What Does Purple Shampoo Do To Brown Hair For Real?

We all know purple shampoo only works on blonde, not brown hair, right?

Wait what?

Purple shampoo can help brunettes? So purple shampoo does work on brown hair?

Yes, it does. But probably not in the way you’re hoping for.

Read on if you want to know what brunettes should know about using purple shampoo on brown hair. Like when to use this stuff as their go to product and when it’s more wishful thinking than hoped for solution.

Okay so …

What Does Purple Shampoo Do To Brown Hair?

So if I understand you’re asking “Can I use purple shampoo on brown hair?” Well, it’s complicated. The brassiness neutralizing powers of purple shampoo are limited here. Limited to helping revive blonde highlights, lightened balayage, or brighten blondish ombre lurking in the brunette. Purple is simply the wrong color do anything about the reddish tones seen in your brown hair. But it is still okay to use it as your regular shampoo although I really can’t see a reason for doing so.

It doesn’t tone brassiness because purple is simply the wrong color do anything about the reddish tones seen in your locks.

Yeah but,

Can I Still Use Purple Shampoo On Brown Hair

Absolutely. You can switch out from your regular shampoo and use it once, twice at most three times a week. (But unless your hair tends to be really greasy why are you lathering up that much?) Keeping in mind this product can be drying.

Oh another little hack that can make big difference for blondes is using purple shampoo on dry hair.

What Will Purple Shampoo Do To Brown Hair Exactly?

To be honest not much.

Certainly any salon brown or brunette shades will eventually show signs of brassiness. With brown that comes in the form of warm reddish undertones. It arrives faster when your strands face excessive hot tool styling, too much sun exposure, or hard water.

And I know it’s not uncommon to think purple shampoo will rescue brown hair like it does blonde locks. People search for ways to make this happen on Google all the time.

Fact is while it won’t hurt for brunettes to use it, it also won’t eliminate their unwanted brassiness.

But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work in all situations. It depends on the unwanted tones you are trying to eliminate.

So if you have blonde highlights or are rocking blonde ombre ends that are getting dingy yellow then purple shampoo is the product for you – even with a brown mane.

Basically to understand what purple shampoo can or can’t do for brown hair you need to look at the color wheel.

As you can see yellow is opposite of purple on the color wheel.

This is why purple cancels out brassy tones on blonde hair. Because bottle blondes tend towards warm yellow tones over time.

So …

Will Purple Shampoo Fix My Brassy Brown Hair?

Honestly, not likely. There is no credible evidence that purple shampoo does much if anything for brown hair.

That’s because the term “brassy” with brown hair usually means more red tones. The color opposite of that is green or maybe blue. So just like purple neutralizes yellow you’d need green to neutralize the red tones found in brassy brown.

Unfortunately no such animal exists. Which is why many push blue shampoo as the solution rather than purple.

Again that’s not to say purple serves no purpose with brown hair. Like with blonde streaks or ashy highlights or ombre. But you’re only setting yourself up for disappointment if you expect purple shampoo to deal with red undertones.

You’re certainly free to use purple shampoo to wash your brown hair. Just don’t don’t so expecting it to remove any brassiness you may have.

Okay then

How To Best Remove Brassy Tones From Brown Hair

Still your big question is how to fix brassy brown hair.

Brunettes coping with red or orange undertones should generally stick to shampoos or hair masks when going DIY. But there are other options too.

And since there is no one size fits all solution here are some ideas to try.

Option #1: There are those who tout something in a blue like Fanola No Orange shampoo. It’s loaded with blue pigment and being color depositing it can help tone some down warm brassy tones. Probably worth a try!

If you’re no fan of Fanola another option would be Pravana Perfect Brunette Toning Shampoo. Some claim it works. Just may take a few repeated uses to get the desired effect.

Option #2: Or you might want to totally try using temporary Manic Panic dyes for color correcting. They’re both cheap so you’re not out much if it doesn’t work and non-lethal to your strands. From the color wheel you want to use a cool color like Atomic turquoise, Voodoo Blue or any greenish blue to banish orangish red tones.

Obviously you may have to play around to find out how much works for your hair. But for starters just mix like a drop of color in with any white conditioner. Apply and leave it on your hair for like 15-20 minutes. Rinse out and see if the the brass isn’t gone.

Option #3: Others may want to explore using a blue tinted toner like Wella Color Charm liquid toners. They’re available at your nearest Sally Beauty Supply. They can neutralize unwanted orangey tones. As a heads up these do require peroxide so may not be the ideal solution for you.

OPTION #4: Similar to Manic Panic you can also pick up a semi permanent hair dye with any variation of “ash” in the name and use that to cool things down.

Will Purple Shampoo Work On Brown Hair With Highlights

Yes. When used once a week it will counteract those unwanted brassy tones in those ashy streaks.

Why Does Dyed Brown Hair Turn Brassy Anyway?

Basically when you color your hair and use any bleach there is still underlying pigment lurking in your strands. In the case of brown hair that would be warm reds or oranges. When these tones magically reappear, and they will, we call that brassy.

And they will magically reappear because with each washing you’re losing dye molecules. That’s what you may know as fading. Which is why it’s recommended you wash colored hair only when needed to preserve the life of the shade.

Unfortunately the turn to brassy is inevitable. The most common fix is toning or use of some kind of semi-permanent dye to offset the brass.

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