How To Use Purple Shampoo: Expert Tips Explained + Product Recs

Every once in a while, the social media masses will discover a beauty product and treat it like it's bright and shiny and new. But of course, when you go to chat with the experts about the trend, they'll be the first to tell you: This has been a not-so-secret pro tip for years.

This was the case with Instagram contouring (makeup artists have been contouring their celebrity clients for decades upon decades) or even rice water rinses (a tradition that has an ancient history). And it's now the case with at-home toning shampoos. 

Purple shampoos have made a big wave lately, resulting in loads of hacks, questions, and questionable hacks. But as any hairstylist or colorist will tell you, color-correcting pigments have been a professional trick for practically as long as people have been coloring their hair in salons. However, they've gained more mainstream popularity—as well as more at-home product offerings have become more widely accessible—in the past several years. 

Here, we gathered everything you need to know from the pros. 

Purple shampoos are one type of color toning product. You've likely heard of the color wheel (go ahead and Google should you need to), and according to color theory, shades on the opposite side of the circle cancel each other out. That's 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." 

As far as the shampoo part goes, shampoos actually are able to open up the hair's cuticle during the wash process. (This is how they deep clean the strands: They can lift and pull out buildup trapped in the hair shaft.) With toning products, they deposit pigment while the cuticle is lifted—therefore canceling out the unwanted tone. 

In short, anyone with unwanted yellow undertones can use a purple shampoo. People who commonly experience yellow undertones are those who have lifted their hair or have lighter hair, such as blondes, platinums, and silver strands.

Yes, those with gray hair should grab purple shampoo: "These brighten up silver hair, so it really gives it that luminescent vibe—it feels so uplifting. Gray hair grabs what's in the atmosphere, so it can turn yellow very quickly—this should help that," says colorist Christin Brown. 

In most ways purple shampoo is akin to using a regular shampoo, but it does take a few tweaks on the standard process.

Finding a purple shampoo that's right for you all comes down to thinking about your needs. Obviously, color-correcting is high on that list (you're reading this article, after all), but you should also consider if you want something that offers a deeper clean, more hydration, antioxidant protection, and so on. We've outlined all of our favorite purple shampoos here, but we'll call out a quick few now for easy skimming. 

Want additional insights? We've got you covered.

Color-correct your yellow undertone away with this hair-colorist-approved product. Just make sure you're using it correctly and thoughtfully.