The 16 Best Purple Shampoos That Fight Brassiness

Updated on Sep 09, 2021 02:11PM EDT

Reviewed by

Trichologist

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Our Top Picks

Best Overall:

Moroccanoil Blonde Perfecting Purple Shampoo at Sephora

This gentle, sulfate-free formula is loaded with nourishing argan oil to help prevent dryness and repair damage.

Best Drugstore:

Not Your Mother's Blonde Moment Treatment Shampoo at Ulta

This affordable option neutralizes brassiness, enhances shine, and hydrates strands.

Best Budget:

L'Oreal Paris EverPure Sulfate Free Purple Shampoo for Colored Hair at Target

It's infused with purple pigments and hibiscus to protect your color, eliminate brassiness, and nourish and hydrate each strand.

Best Splurge:

Oribe Bright Blonde Shampoo at Nordstrom

A luxe option, this sulfate-free shampoo adds shine and helps to fight brassiness.

Best Sulfate-Free:

Pravana The Perfect Blonde Shampoo at Walmart

A gentle shampoo, this product fights those warm tones without leaving hair dry.

Best for Blowouts:

Drybar Blonde Ale Brightening Shampoo at Ulta

This shampoo works double duty to repair damage from heat styling while brightening and toning your blonde.

Best for Curly or Kinky Hair:

SheaMoisture Purple Rice Water Strength & Color Care Shampoo at Sallybeauty.com

Ultra-hydrating, this purple shampoo helps to keep your curly tresses healthy.

Best for Damaged Hair:

Amika Bust Your Brass Cool Blonde Shampoo at Sephora

Formulated with bond cure technology and vegan proteins, this purple shampoo is perfect for damaged hair.

Best for Dry Hair:

Keratin Complex Blondeshell Debrass Shampoo at Walmart

This ultra-moisturizing formula helps to revive parched strands and neutralizes brassiness.

Best for Highlights:

Clairol Professional Shimmer Lights Shampoo at Ulta

This purple shampoo works to tone allover brassiness while refreshing faded highlights.

In This Article

Our Picks
Final Verdict
What to Look For

We feel confident in saying that taking your hair to a brighter, blonder hue requires the most upkeep of all shades. This is because lifting your hair's base color with bleach requires more processing and chemicals than dyeing it a darker shade. Doing so also leaves the hair more prone to breakage by fragmenting the cuticleand making hair more porous, which then allows for UV rays, pollution, and other elements to enter (and moisture the exit), thus making the color appear duller and brassier (read: yellow).

But even if you think you've hit the point of no return with your blonde's level of brassiness, know that there are some great purple shampoos that help restore your once-flaxen vibrancy (or prevent yellow-tinged hair from happening in the first place). Why purple? Think of it as a color-corrector: Shades placed opposite of each other on the color wheel cancel each other out, so purple tones will cancel out yellow tones.

Sabrina Yamani Yamga, colorist at SPACE by Alex Brown in Chicago, does note that it’s easy to overuse purple shampoo, as it can be drying. So start out by using this product just once a week. For best results, Yamga recommends using a deep cleansing shampoo for the first wash to lift any yellowish deposit that can come from product use, the environment, heat styling tools, or old water pipes. Then, use your purple shampoo of choice for three to five minutes for a soft beige or whiter-looking blonde.

Ready to shop the top formulas? These are the best purple shampoos for blonde hair.

Moroccanoil Blonde Perfecting Purple Shampoo

View On Sephora

This top-rated purple shampoo from Moroccanoil takes the cake as best overall, combating brassiness in blonde, lightened brunette, and even gray hair. The formula is loaded with nourishing argan oil to prevent dryness and repair hair from the inside out, a major perk for those with damaged color-treated or bleached strands, while its violet pigments expertly rid the hair of yellow or orange tones. Because it has a gentle sulfate-free formula, wavy, curly, and coily hair types can use this purple shampoo without fear their hair will be stripped of moisture, but, trust, it works great for those with fine and straight hair, too.

not your mother's blonde moment treatment shampoo

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Formulated with dark violet pigments and revitalizing violet rice, this shampoo from Not Your Mother's promises to neutralize brassiness, enhance shine, and hydrate strands. The line also offers a conditioner and a leave-in product, both of which are intended to seal in color. These products will really help because the more you wash your hair, the less vibrant your color tends to be. Former Byrdie Editorial Director Faith Xue says this budget-friendly formula, in particular, made her platinum locks so, so bright. The wallet-friendly price tag certainly doesn't hurt, either.

L'Oreal Paris EverPure Sulfate Free Purple Shampoo for Colored Hair

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This shampoo from L’Oréal Paris is a must for blondes, especially those with color-treated hair. The gentle formula is infused with purple pigments and hibiscus that work hard to protect your color, eliminate pesky brassy and orange tones, and deeply nourish and hydrate every strand. Plus, it’s free of sulfates, parabens, harsh surfactants, harsh salts, and the formula is vegan. Use it two-to-three times a week to maintain your brightest blonde.

View On Nordstrom View On Dermstore

Treat your strands with sulfate-free shampoo created to bring out the blonde tones in your hair. The formula, a favorite of Yamga’s, is super gentle and won't dry out your strands, making it a great pick for those with curly or heat-damaged hair. The shampoo's violet pigments add shine and fight brassy and orange tones. Also nice: Out of the shower, this formula will also protect your color-treated hair from UV rays and dullness.

View On Walmart

When you color your hair, you’re weakening its bond, so you’ll need an extra gentle shampoo to fight those warm tones without leaving it parched. That’s where Pravana’s The Perfect Blonde Shampoo comes in. Its purple pigment is so strong that you only need to use it once a week to reap the rewards. It contains an exclusive dual ultra-violet dye system and built-in brighteners to leave you with brighter, blonder hair that’s stronger and shinier, courtesy of the keratin, wheat, and silk amino acid in the formula. More importantly, the formula is sulfate-free, so it’ll go easy on your hair but tough on brassiness.

View On Ulta View On Macy's

If you color your hair and get blowouts on the regular, you’re doing double damage to your hair—and this shampoo does double duty to fix that. The formula is infused with lemon extract to brighten and maintain your blonde, as well as chamomile extract to improve tone and amp up shine. To counteract all that heat styling, it has keratin and vegetable proteins to strengthen the structure of the hair and prevent heat damage. Strands are left healthy-looking and without that warmth that can bring down blonde, gray, and white hair.

View On Sallybeauty.com View On Sheamoisture.com

Blondes might have more fun, but they also have more work to do to keep their curly tresses healthy. This ultra-hydrating shampoo consists of organic shea butter, argan oil, and jojoba oil to restore damaged hair. The star ingredient is purple rice water, which not only smells divine, but leaves your hair clean, soft, and noticeably brighter.

Amika Bust Your Brass Cool Blonde Shampoo

View On Sephora View On Loveamika.com

This ultra-violet, brass-busting shampoo delivers bright and shiny, cool-toned results, so you can use this on blonde, silver, or gray hair. In addition to violet pigments, it's formulated with a special bond cure technology that helps to repair broken bonds within each strand, while quinoa-derived vegan proteins provide keratin-like strengthening benefits. The formula is also infused with mango butter extract—which packs in vitamins A, C, and E—as well as omega-6 fatty acid-rich borage oil and shea butter to deeply nourish the hair. An added bonus is how utterly delicious it smells—all Amika products are pretty next-level when it comes to scent and trust, this one is no different. Plus, it's formulated without sulfates, parabens, and phthalates, so it’s totally keratin safe and an overall safer-for-you formula

View On Walmart

Dyed hair is synonymous with being dry. And if you already have hair drier than the Sahara Desert, then you know just how dry it can feel once dye is thrown into the equation. Our top pick for reviving parched strands is this ultra-moisturizing formula that not only neutralizes brassiness but also keeps hair smooth and soft and enhances shine. The nourishing formula is infused with keratin amino acids to help strengthen delicate hair that needs extra TLC. That, along with a triple-protein blend, helps make your hair more resilient to sun exposure, hot tools, and other environmental aggressors. There’s also chamomile in the formula which is known to brighten and keep color fresher for longer. Plus, you can’t beat the light fresh scent.

View On Ulta View On Sallybeauty.com View On Walmart

This shampoo has been on shelves for decades and it has truly stood the test of time. One of the most popular options out there across price points (Xue also loves this product), it gives you the most bang for your buck. The conditioning shampoo works to tone allover brassiness, plus it gives a refresh to faded highlights. The protein-enrich formula is super gentle and the purple in it is vibrant, so you’ll have noticeably brighter and lighter strands after just one wash.

View On Sephora View On Dermstore

If you’re a natural blonde, this dpHue shampoo is for you (even if you’re not, we’ll keep your secret and still recommend this shampoo), and it also works wonders for gray and white hair. Celebrity colorist Justin Anderson calls this shampoo "the best violet pigmented shampoo on the market." It's also a favorite of Kristen Cavallari's, and all for good reason. The deep violet pigments neutralize yellow tones and brassiness, and the gentle formula, which is free of parabens, sulfates, and phthalates, delicately cleanses hair.

View On Macy's View On Walmart

Breathe new life back into your blonde hair again with Joico’s Color Balance Purple Shampoo. The formula has just the right amount of pigment in it to neutralize yellow tones without leaving any trace of purple in your hair, but its tone-correcting pigments will stay attached to the hair fibers through multiple shampoos. The formula's Multi-Spectrum Defense Complex guards against color fade, and the Bio-Advanced Peptide Complex repairs, nourishes, combats frizz and leaves strands shiny. Your hair will look and feel healthier every time after you suds up.

View On Amazon

Created by celebrity hairstylist, Kristin Ess—you know her from her work with celebs like Lucy Hale and Lauren Conrad—came out with her own line of products and it has spread like wildfire. This shampoo in particular lightly clarifies and highly lathers for a squeaky clean that’s not stripping while toning blonde hair and neutralizing brassy undertones. It also contains “zip-up technology™,” their proprietary strengthening complex designed to "zip-up" split ends while targeting weak areas of the hair, smoothing the appearance of damaged cuticles and helping to protect hair from environmental stressors and color fade.

View On Amazon

This purple shampoo “is beautiful for blondes who like a soft beige tone, without the brass or silver,” says Yamga. Jasmine A. Ortiz, Byrdie's news editor, also considers this purple shampoo a must-have. The violet-tinted formula does a great job at neutralizing brassy tones in the lightest of blonde hues. Conditioning ingredients such as jojoba leaf extract ensure strands are soft and shiny post-shower, a must for those who dye their hair platinum.

View On Amazon

Platinum hair requires special care, and this purple shampoo, which is one of Xue’s go-tos, is a must-have for anyone with a super-light blonde mane. The sulfate-, silicone-, and paraben-free formula is gentle on hair. Added purple pigments do an excellent job of neutralizing yellow and orange tones, keeping platinum, white, and silver hair looking cool and shiny.

View On Superzero.com

Shampoo bars are not only way more sustainable than traditional liquid formulas, but they’re also super travel-friendly. They’ve come a long way from the harsh and drying formulas of the past, which is why we love this purple pigment-infused bar from Superzero that neutralizes and eliminates pesky yellow and brassy tones from blonde hair. It's super gentle, lightly cleansing the hair while nourishing it with avocado oil and chamomile extract, adding shine and bounce without weighing it down. Also nice: It’s over 98% plant-based and is free of parabens, sulfates, phthalates, silicones, palm oil, and plastics.

Final Verdict

The best purple shampoos help prolong the life of your blonde, so you can go longer between appointments and keep unwanted brassiness at bay. We’re giving top honors to Moroccanoil's Blonde Perfecting Shampoo, which is packed with argan oil to repair the hair from the inside out while keeping brassy and orange tones and bay. The sulfate-free formula is also super gentle, making it great for all hair types. For curly and kinky hair, we recommend Shea Moisture's Purple Rice Water Strength + Color Care Shampoo. It's ultra-hydrating to restore moisture to dry and damaged hair while protecting your color.

What to Look For in a Purple Shampoo

Purple Tone

Different purple tones neutralize different brassy shades. For example, violet is great at counteracting yellow tones in light blonde hues. “If your hair is more of a brassy orange or warm brunette, purple is too light,” says Yamga, “so you'll want to opt for a blue shampoo.”

Nourishing Ingredients

As Yamga notes, purple shampoos can be drying. So look for hydrating ingredients like argan oil, shea butter, and keratin amino acids to ensure hair is soft, smooth, and shiny after washing.

Sulfate-Free Formula

Sulfates can do a number on your hair, so if your mane is on the drier side already, opt for a sulfate-free purple shampoo. A sulfate-free purple shampoo will be gentle on your hair while still being effective at getting rid of unwanted brassy tones.

Meet the Expert

Sabrina Yamani Yamga is an award-winning colorist and extension specialist at SPACE by Alex Brown in Chicago.

According to our Diversity Pledge, 15% of products in our newly-published market roundups will feature Black-owned and/or Black-founded brands. At the time of publishing, we were not able to find enough purple shampoos from Black-owned and/or Black-founded businesses to meet this percentage. If you know of one we should consider, please email us at contact@byrdie.com and we will evaluate the product ASAP.

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