I’m a hairdresser & you’ve got to stop using a trendy shampoo to lighten your hair – it’s just making it dark and dull
A HAIRDRESSER has lifted the lid on the real benefits of purple shampoo and cleared up any misconceptions that it lightens hair.
Rachel Valentine said she wanted to help those who were using the trendy hair product to brighten their hair – as it wouldn’t work.
Rachel – who is training to be a trichologist, someone who specialises in the medical and cosmetic study of the hair and scalp – explained: “I don’t know who needs to hear this but I hope it finds you if you do.
“Purple shampoo does NOT make your blonde lighter – let’s talk about what it actually does.”
Rachel then went into the science behind how purple shampoo works, and what it can do for your hair.
Using a colour wheel chart in the background of her TikTok video posted to her profile @rachelvalentinehair, Rachel joked: “I’m going to take you back to art class in school.”
She continued to her 77.3k followers: “This colour wheel is used for many different things in hairdressing.
“But one of the things it is used for is to see which colours are going to neutralise the other one.”
Rachel then said that pro hairdressers look at the colour it’s sitting opposite to to determine what they should be doing.
Pointing to the yellow segment of the colour wheel, and how it was opposite the purple section, Rachel went on to say: “So when our hair fades to yellow, we’re going to use a purple shampoo.
“However, the key word in that is to neutralise – not to brighten.”
Rachel then showed a brand new colour chart, while explaining that while many people thought the purple shampoo would create a brighter blonde hue, it actually neutralised it and resembled a beige or even lighter gray shade.
Rachel added: “They’re actually quite dull and flat.
“So what will happen when you use a purple shampoo on your blonde is that it will neutralise the yellow, making it a flatter colour.
In the short term, it may appear brighter but it’s not actually lightening your blonde
Rachel Valentine
“In the short term, it may appear brighter but it’s not actually lightening your blonde.”
This is where the common mistake comes in, as people think it’s done the trick and reach for their purple shampoo bottle every time they are in the shower.
But Rachel stressed that continuing with this hair habit will have the opposite effect to what you want to achieve.
She clarified: “If you keep adding that purple to the yellow, what will happen is that it will start to shift more and more neutral and can go even darker and duller.
Rachel said it also had the exact same result on grey hair, and instead recommended a colour protecting shampoo, or popping into your hairdresser to have some toner put on.
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