Whether your blonde hair is natural or carefully crafted by your stylist at the salon, keeping your color looking bright and vibrant is key. If you’ve heard about purple shampoos for blondes, you might be wondering how they work and whether you should add one to your hair care routine. To help you make the right call and keep your blonde looking its best, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know, including:

• What is purple shampoo?

• Why do I need purple shampoo for blonde hair?

• What’s the best purple shampoo for blonde hair?

What is purple shampoo?

Purple shampoo is specially formulated to deposit colored pigment onto your hair with every wash. These types of shampoos were created to address brassiness, which are unwanted yellow tones that occur in gray or blonde hair.

The reason why purple shampoos work to improve brassiness in gray and blonde hair has everything to do with color theory. Complementary colors are opposite one another on the color wheel, and when you mix them together, they actually cancel each other out. Have you ever tried a green-tinted concealer to help neutralize redness in your skin? These color-correcting concealers work because green and red are complementary colors, and purple shampoo works in much the same way. Because purple and yellow are complementary colors, washing your hair with a purple color-depositing shampoo helps neutralize the yellow tones that can make blonde or gray hair look brassy.

Why do I need purple shampoo for blonde hair?

When you use purple shampoo on blonde hair, it doesn’t technically lighten your hair, but rather, it helps it appear brighter by canceling out those yellow, brassy tones. Blonde color-treated hair can start to look brassy over time as the color fades, and using a color-depositing purple shampoo can help improve the appearance of its color and help extend the time in between those highlighting appointments at the salon. Natural blondes may also notice brassiness from external factors such as sun exposure, pollution and mineral buildup from hard water. Most purple shampoos are meant to be used once or twice a week, or as needed in alternation with your daily shampoo.

What’s the best purple shampoo for blonde hair?

Ready to keep your blonde looking bright? Here are six of the best purple shampoos for blonde hair to consider incorporating into your hair care routine.

Verb Purple Shampoo

Don’t let the pastel bottle of this shampoo fool you—inside you’ll find a deep violet-pigmented color-depositing formula to help cleanse and brighten your blonde hair. It also contains coconut oil to moisturize your scalp and antioxidant-packed acai fruit extract to help nourish your strands. In third-party lab testing, this shampoo reduced brassiness by 24% after just one use.

Pureology Strength Cure Blonde Shampoo

This shampoo from Pureology is specifically formulated for color-treated blondes. Its violet-hued pigment comes from purple orchid extract and has the added bonus of softening your hair with every use. It also contains Antifade Complex, a patented color protection ingredient to help extend the length of time in between your salon appointments.

Moroccanoil Blonde Perfecting Purple Shampoo

Looking to brighten your color and boost shine in one step? This formula from Moroccanoil is one of the best purple shampoos for blonde hair thanks to its iridescent violet pigments, which not only help color-correct brassy hair but also help add dimension and sheen. In an independent consumer study, 85% of users said this shampoo helped neutralize brassy tones in their hair, and 92% said their highlights looked refreshed. As with the entire Moroccanoil line, this formula contains argan oil to help soften your strands with every use.

OLAPLEX No. 4P Blonde Enhancer Toning Shampoo

Cult favorite hair care brand OLAPLEX added this toning shampoo to its collection in 2021. It’s one of the best purple shampoos for blonde hair because it combines the color-correcting benefits of a purple shampoo with the bond-building properties that OLAPLEX is known for. The brand’s starring ingredient, Bis-Aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate, helps smooth and strengthen damaged hair by repairing broken disulfide bonds in each strand of your hair. During clinical testing, users reported that their blonde hair looked three times brighter with this formula compared with other top purple shampoos.

ColorProof Daily Blonde Shampoo

This shampoo from ColorProof is one of the best purple shampoos for blonde hair if you’re looking for a formula you can use daily. It cleanses your hair gently without stripping while also depositing concentrated violet pigments to help instantly neutralize the yellow tones that can cause brassiness. It also contains biotin to help strengthen hair and a blend of marula and safflower oils to help leave your hair soft and shiny.

Surface Violet Shampoo

Purple pigment from the Maqui berry plant provides this shampoo with its brassiness-blasting power. It makes our list of the best purple shampoos for blonde hair not only because of its ability to help neutralize yellow tones in blonde and gray hair, but also, we’re big fans of its list of nourishing ingredients, including hydrating aloe leaf juice, amaranth protein and babassu and moringa oils.

Looking for more hair help? You can learn all about the Curly Girl Method or the benefits of using hair care with vitamin E on the LovelySkin Blog.