As much as I love having blonde hair, there are definitely downsides (dryness, dullness and roots to name a few!) However one of the most annoying things to contend with has got to be brassiness, those unwanted warmer tones in the hair that can leave it with a dingy looking orange or yellow tinge. Brassiness can be difficult to get rid of if you don't know how, it's unflattering and all in all can make your blonde hair look pretty naff. If you've ever attempted a 'dark to blonde' DIY hair job then you'll be all too familiar with the scary brassy shades that you can end up with, but even hair that's been professionally coloured is susceptible. Within a few weeks of leaving the salon your hair can begin to look brassy as the smaller blue and violet pigment molecules from your colour are washed away, revealing the red and orange pigments underneath. But luckily there's an easy fix for brassy hair in the form of purple toned shampoos; on the colour wheel purple is opposite orange and yellow (the underlying colours in brassy hair) meaning they cancel each other out. So a product that leaves small deposits of purple pigments into the hair will cancel out the warmer tones, leaving you with a much more neutral and natural looking shade. Provoke have a line of shampoos and conditioners called 'Touch of Silver' that are tailored for maintaining the colour of blonde hair, and include products for daily use as well as twice a week treatments.
First of all, I really want to point out what to expect with products like this. I think too many people go in with the wrong expectations, and are then confused or annoyed when they don't get the results they were after- I've done it myself in the past! Purple shampoos and conditioners are designed to counteract yellow and light orange tones in light hair (blonde, white or grey). If a DIY job has left your hair bright orange, there will still be too many red pigments in the hair for purple shampoo to cover. What you need in this case is to either lighten it again, or counteract the shade with green tones which you'll find in hair dyes with 'ash' in the name. When used on light hair, purple shampoo and conditioner will make your blonde appear brighter which is something I've noticed massively since using these products. They don't remove colour so wont lighten the colour of hair, but the corrected tone definitely makes it look brighter. I have medium blonde hair with highlights, when the highlights were first done they stood out loads but over time have dulled meaning they were no longer particularly noticeable. While I haven't noticed much change with the darker blonde parts of my hair it's made a huge difference to my highlights and they look so much brighter and stand out against the rest of my hair now. They've really given my hair colour a new lease of life.
The shampoo and conditioner in this line are designed for everyday use, however I like to alternate mine with a moisturising shampoo and conditioner just because I feel like my hair still needs it after all of the bleaching I put it through a few months ago. I currently use the daily shampoo and conditioner once a week, a regular moisturing shampoo and conditioner once or twice a week and the intense treatments once a week. I feel like this is a good balance for me, although if your hair is lighter than mine and prone to getting brassy quickly you could use them for every wash. Overall I'm so impressed with all of these, they're a lot cheaper than most purple based 'brass banishing' type of products and they really do work. I'll 100% repurchase once they run out, and think every blonde should have them in their bathroom!
The shampoo and conditioner in this line are designed for everyday use, however I like to alternate mine with a moisturising shampoo and conditioner just because I feel like my hair still needs it after all of the bleaching I put it through a few months ago. I currently use the daily shampoo and conditioner once a week, a regular moisturing shampoo and conditioner once or twice a week and the intense treatments once a week. I feel like this is a good balance for me, although if your hair is lighter than mine and prone to getting brassy quickly you could use them for every wash. Overall I'm so impressed with all of these, they're a lot cheaper than most purple based 'brass banishing' type of products and they really do work. I'll 100% repurchase once they run out, and think every blonde should have them in their bathroom!
Have you tried Touch of Silver products?
