The Best Colour Depositing Shampoos

If your hair colour looks vibrant the week after a salon visit but starts to look flat and faded a few weeks later, a colour depositing shampoo could be the answer. We've been recommending and selling them at Revive Hair Artists for well over a decade, and they've come a long way in that time. This guide covers the best colour depositing shampoos available in the UK right now, based on what we actually stock, sell, and use.

Whether you want to refresh a red, keep blonde hair toned, or experiment with something a bit bolder, there's an option here for you. We've also covered how they actually work and who each one is best suited to, so you can pick the right one rather than just guessing.

What does a colour depositing shampoo actually do?

A colour depositing shampoo works by combining your regular wash step with a small amount of semi-permanent pigment. Every time you shampoo, a tiny deposit of colour is laid into the hair, which keeps your shade looking fresh and vibrant rather than allowing the fade to creep in. The effect is gradual rather than dramatic, which is exactly the point. You're not trying to change your colour at home, you're trying to hold onto the one you already have.

Some options come as conditioning masks rather than shampoos, which deposit colour while deeply conditioning at the same time. We'll cover both formats in this guide. All of the products below are available from our colour depositing shampoo collection, with free UK delivery on all orders.

Celeb Luxury Viral Colorwash: our top recommendation

I'll be straightforward here. Celeb Luxury was one of the very first brands I ever stocked at Revive, and that was over ten years ago now. In that time it has been one of our most consistent sellers, in the salon and online, and I still rate it as one of the best colour depositing shampoos I've ever used. The formula, the performance, the pigment payoff — all brilliant. But the thing that nobody tells you about until you actually open the bottle is the smell. It's genuinely beautiful. One of those products where you find yourself looking forward to washing your hair.

The Extreme Red Colorwash has always been the bestseller, and it's easy to see why. Red hair colour is one of the fastest to fade of any shade, and this shampoo does a brilliant job of keeping it looking vivid and saturated between appointments. If you're a redhead who has struggled with your colour looking washed out by week three, this is genuinely transformative.

The Viral Colorwash range spans a huge number of shades, so there's something for most colour-treated hair. The Extreme shades are more intense and build up more noticeably, while the Pastel shades are subtler and work well for blondes who want a delicate tint or tonal shift. Browse the full shade range below:

Every Celeb Luxury product is 100% vegan and cruelty free, made with plant-based ingredients including palm, coconut and sugar. The built-in Bond Rebuilder technology strengthens and repairs the hair with every single wash, which means you're not just depositing colour, you're actively improving the condition of your hair at the same time. That's a meaningful advantage over products that only do one thing.

Celeb Luxury Gem Lites: for blondes and brunettes wanting something more subtle

The Gem Lites line from Celeb Luxury is designed for colour-treated blondes and brunettes rather than vivid fashion colours. If you prefer a conditioning treatment to a shampoo, the Gem Lites Colorditioner range gives you colour deposit in conditioner form. The Cocoa Quartz is designed to reduce unwanted red tones in brown hair and add depth, while the Flawless Diamond and Silvery Diamond options work on lighter tones. These can also be used as a deep conditioning mask on clean, dry hair for twenty minutes.

If you want vivid colour in conditioner form, the Viral Hybrid Colorditioner range covers magenta, rose gold, silver, blue and green, all with the BondFix formula built in.

Maria Nila Colour Refresh: the conditioning mask approach

Maria Nila Colour Refresh is a different kind of product to the Celeb Luxury shampoos, and it's worth understanding the difference before you choose. Rather than a shampoo you use as normal, Colour Refresh is a pigmented conditioning mask that you apply to washed, towel-dried hair, leave for three to ten minutes depending on the intensity you want, and then rinse out. The result is both a colour refresh and a deep conditioning treatment in one step.

This is a brilliant option if your hair is on the drier or more damaged side, because you're getting genuine nourishment alongside the colour. It contains argan oil and is sulphate and paraben free, which makes it one of the gentler options on this list. It lasts for up to ten washes, which is quite impressive for a wash-out product.

The range covers fifteen shades, and one of the things that makes it stand out is that you can mix shades together to create your own custom colour. Browse the shades we stock:

Wunderbar Colour Refresh Shampoos: great for maintaining natural tones

If you've read our Wunderbar review, you'll know we rate their Colour Refresh Shampoos for everyday colour maintenance. These sit slightly differently to Celeb Luxury in that they're focused on natural and salon shades rather than vivid fashion colours. The range covers copper, warm brown, cool brown, pure brown, red and violet, which makes them particularly well suited to people who've had a professional colour and want to keep it looking fresh at home.

They use Wunderbar's Triple Color Technology with passionflower oil, plant ester and vegetable butters, so there's a conditioning benefit built in as well as the colour deposit. Browse the full range in our Wunderbar collection.

Who should use a colour depositing shampoo?

Colour depositing shampoos work best on colour-treated hair, and the results are most visible on lighter or more vibrant shades. If you have dark natural hair that hasn't been coloured, the pigment won't show up in any meaningful way. They're most effective for people with: vivid or fashion colours (red, purple, pink, blue) that fade quickly; highlighted or balayage hair that needs toning between appointments; blonde hair that's going brassy; grey hair that needs brightening or toning; or coloured hair that's looking flat and dull between salon visits.

How to use colour depositing shampoo

Most colour depositing shampoos work best when left on for slightly longer than a regular shampoo. Two to five minutes is the typical guidance, and if you want to build intensity, you can leave for longer or use it more frequently. Don't be alarmed if the lather looks very pigmented — that's normal and it washes out cleanly.

A few things worth knowing: always do a patch test if you're trying a new shade for the first time and are uncertain about the result. Keep the product away from any surfaces or fabrics you don't want stained during those minutes it's sitting on your hair. And if you're using a vivid shade for the first time, you can always mix a small amount with your regular conditioner to build up gradually rather than going straight in with the full pigment.

Frequently asked questions

How long does colour depositing shampoo last?
Most colour depositing shampoos provide a gradual build-up rather than a single dramatic result. With regular use, the colour can stay looking fresh and vibrant almost indefinitely. If you stop using it, the colour will fade naturally over several washes. Maria Nila Colour Refresh lasts for up to ten washes per application.

Will colour depositing shampoo stain my shower or bathtub?
The vivid shades can leave a temporary tint on surfaces if left to sit. Rinse the shower or bath down immediately after use and it should come away without staining. Avoid leaving coloured lather on white surfaces for extended periods.

Can I use colour depositing shampoo on uncoloured hair?
You can, but the results on dark, uncoloured hair will be very subtle at most. These products work best on hair that has already been lightened or colour-treated, as the hair is more porous and receptive to pigment.

Is colour depositing shampoo the same as a toning shampoo?
They overlap, but they're not quite the same thing. Toning shampoos (like purple or silver shampoo) are specifically designed to neutralise unwanted tones — usually brassiness or yellow tones in blonde hair. Colour depositing shampoos add pigment more actively, whether that's to refresh an existing shade or build a new tint. Some products do both: the Celeb Luxury Silver and the Wunderbar Sheer Silver, for example, tone and deposit at the same time.

Are these products safe for colour-treated hair?
Yes. All of the products in this guide are specifically formulated for colour-treated hair. Many of them, including the Celeb Luxury range and Maria Nila Colour Refresh, contain bonding and conditioning agents that actively improve the condition of colour-treated hair with every use.

Browse the full colour depositing shampoo range at Revive Hair Artists, with free UK delivery on all orders.