The brass-fighting products every blonde should have in their shower

You know how you’d pull out the purple shade in a colour correcting palette if you were looking to counteract yellowness in your skin? Well, the same goes for hair – purple eliminates yellow, and so violet tones are your blonde-reviving best friends.

Your hair washing ritual has the ability to make or break your colour, so choose your shampoo and conditioner combo carefully. Our pick? John Frieda’s Violet Crush range, a true lifesaver when it comes to restoring your blonde’s brightness between salon sessions.

Whether you’re naturally blessed with light locks or a bottle blonde rocking any shade from platinum to champagne, this combo is the toning dream team – it’s free from peroxides and ammonias but loaded with impressive blonde-brightening abilities that’ll escort unwanted brassy tones out ASAP.

Kick off with the John Frieda Violet Crush Purple Shampoo – it’s loaded with crushed violet pigment that works to gradually neutralise those pesky yellow tones without over-toning. Because while looking like a superhero with lilac locks for a hot minute before rinsing (like, an exact minute – timing is the secret to toning) is definitely a perk of purple shampoos, the post-rinse goal is cool-toned blonde, not coloured hair.

You know the drill, right? Massage into wet hair, lather up, and then leave for that sixty-second window before washing out. The formula is totally down for daily use, but once your blonde is revived and back to its bright self, every other day is ideal for ongoing maintenance.

Now that you’ve taken care of the majority of the colour correcting action, it’s time to hit hair with a dose of tone-perfecting hydration – enter the John Frieda Violet Crush Purple Conditioner. 

By applying the matching conditioner post-shampoo (it’s a saturate from root to tip style situation, FYI), you’ll be able to knock out any last hints of brassiness while also offering your mane the moisture-replenishing nourishment that thirsty blonde hair so often craves.

The formula features the same clever crushed violet pigments that make the shampoo great, with the added bonus of softening hair hydrators, so hair will feel as glorious as it looks. See ya yellow tones, hello silkiness.

Dealing with particularly stubborn brassiness? It’s time to bring in the big guns – AKA John Frieda’s Violet Crush Intense Purple Shampoo. By pairing violet and blue pigments together, this rich intense formula is able to counteract and correct both yellow and orange tones (the devilish duo that causes brassiness). So, if your goal is light, bright, icy blonde (and honestly, whose isn’t?), give this guy a go.

To use, gently massage into wet hair, lather up, then rinse well. If your brassy tones are putting up a fight, try leaving the formula on hair for two to three minutes before washing away (the perfect time for a rendition of your go-to shower song; if you’re taking requests, Purple Rain seems like an apt fit). 

One place you don’t want to leave it to set, however, is your hands (unless you want purple palms that is) – the pigment isn’t playing around, so make sure it’s only marinating in your hair, not on your skin. Rinse your hands immediately after applying, and you’ll be in the clear.

Apply daily until you reach the cool-toned colour you’ve got on your mane moodboard, or alternate with your Violet Crush Purple Daily Shampoo for a bit of balance. Our trick is to use the classic Violet Crush option every other day, then throw in the Intense version once a week (usually on a Sunday arvo, for a little self-care and a guarantee we’ll be facing the week with a brilliantly bright blonde). We’d remind you to follow with your Violet Crush Purple Conditioner, but honestly we have full faith that once you get a load of the softness and shine it delivers, you’ll consider that a given.