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August 21, 2021 — 16:05 PM
Hey beauty fans, welcome to art class—today we’re learning about color theory. You’ve likely heard of the color wheel (go ahead and Google it real quickly, should you need to). And according to color theory, shades on the opposite side of the circle cancel each other out. That’s exactly the science behind toning shampoos!
“We use toners to enhance dull tones or cancel unwanted tones,” says hairstylist Natasha Speth. “When we are canceling unwanted tones, we refer to our faithful color wheel to select the proper tones. We would use complementary colors to cancel out unwanted tones.” The basics of at-home toning are using violet for yellow, green for red, or blue for orange. “For instance, if a light blonde with soft golden undertones would prefer to be an icy white blonde, we may use a violet base toner or send them home with a violet-based shampoo and conditioner.”
Enter, a platinum blonde’s best friend: purple shampoo. These are your standard shampoos made with violet pigments that deposit onto the hair to color-correct brassy and yellow undertones. (Oh, and on that depositing note? Yes, these can start to stain your hair lavender if used too often—although the fix is simple: Just cut back how much you use it!) And because we’re mindbodygreen, all of the below are sulfate-free too.
Together Beauty Purple Reign
This natural, clean hair care brand delivers high-quality smart care and styling products. (It’s formulated and created by a famed New York hairstylist and salon owner—so it checks out why.) This option is made with 98% natural and clean ingredients, one being Ancient Chinese purple rice to give it that lush purple hue. The other ingredients tend to your hair health, like protein-powered quinoa and antioxidant-packed baobab oil.
This brand makes entirely customizable hair care products—from hair type, oil production at the scalp, hair strand thickness, fragrance, and goals. So you don’t have to sacrifice any of your other hair care needs just to get a violet shampoo. Just visit the site, take their quiz, and make the purple shampoo of your dreams.
Turn up those highlights with this brightening option, which not only color corrects but contains actives that can add ample shine. First up, there’s vitamin C, which will neutralize free radicals (that can contribute to hair loss and dullness). Additionally, there’s apple cider vinegar, which can clarify hair, tame frizz, and give strands luster.
The hue comes from violet rice extract, which improves hair health while also toning down brassy strands. It also hydrates strands with glycerin and other botanicals. At just under $8, too, it’s budget-friendly.
This natural-inspired brand is founded by celebrity hair colorist Justin Anderson who tends to some of Hollywood’s most famous blondes. (So we trust his work and formulations—it’s the option that this beauty editor uses on her blond highlights.) It’s blended with hibiscus flower extract, amino acids, and hydrolyzed silk.
Loaded with botanical oils like euterpe oleracea fruit oil and passiflora edulis seed oil, this antioxidant-rich formula helps protect color while toning it. See environmental stressors not only damage hair but fade color too!
This is brimming with tropical and exotic botanicals and florals to help strengthen hair and improve scalp health. A few of our favorites? There’s mango seed butter for fatty acids, jojoba oil for conditioning, and sunflower seed extracts for antioxidants.
Shampoo bars are a hugely popular option as they are more eco-friendly (no bulky packaging!). However, many people complain that they don’t come with all the extra healthy hair actives of traditional shampoos. Not so here! This contains babassu and jasmine oils for conditioning and beetroot powder for that plum shade.
Another affordable pick, this gets glowing reviews from users. We suspect that’s from the coconut (which is hydrating and softening) as well as vitamin E. Vitamin E is a popular hair care addition since it’s oil-soluble, reduces hair loss, and balances the oil on the scalp.
This stylist-fronted brand is as smart as it is sophisticated. It contains several botanicals we love around here: There’s coconut oil, algae extract, and lychee, to name a few. But the star is the hydrolyzed keratin protein, which is the main structural component of hair.
The brand’s signature Moroccan argan oil makes this deeply hydrating and conditioning for strands. The proprietary ArganID™ Technology infuses antioxidants into hair while simultaneously helping to repair and seal the cuticle.
Have questions about using any of these? We got you covered.
These are best for those looking for icy, platinum, silver, and wheat blond, as each of these shades typically needs to tone down gold and yellow tones. However, even golden blondes can get in on the action if they feel their hair is getting too brassy.
If this is your first time using it, start with once a week (using your other sulfate-free shampoo during the other washes) and build up as needed. As we noted above, you can go overboard and stain your hair purple. But ultimately, how often you use it will be totally up to you.
Stylists recommend applying it on wet hair, as putting it on dry hair prior to wetting will likely deposit too much pigment.
Those with high porosity hair (check out our porosity quiz here to find out where you fall on the porosity spectrum) run the risk of tinting their hair purple. A word of caution.
Most people only use shampoo at the roots, but you’ll want to cover the whole head so your silver strands can get the full treatment.
If you bleach your hair and find your tone turning yellow, don’t fret: Just reach for one of these purple shampoos.
