Purple shampoo is a blonde’s best friend. Purple formulas work to neutralize yellow tones to make strands look whiter and brighter, and most stylists consider them non-negotiable to maintain your color between dates. As a natural brunette with blonde highlights, I’ve always assumed that like my blonde friends, I should also treat my strands with regular lavender foam. But after my most recent appointment at Rob Petoom Salon in Brooklyn, I learned that there is an even better toning shampoo that I should be using to keep my hair looking fresh. .
Enter: Blue shampoo. According to Emily Claire, Davines colorist at Rob Petoom, cobalt formulas are more effective than purple formulas at maintaining highlights on darker hair.
“[In general,] “The ‘tint’ or ‘firming’ shampoos serve as a ‘quick fix’ between lightening services—they help give the shine you get in,” says Claire. shop longer,” Claire said. neutralizes light blonde tones in hair to reveal icy blonde, blue shampoo works to reduce brassiness in brunettes or reduce darker blonde tones on blondes to reveal blonde beige or champagne gold.”
How does green shampoo work?
To understand how it works, think back to color theory 101. Because blue is opposite orange on the color wheel (the same way purple is opposite yellow), it’s fine. more if you neutralize the kind of orange-y discoloration that tends to appear when the yellow highlights start to fade.
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“You want to go against the color wheel, so the color on the opposite side of orange is blue,” confirms renowned Matrix colorist George Papanikolas. “Use moisturizing, gentle formulas to keep cuticles firm. Anything that can evaporate will cause your cuticles to swell and your color will fade faster.”
Blue shampoo and conditioner I used
At Claire’s recommendation, I traded in my standard purple shampoo for Davines Heart of Glass Silkening Shampoo ($36) and Rich Conditioner ($42), a blue duo that fits Papnikolas’ criteria and is specially designed to maintain prominence on brown hair.
By the way, both products are periwinkle’s best color — both use jaguar blue extract from a fruit sustainably sourced in the Colombian rainforest to neutralize the orange tones and enhance the color. ball intensity. Plus, each step does its standard job: the shampoo cleans and brightens the scalp while the conditioner provides moisturizing and restorative benefits.
As directed by Claire, I started my toner routine three weeks after my color appointment and have continued to use the blue products twice a month ever since. “I tell people to use them ‘as needed’ and for most people that means one to three times a month,” she says. “One important caveat is that if you find yourself having to use it more than that, there’s something worth looking into. That could mean you need a new filter in the shower, or it could have which means that the shampoo you’re using regularly washing is taking away your ink.”
In my case, twice a month is a perfect balance. Davines blue shampoo and conditioner has given me a gorgeous golden highlight that everyone can’t stop raving about—even after dozens of heat washes and styling (and no it’s that I’m overreacting, but even I have to admit they look good). So to all my light brunettes out there: Do yourself a favor and add some blue shampoo to your routine too. Shop some of our favorite options below.
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