What Does Purple Shampoo Do: Introducing Tone It Down

Blonde ambition? We’ve got you in the purple

In the process to perfect this formula we were determined not to compromise on either efficacy or our sustainability guidelines. That meant we couldn’t use many of the ingredients that are in the best-reviewed toning products.

What does a purple shampoo do?

Over time, lighter hair colors start to develop an orange-y brassy tinge which many people prefer to remove. 

Purple hair products are designed to remove the brassiness and yellow tones from both natural and dyed blondes, and bring out the silver in those with grey hair. 

Those of you who haven’t used one before (and perhaps even those of you who have) may not know how a purple shampoo works. So we put together the handy video below to explain.

In short, purple is the ‘opposite’ color to yellow, which really just means it cancels it out. A purple shampoo deposits colorant into the hair shaft. Depending on a bunch of factors, this color will stay there for varying periods of time. This purple color won’t make your hair purple - it just counteracts the yellow tones enough to make the hair appear brighter and whiter.

My search for effective, sustainable colorants

Almost every purple product out there uses coal tar dyes, such as acid violet. They are extremely powerful dyes, some of which bind to hair very efficiently. But I will not use them- they’re petrochemical derivatives, and come with some health concerns too. 

Most cosmetic colorants that fit into our ingredients policy won’t work, because of how they behave with hair in formulation, or because they’re not strong enough. So finding the right one was tricky, but we found one!

We use a combination of beetroot extract, iron oxide and mica. Each ingredient is naturally derived, sustainably sourced, and in our formula, effective at reducing brassiness. 

There is a key difference between our purple range and most other mass products. Many purple products recommend using them once a week - Tone It Down is designed to be used as your regular shampoo and conditioner. This is because without the coal tar dyes, the colors won’t stay in your hair for as long. So our bars are preventative, for regular use and formulated accordingly, not once per week/month treatment products.

What about the conditioner?

Usually purple conditioners are optional, but we highly recommend using both our bars together. Shampoo lifts the cuticle and deposits colorant. Conditioner then closes the cuticle (more so than just rinsing) sealing the color in. Again, because our colorants are a little gentler, we have also deeply colored our conditioner, too. This means the conditioning layer over your hair cuticle also adds to the toning effect.

And yes! It’s sulfate-free.

Tone It Down solid shampoo is one of the first bars in our sulfate-free range. It’s completely new technology for us and still foams just like normal shampoo, leaving hair silky soft.

What is the deal with sulfates? Really it’s all a big marketing have, but here is our stance on sulfates. We’ve also added a new ingredient – betaine – which is a carbohydrate derived from sugar beet. It’s a humectant, so it draws water to hair, reduces irritation and makes the hair and skin super soft. Babassu oil, cocoa butter, jasmine and ylang-ylang oils with a touch of vanilla and vitamin B5 round out one of my favourite formulas to date.

Click below to investigate our new range and please do let us know what you think!