Purple shampoo explained

Purple shampoo is a toning shampoo. It deposits a small amount of violet pigment on the hair, and because violet sits opposite yellow on the colour wheel, that pigment makes yellow tones look cooler and more neutral. It does not lighten hair or remove colour. It is a maintenance product for people whose blonde, bleached or highlighted hair has drifted towards a brassy shade.

Why lightened hair turns brassy

When hair is bleached or lifted with colour, the natural darker pigment is broken down, and what remains underneath tends to be warm: orange in darker hair, yellow in lighter hair. Over the weeks after a salon visit, the cool toner a stylist applies gradually washes out, sun and water take their toll, and the warmth shows through again.

In Singapore, frequent washing in hot weather speeds this up. That is why customers who have gone blonde or ash often start asking about purple shampoo a few weeks after their appointment.

How the colour wheel does the work

Colours opposite each other on the wheel neutralise each other.

• Violet neutralises yellow.
• Blue neutralises orange.

Purple shampoo is aimed mainly at yellow. Hair that has gone very orange may need a blue-toned product or a trip back to the salon, and it is fair to tell customers that.

The L'Oréal Paris EverPure Purple Shampoo and Conditioner is described by the seller as being formulated with purple pigments to "neutralize brassy yellow and orange undertones". The label says it is designed for "all kinds of colored hair including brown, ash, bleached, blonde, highlighted and balayage hair". It is sold in 200ml bottles and is labelled sulfate-free, paraben-free and vegan.

Leave-in time is the part customers get wrong

The most common complaint about purple shampoo is hair that ends up with a lilac or grey cast. Almost always, the product was left on too long or used too often on very porous hair.

The EverPure usage line is worth reading out at the counter:

• Use the purple shampoo, then follow with the purple conditioner instead of a usual conditioner.
• Leave in hair "for up to 5 minutes depending on desired level of toning".
• For bleached or damaged hair, "start slow with one use per week with no leave in time".

A sensible way to put it to customers: start short and infrequent, look at the result in daylight, then adjust. Most people alternate purple shampoo with their regular one rather than using it every wash.

Who it suits, and who it doesn't

Purple shampoo is most useful for:

• blonde, platinum and silver hair
• highlights, babylights and balayage
• grey or white hair that has picked up a yellow tinge

It does very little that you can see on dark, uncoloured hair. For warm brunettes who want to tone down red or orange, a blue-toned product is usually the better match.

People with very dry or damaged hair from repeated bleaching often pair toning with a conditioning treatment. The Green Bio Super Treatment Cream is sold for "dry, damaged and frizzy hair" and labelled "great for coloured, straightened or permed hair", with a five-minute rinse-off routine. The JOJI Secret Young Charcoal Keratin mask is another option customers ask for. Our article on Thai hair treatment masks covers more of these.

Practical tips to pass on

• Wear gloves if you have lightly coloured nail varnish or skin that stains easily, and rinse the bath or shower tray afterwards.
• Apply to wet, towel-blotted hair so the product isn't diluted too much.
• Focus on the brassiest sections first, often the ends or the mid-lengths.
• If the result looks too purple, an ordinary clarifying wash usually lifts the excess.
• Avoid contact with eyes and rinse thoroughly if it happens.

If a customer has a sensitive or broken scalp, they should check the ingredient list and speak to a pharmacist before use.

Shelf and salon placement

For retailers, place purple shampoo with colour-care products rather than in the general shampoo bay. Customers looking for it usually know what they want and will look next to other products for coloured hair. Salons often keep it at the reception retail stand, since stylists recommend it at the end of a colour appointment.

It also makes sense next to home colour. Our guide to home hair dye covers what else belongs on that shelf. You can see the rest of the range in our hair care category.

If you'd like to know current pricing and availability on the EverPure Purple range or the treatments mentioned here, send us a message with the products and the quantities you have in mind.