoo can turn lighter blonde shades grey or even purple.
Shampoos that contain blue pigment also exist and produce a different color result. These shampoos can be used whenever your blonde hair also contains copper or orange tones, or when you want a more silvery result as a small amount of blue color produces a more lustrous silver tone.
However, violet shampoo is the best product to tone blonde hair that is primarily showing yellow or gold tones, and this allows you to maintain a more natural beige shade when used sparingly. It can also be used more often or left in for a longer period of time to produce cooler shades like neutral or ash blonde
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How often should violet shampoo be used?
Violet shampoo can be used as often as necessary. The main factor in how regularly you plan to use it is how much warmth is visible in your hair. If your hair is a darker blonde or especially brassy, you will generally need to use a toning shampoo more often than if you had either a lighter or cooler blonde color.
The porosity of your hair can also have an impact on toning. If you have porous hair, it is usually because the cuticle layer on the surface of the hair shaft has been damaged. This can occur for many reasons, including dyeing, lightening, styling, or the use of heat.
When hair is porous, it tends to absorb more dye, including the dye in temporary colors and toning shampoos. This means that the more porous your hair is, the more color it will absorb from the use of any toner, and you may not need to use violet shampoo as often on hair like this.
If you want subtle toning, choose violet shampoos that are milder or use the product intermittently through the week, alternating with your regular shampoo. For stronger toning, choose more vibrant shampoos and use them as often as necessary and even leave them in for up to 5 minutes before rinsing in order to really encourage toning.
How to use violet shampoo
Violet shampoo is used just like any other shampoo. The only difference is the fact that it is pigmented and will come out of the bottle having anything from a translucent violet sheen to a brooding and inky, opaque purple.
As with any pigmented product, it needs to be applied evenly or else you will end up with uneven toning. This is a bit more straight forward with shampoo than it is with dye, as your hair will be wet and you'll be working with your hands to apply it. Massage the required amount quickly and thoroughly into your hair and this will ensure that it is distributed all over so that you don't end up with patchiness after it tones.
The shampoo can be rinsed out after about a minute, but it can also be left for a period of 5 - 10 minutes if necessary for stronger toning. Leaving it for a period of time like this allows it to really soak into your hair and the results will be stronger and last slightly longer before it washes back out.
Whether you should let it soak in like this depends on how intense your particular shampoo is, as well as how much toning is needed. In any case, there is no harm in leaving it in for as long as necessary or rinsing and repeating the application.
If you are dealing with very brassy hair and no amount of shampooing seems to help, you can even apply it to dry hair before showering for a much stronger effect. Do be careful if you do this however, as it is very easy to temporarily end up with an uneven color or even purple hair. Without all that water diluting down the pigment, the toning action is much more intense.
After shampooing, rinse out all traces of the violet shampoo and condition your hair thoroughly. Conditioner coats your hair and seals the color in, making it last longer. It also moisturizes your hair and cuts down on any frizz, setting your blonde hair up to look great.
More information:
- Purple shampoo - Need help choosing the right shampoo, or don't know what will work best for your own hair? Find out which products are best depending on how light your blonde hair is, what unwanted tones you're dealing with, and how you'd like it to look when toned...
- How to get platinum blonde hair - Find out how to get pale blonde hair and keep it looking great...
- How to get healthier hair - Hair feeling dry, frizzy, and damaged? Find out how to rejuvenate it for healthier tresses...
- Blonde shades of hair - Discover the fun variety available in the world of blonde hair color...
Have a question about violet shampoo or need help toning your blonde hair? Leave a comment for tailored advice...