Is your gray hair losing its luster, plagued by unwanted yellow or brassy tones? The solution might be simpler than you think: purple shampoo. This comprehensive guide explores the world of grey reverse shampoos, diving into how they work, which ingredients to look for, and the best products available to keep your silver strands vibrant and beautiful.
Understanding the causes of discoloration is the first step in combating it. Several factors contribute to the yellowing or brassiness of gray hair:
Purple shampoos are called “purple shampoos” because they are actually…PURPLE. Jenn adds, “It’s basic color theory. Purple and yellow are complementary colors. That means when put together, they neutralize each other. This is DIFFERENT than the chelating or clarifying shampoo, or apple cider vinegar rinses you might have heard of. A chelating or clarifying shampoo can be used to remove any product or mineral buildup that may be contributing to brassiness. So the bottom line is that you need something purple in the purple shampoo to get the job done. I’ve seen brands use a myriad of ingredients to attempt this, from botanicals like purple potato, to mineral-derived pigments like ultramarines and iron oxides, to plant extracts like bilberry extract and beet extract, to synthetic dyes (like Basic dyes and Acid Violets).
The effectiveness of a grey reverse shampoo hinges on its ingredients. Here's a breakdown of what to seek out and what to avoid:
Here's a curated selection of grey reverse shampoos, with detailed reviews based on personal experience and expert insights:
Read also: Treatments for Gray Hair
OWAY’s Silver Steel Hair Bath smells great and leaves my hair feeling fresh, bouncy and clean. It’s also packaged in glass, which is RARE for any shampoo. Most brands won’t do this for safety reasons, but I love it. It feels elevated and chic. This formula pumps out a dark, iridescent, royal purple. It cleans really well and is great at removing oils and buildup. I found this shampoo at the salon I go to, so it’s no surprise that it works. And when I say it works, it not only cleans hair, but it also reduces brassiness like a boss. Silver Steel Hair Bath uses Violet 2 as a pigment to neutralize brassiness and I would classify this formula as the strongest purple shampoo I’ve tried in terms of toning power. Resurrection plant the same ingredient we see in African Botanics’ Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum. It has the ability to survive in extremely harsh, dry conditions and has a regenerating, anti-oxidative, moisturizing and protective effect on the hair, skin and scalp.
Innersense is already a clean beauty hall-of-famer for shampoos that actually cleanse without stripping, and Bright Balance holds that line. It tones hard (in the best way), especially if you leave it on for the full five minutes. The formula is a deep, inky purple, which I appreciate. So many “clean” purple shampoos barely look lavender and do nothing. This one means business. It leans more on the toning side than brightening, but that’s its strength-it deposits color using the same combo of Basic Red and Basic Blue dyes that you’ll find in brands like Overtone. While I normally double cleanse, one wash was enough for Claire. As for the wash itself, it leaves my hair feeling soft, not stripped. It’s also full of goodies like apple extract, monoi oil, and vitamin E. And the scent? A light hit of jasmine that doesn’t linger or overpower. This is a top pick for people with sensitivities and/or allergies to synthetic dyes. Like Innersense, this formula uses Basic Red 76 and Basic Blue 99 for its purple pigment.
Created from certified organic, wild harvested and Ecocert ingredients, this plant-based shampoo is tinted with beet extract, bilberry extract, rhubarb extract and more to get its purple hue. There is also the option to add a dried plant mix called a Violet Booster for a more pigmented experience. This shampoo is not designed to neutralize brassy tones in your gray hair. To be honest, my favorite thing about this shampoo is that it washed my hair as good as any conventional shampoo ever has. The “clean hair” satisfaction score here is off the charts. The other drawback is that it’s not available in the US. What really drew me to this formula is that it’s made from 83.8% certified organic ingredients and 99.36% naturally derived ingredients. This is not really a purple shampoo in the traditional sense of purple shampoos.
The Ethique Tone It Down purple shampoo bar is another option that does not employ synthetic dyes. Love the sustainability efforts here, but as you can see the pigment transfer is a lot lighter than other shampoos, which has a direct impact on this shampoo’s ability to cancel out brassy tones compared to liquid purple shampoos. *We asked Ethique about the components of their fragrance, and they said, “Our Tone It Down bar features a COSMOS NATURAL certified fragrance containing Jasmine essential oil and vanilla parfum.” (And they shared the certification with us. *Two thumbs up!*).
Kavella uses Acid Violet 43 and Acid Red 33 as colorants in a cleaner base. I love how pigmented this formula is, however I’m not recommending it for two reasons. This formula was super thin, runny and hard to manage. Call foaming/sudsing shampoo a personal preference, but I will go out on a limb and say most people feel the same.
Read also: The Ultimate Guide to Gray Coverage
I’m throwing Kitsch’s Purple Toning Solid Shampoo Bar into the mix because I wanted to see how a bar that uses synthetic dyes measures up. I was drawn to this bar specifically because of its simple ingredient list, including Violet No. On the other hand, I loved how this bar cleaned my hair. It left my hair and scalp feeling fresh, but not stripped. The directions here say to wet hair and then “paint” on from lengths to ends for even toning.
Let me start out by saying I love Rahua. I was so excited to see a new purple shampoo at Credo. First, the color is way too light. It’s a “barely there” hint of pigment that didn’t tone or brighten my hair. Second, it doesn’t cleanse well enough. But the icing on the cake? One day I washed my hair, and it still smelled like campfire after I washed it.
This formula was recommended to me by one reader on Instagram-THANK YOU! I was so so so excited to give this option a try. In terms of ingredients, this is BY FAR the simplest formula I’ve seen to date. To be honest, I was kind of borderline shocked at the brevity of the ingredient list. SCHAMPO N24 is packaged in plastic and squeezes out a medium, translucent purple. I would equate the consistency, color and texture to be like that slime kids get out of a $0.25 machine. This shampoo is on the mild end of the spectrum-mild in cleansing power and milder in pigment. It didn’t stain my hand when I took these pics (like OWAY’s did) and it’s gentle enough to use every day. It works to clean without stripping or drying out hair, which is great considering hair gets naturally drier as we age. It also has ingredients like jojoba oil to add protection against dryness, breakage and split ends, and grapefruit essential oil, which helps relieve scalp irritation. Kate adds, “The BRUNS shampoo looks really good because the pH is ideal for hair and scalp-I can tell what the exact product pH must be by their Ecocert COSMOS preservative choice. They also use the COSMOS cationic guar, which reduces friction between strands, is scalp-friendly and works to keep hair strong. I have thicker hair, but I’ve actually come to love this option because I can use it all the time without fear of giving myself straw head. SCHAMPO N24 uses naturals (campeachy tree) and synthetics (Acid Violet 43) as pigment to neutralize brassiness.
If you’ve tried using purple shampoo to brighten your gray (or blonde) hair, but it doesn’t work-you might be doing it wrong. Here's how to maximize its benefits:
NO. Purple shampoo is not to be confused with blue shampoo, which is used for darker hair to cancel out orange tones. Jenn warns, “Never put blue, even pale blue, on blonde hair when trying to cancel out yellow tones.
Read also: Dye Shampoo for Gray Hair
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