Can You Dye Your Hair With Purple Shampoo?

Purple shampoo is one of the most popular products in the haircare world — but can you actually use it to dye your hair? It's a question we get asked a lot, and the honest answer is: not really. Here's why, and what you should be using instead if you want to add colour to your hair at home.

What Does Purple Shampoo Actually Do?

Purple shampoo is designed to neutralise unwanted yellow and brassy tones in blonde, bleached, grey, or highlighted hair — not to colour it. Purple sits directly opposite yellow on the colour wheel, so the purple pigment in the shampoo cancels out yellow tones, leaving hair looking cooler, brighter, and fresher.

It's a toning product, not a colouring one. If you've read our guide on colour theory in hairdressing, you'll already understand why — the pigment works through colour cancellation, not colour deposition in the traditional sense.

Can Purple Shampoo Dye Your Hair?

Technically, some heavily pigmented purple shampoos can leave a slight tint on very light or porous hair — but this is not reliable or controllable enough to be considered dyeing your hair. Here's why it falls short:

• Uneven results — purple shampoo tends to cling to the driest, most porous parts of the hair (usually the ends), leading to patchy, uneven colour
• Dull, limited colour — any colour you do get won't have depth or vibrancy; it'll look flat and likely not the shade you were hoping for
• It washes out almost immediately — the pigment has very little staying power and will be gone within a few washes
• You're limited to purple — and not even a flattering, rich purple; more of a faint, uneven cast

In short, if you genuinely want to colour your hair, purple shampoo isn't the answer.

What to Use Instead — Products That Actually Colour Hair

The good news is there are products specifically designed to deposit colour into the hair, giving you much more vivid, even, and longer-lasting results. These are the brands we'd recommend:

Celeb Luxury Viral Colourwash

Our top recommendation. The Celeb Luxury Viral Colourwash range is incredibly heavily pigmented — applied to pre-bleached or pre-lightened hair, these shampoos really grab the colour and deposit it beautifully. They're also brilliant for refreshing existing vivid colour between salon visits. The range is vegan-friendly, comes in a wide range of shades, and a little goes a very long way.

Maria Nila Colour Refresh

One of our biggest sellers. The Maria Nila Colour Refresh range is a collection of colour-depositing hair masks — you apply them like a conditioner, leave for a few minutes, and rinse. They smell incredible, are fully vegan, and come in one of the widest shade ranges available. Ideal for pre-bleached hair looking for a colour refresh or a first-time vivid colour.

Crazy Colour Shampoos

If you're looking for something at a slightly lower price point, Crazy Colour offer a range of pigmented shampoos that will colour pre-lightened hair. The results won't be quite as vivid or long-lasting as Celeb Luxury, but for the price they're a solid option.

Schwarzkopf Chroma ID Colour Masks

From one of the most trusted names in professional hair colour, the Schwarzkopf Chroma ID range of colour masks has been gaining real popularity since launch. Like the Maria Nila range, these are masks rather than shampoos — very easy to apply and great results on pre-lightened hair.

Do You Need to Bleach Your Hair First?

For most of these colour-depositing products, yes — your hair will need to be pre-lightened (bleached) to at least a pale yellow or white blonde for the colour to show up properly. On darker hair, the pigment simply won't have enough of a base to be visible.

If you're not sure whether your hair is light enough, or you're thinking about bleaching for the first time, we'd always recommend consulting a professional. Our team at Revive Hair Artists in Wolverhampton are always happy to advise.

Frequently Asked Questions