Purple Shampoo can fix a lot of bad things. The main thing is — BRASSY hair.

Because of this, a lot of my blonde clients love reaching for their purple shampoo often. While I love this as a tool for at-home care, I’ve seen a few ways this has been used that has resulted in not-so-pretty results. Here are a few tips on how to properly use purple shampoo and avoid any mistakes.

1) Be careful where you put it. Purple shampoo should be used on areas that are too warm, yellow, or brassy feel. This means you should avoid placing purple shampoo on hair that is lighter than a yellow tone (doing so will result in purple hair). Yikes!

2) Just because it’s called shampoo doesn’t mean it should be your main shampoo.

I find that the residue that purple shampoo leaves on my own hair doesn’t get it as clean feeling as I like, I regularly wash my hair with a moisturizing shampoo that adds hydration and gets everything clean feeling again.

The one downside purple shampoo has is it’s formulated without any extra good stuff. There’s nothing added to its ingredient list to add hydration or strength to our hair. Because of this, it should be alternated with a shampoo that is healthy and gentle on your hair.

3) It’s all about how you apply it.

The trickiest part of using purple shampoo is knowing how to apply it to our hair. I often see in client’s hair a cast of built-up pigment on their hair, while the underside is completely unchanged. A simple way to avoid this is by using a hair color bottle. I mix a bit of purple shampoo with water. Shake and then apply over hair that is needing to be toned. This will allow for an even application of the purple tone.

Jacqueline is a hair colorist working out of Montrose, Colorado. Her years of experience have helped her clients achieve the healthy blonde hair of their dreams.