Love your ashy blonde but hate the constant maintenance it requires to keep it looking cool and bright?
Those looking to keep their routine minimal often ask is purple shampoo or conditioner better at fighting the brass? Maybe because they don’t have time for both?
But is it even an either or situation?
Although some might dare to ask is purple conditioner even necessary?
Well, let’s see if we can’t cut through the fog to clear things up.
So Is Purple Shampoo Or Conditioner Better?
Better?
Ahhh, maybe neither is “better”. Cause when pitting purple shampoo vs purple conditioner for bleached hair can’t both be good?
Think of this way. When paired together you’re tag teaming by using both to get rid of brassiness. It’s like you going at the yellow with double dose of brass beating purpleness.
Translation? The conditioner, also being pigmented, can help tone your blonde a bit more after your shampoo sesh. And for some that makes it a must do.
Now if you’re limited to only one product due to a tight budget I’d put my money on the shampoo. It should produce superior results.
But that isn’t always the case for everyone as this next video shows.
I mean there is nothing like a little side by side comparison of shampoo vs conditioner to see what’s what, now is there?
Not to mention such a test might be perfect for those thinking they’d like to replace their purple shampoo with the conditioner. If for no other reason than it’s easier on their hair?
And if it works, why not?
Testing, Testing: Does Purple Shampoo Or Conditioner Work Better?
The contenders? Tigi Catwalk conditioner vs Joico shampoo.
- All she did was apply the two to damp hair.
- She let them sit for 10 minutes.
- Then rinsed.
She admitted to being biased to the product with the deep purple color – shampoo. (Aren’t we all?)
Yet to her surprise when done she preferred the conditioned side!
The color was more to her liking. Lightened without going too far into silver or gray.
Plus she felt the conditioner was better for her hair. Which is true. It’s not as harsh as the shampoo.
Best of all the conditioner offers her the ability to tone more often than the shampoo since we all know it can be drying. Giving her a way to keep her blondeness ashy without the risk of parching out her mane.
Oh and if you want to see the difference different purple shampoos made be sure to check out the video in another of our posts. One that covers how to take yellow out of bleached blonde hair.
In fact it compares 10 candidates applied to swatches of yellowed blonde hair.
To me the results were surprisingly all over the board. Why not see which returned the yellowed swatch to a color closest to what you’re looking for?
Can I Use Purple Conditioner Instead Of Purple Shampoo?
Well you would think you could. They’re the same color, right?
So both should neutralize unwanted brassiness. Not sure they are equals when it comes to cleansing though.
As the first video showed, for some conditioner alone might work on the warm tones.
But that doesn’t mean it will work that way for everyone.
Reason being conditioner doesn’t deposit anywhere near the same amount of pigment as the shampoo does.
It also doesn’t open the cuticle to make pigment depositing easy. In fact it does just the opposite.
So the results aren’t as intense. Or as long lasting.
But that may not matter given you can use conditioner more often.
So I guess the answer to the question is yes, some can use conditioner only. With qualifiers.
But there are also some DIY hacks to try that may let you go conditioner only too. Best of all with your favorite conditioner! And how exciting is that?
How To Mix Manic Panic With Your Conditioner
One such hack for blondes would be to mix a blob of Manic Panic Ultra Violet into your fav conditioner.
The resulting blend would do pretty much what purple conditioner does. Only being a semi permanent dye this Manic Panic alternative might last longer than conditioner alone would.
Tip: If you have brunette hair with blonde highlights that’s fading to orange try Manic Panic’s Rockabilly Blue. That should help cool down those warm tones.
You’ll likely have to play around with how long you leave it on to get the toning you’re looking for. As it will be different for everyone?
Plus leave it on too long and you’ll get more purple than you bargained for.
Also know this. The mixing part can be a bit messy.
You’d just want to be careful to mix thoroughly to insure you get even distribution of the Manic Panic dye throughout your hair.
To show you more thought this next video was helpful. Felt it gives you an idea of what is possible.
Just take a sec to look at that before and after difference before you hit the play button. So ashy.
The results were dramatic. Shocking almost. And you should expect it last a few washes at least.
So how’s that for a cheap way to tone hair that’s looking kinda sad and yellow?
Now for a few thinkabouts.
At first I wished she had given more of a recipe.
But if you think about it, it’s unlikely there is a perfect recipe for adding Manic Panic to conditioner that will work for everyone.
So start with less and add more as you go.
Otherwise use any brand of cheap drugstore conditioner as long as it’s white.
Cheap because you may be using a lot of it. Dry hair application you know? The amount depends too on how long your locks are. And how thick.
White so you don’t have other colors affecting the results.
Oh and this works so well on dry hair because the color isn’t competing with water. The water from being wet can inhibit the color absorption, you know?
How long you leave it on can also affect the outcome. Again there is no one size fits all here.
Maybe start with 5-10 minutes and see how it goes. Then adjust from there.
Another plus to this hack? This should be super conditioning given how long you’re leaving it on your hair. And who doesn’t love a mane that feels spectacularly soft?
Finally remember that Manic Panic can be an intense color.
So it makes sense to start small and build up from there. Until you see how much you need to add for the degree of ashiness you’re looking for.
One more thing. It may be smart to do a strand test rather than just smear the concoction all over your hair the first time. You know? To get an idea of what level of toning you might can expect?
But this toning dry hair stuff works. If you want to know more check out our look into how to use purple shampoo on dry hair. Same idea. Different toning product. Shampoo.
So if you want to know another way to get a dramatic color revival you’ll want to check that article of ours out. Because the hack shared works.
How To Use IGK Purple Toning Drops With Any Conditioner
Another trick to turn pretty much any conditioner into purple conditioner involves using IGK Mixed Feelings Leave-In Blonde drops. It doesn’t get as much mention as Manic Panic but can work wonders too.
With this there’s no messy mixing. It easily turns any conditioner purple right in the palm of your hands.
Simply squeeze the amount of conditioner you normally use into your palm.
Then push the bottom bubble of the IGK to entice a couple two three drops to plop into the conditioner.
Mix well between your palms.
Then apply.
Or simply add a few drops to your leave in conditioner. Then work into your hair as usual.
The thing with this is you can make it as purple as you wish. Just realize if you get a carried away you could be sporting hair with a decided lavender cast for a while.
How to get it out of the bottle bears repeating since the dispenser is quite unusual.
That’s right since a little goes a long way there’s a bubble on the bottom of the bottle you press to get the product out a drop at a time.
You don’t squeeze the bottle. You press the bottom instead.
This isn’t immediately obvious. And some users never catch on. But now you know.
Anyway some say this second hack is addictive. It clears your color of brassiness without the drying tendencies of purple shampoo.
Yet this too can leave you with super blonde, bright color that’s close to what it was when you walked out of the salon.
To discover even more awesome ideas for tackling problems with hair color please be sure to follow our boards on Pinterest.
Leave a Reply