I tried PUMP Haircare's 4-step routine and my blonde has never looked better

Aside from my first few weeks on this earth without any hair (my mum might want to fact check this timeline), I’ve been a blonde for 27 years. A stint which very much qualifies me to be an effective judge of the ever-so-slight shade changes my blonde hair has been known to jump between.

Depending on the condition of my hair (and very much against my will), I frequently hop from my preferred fresh and creamy blonde to a dreaded brassy and yellow tone that can become borderline ginger. 

And while I’m lucky enough to be as low-maintenance as blondes come (getting away with a maximum of two trips to the hairdresser a year), a violet-hued shampoo has been my friend, ally and greatest in-shower confidant for as long as I can remember. 

Spend 30 seconds in my bathroom and you’ll see I have no loyalties when it comes to the haircare brand I use. Each corner, shelf and available floor space is stacked with various half-used bottles of all the different purple shampoos, conditioners and masks I’ve been collecting *cough hoarding* along the way. 

And while none of them have let me down (basically there’s been no horror silver or purple stained-hair incidents that I can recall), the fact I won’t stick to just the one means none of them are particularly standing out to me either. 

And so, as my hunt for an all-star continues, I was excited to try the blonde range from the Australian-owned haircare label, PUMP. Not wanting to do things halfway, I went for the full regimen, which includes the blonde shampoo, conditioner, mask, and the one I was most looking forward to trying, the blonde leave-in moisture spray. 

The goal was simple: refreshed, milky blonde locks that would extend my already prolonged salon visits. 

Plus, I wanted to see an improvement in the overall texture and strength of my hair. And as PUMP’s formulas are all sulphate-free, I was hopeful in finding an improvement to my itchy, irritated scalp and persistent hair fall out issues. 

Step one: PUMP Haircare Blonde Shampoo

Step two: PUMP Haircare Blonde Toning Conditioner

Step three: PUMP Haircare Blonde Hair Mask

Step four: PUMP Haircare Blonde leave-In Moisture Spray

The leave-in spray was stand-out

If I had to pick a favourite of the four, it would be the leave-in spray. And for more reasons than the fact that I just loved the smell, I swear.

I’d never owned a product quite like this one before. I used it on towel-dried hair (because of my fine and limp texture I often fall victim to a post-wash tangle fest), however, it can be used when your hair is dry too if that’s more your cup of tea.

Formulated with organic aloe vera and jojoba seed oil, the nourishing hydration quickly infiltrated my parched strands and solved my lifelong battle with bird nest-esque knots. To my shock, I could run my fingers from roots to ends without having to call 000.

An impressive and easy finisher to the routine.

My blonde was left as creamy as ever

Ticking all my creamy blonde boxes, my colour was left sparkling after washing with the PUMP products and any yellow that had been creeping in was completely neutralised. 

While the mask recommends you leave it on anywhere from 10 minutes to overnight, I erred on the side of creamy caution and only left it on for eight minutes, to avoid ashier hues.

Although I’m a big preacher on finishing your shower with a 30-second blast of cold water to reap the moisture sealing and shine-inducing benefits, after hopping back in to rinse the mask off, I simply couldn’t commit to putting my body through the stress. But it turns out I needn’t have worried – my hair was already super shiny and hydrated. 

I was surprised, but once I looked at the ingredients it all made sense. PUMP’s shampoo is formulated with organic argan oil, the conditioner with an organic shea butter and the mask with licorice extract; my hair was in very super-hydrating and safe hands.

All four products are sulphate-free and boy is it worth investing in haircare that has been formulated this way. It basically means your hair is getting a gentle and thorough wash without it being weighed down by any nasty chemicals. And if you’ve got a sensitive scalp (like I do) or are prone to thin hair falling out (like mine) these are qualities to prioritise. 

So which ones do you actually need?

Trying the range end-to-end meant that I was able to see the exact impact PUMP’s products were having on my hair, without the confusion of bringing any other brands into the mix. 

No surprises here, this isn’t going to be an everyday routine. In part, because I don’t have time and also because the product is effective enough that using it daily would be overkill. 

If you’re in a committed relationship with your current products and just need a weekly blonde-enhancing hit, the shampoo alone was enough to effectively colour-correct my unwanted brassy tones. 

In fact, any of the four products used without one another hold their own colour-correcting capabilities. So whether you want the end-to-end experience or are just after an additional hair mask to elevate your blonde, you’ll see results no matter the route you take. 

However, after my experience, I’d advise on treating your hair to the 4-step routine as your blonde calls out for it. 

But that’s not all….

Hair results aside for the moment, another reason PUMP have scored me as a repeat customer is due to their prioritisation of being environmentally conscious. Working in beauty, you see the excess of packaging that is floating around. It’s often overwhelming. Take a stroll down the supermarket aisle even, there’s a lot of plastic out there. 

Taking this in their stride, all of the (very gorgeous) PUMP tubes are made by a solar-powered facility right here in Australia using environmentally friendly sugarcane. The bottles are even made by Australia’s first carbon-neutral recycled plastics manufacturing facility and are all totally biodegradable. Great hair, even better conscience.