Tried and tested: Purple shampoo and conditioner

If you haven’t already noticed in the picture above, I’m not a blonde. Well, not from root-to-tip or strand-by-strand. I do, however, have a signifcant amount of blonde through my hair in the form of balayage, and so I’m not immune to the dulling, fading and brassiness that occurs to blonde hair colours when time, heat and improper hair care happen (let’s not even start with how misbehaved I am when it comes to protecting my hair from heat styling…). 

Because I don’t always have the time (or the spare cash) to head to the salon for a toning appointment, I’ve dabbled with purple shampoos and conditioners to help brighten up the blonde hues in my hair. But I have to admit that it’s always been with salon products, and that’s not always so friendly on my wallet. So consider me more than game when I was tasked with putting the TONI&GUY Purple Shampoo and Conditioner to the test.

Infused with violet dye to neutralise yellow, warm and brassy tones in blonde hair, the duo certainly sounded up to the challenge. Plus, at $16 a pop each, the price point definitely suited my ‘Carli goes to Europe’ fund. 

For a few weeks, I swapped out my regular shampoo and conditioner once a week with the TONI&GUY Purple Shampoo and Conditioner (it’s recommended to use them twice a week, but I only wash my hair twice a week so I dropped down my usage) and here’s what I thought: 

#1 / The shampoo and conditioner smelled expensive

As someone who regularly uses salon products, I’ve come to learn that there’s a certain scent to them, and this duo from TONI&GUY was definitely giving off some salon vibes when I was using them. I was also quite happy to discover that the shampoo didn’t lather up too aggressively. I prefer when my shampoo lathers up just that right amount that it feels like it’s cleansing the dirt from my hair, but it doesn’t feel like I have a bubble bath on my head. So two thumbs up to the Purple Shampoo for getting that balance right.

 #2 / My blonde looked better

I noticed the biggest difference in the tone of my blonde the first time I used this – it had been about six weeks since my last hair appointment and I hadn’t looked after my blonde as I should have. Pre-shower my ends were throwing some serious brassy hues and looking a bit too gold for my liking. Post-shampoo and conditioner, my balayage was looking brighter and cleaner. The dull flecks of yellow were gone. 

After my initial brassiness had been dealt with (hooray!), I decided to continue using the purple duo once a week to maintain the fresh blonde colour so I could prolong my next hairdresser appointment (if only they could give my ends that much-needed trim).

3# / My hair felt great

When you regularly bleach your hair and subject it to the 150+ degree temperatures of a straightener and curling wand regularly like I do, it doesn’t take much for hair to feel like straw. Thankfully, every time I used the  TONI&GUY Purple Shampoo and Conditioner my hair felt silky soft and healthy aftwerwards. So much so that I ended up making my hair greasier quicker because I couldn’t stop touching it. Self restraint – I have none.

The verdict

There’s no other way to put it other than these products work. The  TONI&GUY Purple Shampoo and Conditioner promise to neutralise brassiness, brighten blonde and beat colour fade and I feel like they lived up to the claims. Would 10/10 re-purchase these once the bottles I have are finished (and thankfully I can do that on one of my weekly supermarket shops!).

I'm not the only one who put the brass-fighting duo to the test - find out what our Review Crew® thought about the TONI&GUY Purple Shampoo and Conditioner

Have you tried purple toning products to deal with brassy blonde? Please share your experiences with us in the comments section below!

Main image credit: Sevak Babakhani