I Swear by These Purple Shampoos for Maintaining My Icy-Cool Blonde

Key ingredients: Jagua blue extract, cocamidopropyl betaine (coconut oil-derived surfactant) | Who it's for: any and all blondes

Best for Minimal Brass Maintenance: Pureology Hydrate Shampoo

Why it's worth it: My fellow blondes, we all (should) know that using a purple shampoo every time you wash your hair is a big no-no unless you want silver or purple-stained strands. With that being said, I skirt around this rule with Pureology’s Hydrate Shampoo, which has a light lavender tint that provides a subtle tone-cooling effect. This Allure Best of Beauty Award winner has a creamy—dare I say decadent?—consistency that intensely moisturizes my hair with jojoba oil and antioxidant-rich extracts à la green tea and sage. Bleach is incredibly drying to hair, so my brittle strands are basically begging for all the moisture they can receive, and, boy, does Pureology supply it. Another bonus: Since this shampoo is designed for thicker hair types like mine, I only need a ping-pong-ball-sized dollop of this rich, custardy shampoo to cover my whole head, which is way less than the palm-size amount I usually use.

Key ingredients: jojoba oil, green tea extract, sage extract | Who it's for: thick hair, dry hair

Best for Intense Brassiness: Matrix So Silver Purple Shampoo

Why it's worth it: If you want a shampoo that’s so vibrantly purple that its pigments could neutralize rust, try the Matrix So Silver Purple Shampoo for Blondes. When I’m at severe levels of brassiness, this opaque, ultraviolet shampoo cuts through all the brass and brings my hair back to its Legolas-platinum glory. The only reason it beats out Davines’s shampoo in terms of brass-busting is that Matrix’s purple color is much more opaque than the former’s, making it more intensive per wash. Along with its top-tier toning abilities, this shampoo also treats bleached, damaged hair that’s on the mend with citric acid (a type of alpha hydroxy acid or AHA), which reinforces weakened hair bonds to maintain hair strength and malleability (toodles, breakage). A word of warning: This purple shampoo’s tint is no joke, so don’t leave it on for more than the recommended maximum time of five minutes to avoid staining your hair.

Key ingredients: citric acid | Who it's for: anyone with severe brassiness, damaged hair

More purple shampoos we love:

Best for Curly Hair: Kérastase Blond Absolu Bain Lumiere Shampoo

Why it's worth it: If you have curly hair, you need a shampoo that can supply equal parts toning and moisture, like the Kérastase Blond Absolu Bain Lumiere Shampoo. This shampoo is available in Clear for regular washes and the pigmented Ultraviolet for toning. No matter which option you choose, its combination of hydrating hyaluronic acid and antioxidant-rich edelweiss flower extracts will leave your curls with a noticeably bouncier, shinier look. Leanna Mejia, a colorist at The Coily Collective in New York City, notes that the brand’s blonde toning line is one of her all-time favorites, saying it "helps defy brass on a weekly basis while replenishing your hair." To further enhance your blonde color care routine, Mejia also suggests the Kérastase Blond Absolu leave-in serum, which she says "gives you that daily shot of platinum to make your hair always look lively."

Key ingredients: hyaluronic acid, edelweiss flower extract | Who it's for: curly hair, dry hair, thick hair

Best for Gray Hair: DpHue Cool Blonde Shampoo

Why it's worth it: Like blondes, those with gray hair also need a shampoo that’ll keep unwanted yellow tones down to a minimum. If you want your silver hair to shine, the deep purple color of DpHue’s Cool Blonde Shampoo is essential for cooling warm tones and boosting vibrancy, according to Los Angeles-based colorist Justin Anderson. He’s worked with some of the most noticeable blondes in Hollywood, including Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Margot Robbie, by the way. “It’s formulated with deep violet pigments that neutralize yellow tones and brassiness while gently cleansing the hair,” he says.

Key ingredients: amino acids, silk proteins, hibiscus flower extract | Who it's for: gray hair, silver hair, cool-toned blondes

Best for Natural Blondes: Joico Color Balance Purple Shampoo

Why it's worth it: Joico's Color Balance Purple Shampoo has the perfect amount of pigment in it without leaving any purple in the hair, according to Los Angeles-based colorist and hairstylist Larisa Love. Its color may seem pretty ultraviolet at first, but once you massage it onto your scalp, you’ll notice its shade intensity calm down to a soft pastel purple, depositing a subtle toning treatment without over-toning darker blondes and more natural-looking shades (hey, not everyone wants to have bright bleached hair). “I also love that it leaves the hair shiny and healthy—not dry,” Love says. That’s all thanks to its key ingredient, green tea extract, which contains moisture-replenishing antioxidants to leave hair with a silky-soft feel and vinyl-level shine.

Key ingredients: green tea extract | Who it's for: natural blondes, dark blondes

Best for Dry Hair: Sachajuan Silver Shampoo

Why it's worth it: Sachajuan’s inky Silver Shampoo has a vivid purple color that instantly tackles brass and provides the moisture replenishment that bleached hair needs to look and feel its best. Sachajuan makes one of our favorite toning shampoos for those with especially dry, brittle hair after an intensive bleaching process because it leaves hair with an unbelievably soft, shiny, and vibrant finish through its hydrolyzed red algae extract-powered Ocean Silk Technology. Through its key complex, this shampoo is able to condition strands and minimize frizz without the weighty, greasy feel of heavier oils. The pros agree with us, too: “This is a high-performing option that’s not only effective at neutralizing brassiness, but also deeply conditioning,” says Travis Ogletree, a Los Angeles-based colorist.

Key ingredients: Ocean Silk Technology (red algae extract) | Who it's for: dry hair, fine hair, thin hair

Frequently Asked Questions

Purple shampoos are exactly what they sound like: a shampoo with a purple tint. Cosmetic chemist Ginger King notes that the thinking behind purple shampoos is based on the color-wheel theory, the same principle people use for color correction in makeup (and one you may remember from elementary school art class). This theory states that colors on opposite sides of the color wheel— also known as complementary colors—neutralize each other. Considering that purple is the opposite of yellow on the color wheel, colorists apply this theory to hair to successfully balance out brassy tones. "Purple tones cancel out any unwanted brassy yellow tones and maintain brightness between highlighting appointments," explains Felicia Dosso, a colorist at New York City-based Nunzio Saviano Salon.

Though King agrees that purple shampoos typically work best on silver or blonde hair, Dosso notes that brunettes can also enjoy their color-cooling benefits. "The main complaint brunettes have is their hair turns brassy, so I always recommend purple shampoo to my brunette clients too," says Dosso. "I suggest using once a week as needed to negate that."

With that being said, brunettes, dirty blondes, and other darker blonde tones (think less Marilyn Monroe and more Gigi Hadid's honey blonde) may want a blue shampoo instead. Since darker shades have a deeper warmth to their color, they don't yellow—instead, they turn orange. Blue is a complementary shade to orange, which makes it ideal for toning dark blondes and brunettes.

No matter your hair color, Kiyah Wright—a hairstylist and owner of Muze Hair in Los Angeles who works with Jennifer Hudson, Tyra Banks, and Laverne Cox—advises clients to be careful when using certain purple products though because they can stain. "If you have icy-blonde hair and leave a purple shampoo on for too long, your hair will have a blue-purple tinge," Wright cautions. So be sure to read the instructions carefully and make sure you time your session accordingly.

• Leanna Mejia, a colorist at The Coily Collective in New York City
• Justin Anderson, a colorist based in Los Angeles
• Larisa Love, a colorist and hairstylist based in Los Angeles
• Ginger King, a cosmetic chemist
• Felicia Dosso, a colorist at Nunzio Saviano Salon in New York City
• Kiyah Wright, a hairstylist and owner of Muze Hair in Los Angeles

We always enlist a range of testers for our makeup vertical, but hair-care products and tools are another story. While certain products can be used across different hair textures, lengths, curl patterns, thicknesses, colors (natural and unnatural), and needs, hair products are often created with specific consumers in mind. Many are created to address a concern (dandruff, breakage, brittleness) or to work most effectively for a specific hair type (4C curls, wavy hair, gray hair). You wouldn’t want to pick up a purple shampoo that’s only been reviewed by someone with, say, auburn hair, or a diffuser that’s never been tested by anyone with curls—right?

For our review of the best purple shampoos and conditioners for icy-blonde hair, we enlisted the help of multiple editors, writers, contributors, and hair stylists with varying hair types, concerns, and desired outcomes (i.e., want shinier hair). Testers considered performance across four primary categories: efficacy, texture and experience, fragrance, and packaging. For more on what's involved in our reporting, check out our complete reviews process and methodology page.

A beauty product is a personal purchase. You might be searching for a face cream to address persistent dryness or a new nail product to add to your Sunday self-care routine; you may simply be browsing around for the latest launches to hit the hair market. No matter what you seek or your individual needs and concerns, Allure wants to ensure that you love anything we recommend in our stories. We believe that having a diverse team of writers and editors — in addition to the wide range of outside testers and industry experts we regularly call upon — is essential to reaching that goal.

After all, can we really say a skin-care product is the “best” for people over 50 if the only testers we’ve solicited opinions from folks who have yet to hit 30? Can we honestly deem a high-end diffuser worthy of your hard-earned cash if it’s never been tested on curls? We’re proud that our staff spans a wide range of ages, skin tones, hair textures, genders, and backgrounds, which means that we are able to fairly assess any beauty product that comes into the beauty closet.

Your color care routine is begging for these editor-approved finds:

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Now, watch Snow White actress Rachel Zegler walk through her beauty routine:

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