- Depending on the intensity of the purple you chose, it will gradually fade to a more red or blue color.
- If you want the purple color to last longer, you should wash your hair with a purple color-depositing shampoo, as it will refresh your color with every wash.
- But even with the best hair care and color-depositing shampoo, you will have to redo the color eventually.
- Once the purple starts to fade, and your roots start to show, you have two options.
- You can apply the same purple color you chose before, or pick an entirely new color for your hair. Each option has it’s advantages and disadvantages, that we’ll go over next.
If you choose the same purple tone, it’s important to choose the same color, so when you touch up your hair you have one even color from roots to ends.
Purple hair is a difficult color to maintain because they contain high amounts of pigment, that tend to fade quickly with every shampoo.
This is why it’s important to care for your color after the application with a color-depositing shampoo, as well as touch up the color at least every four weeks.
But don’t give up on that beautiful purple just yet, because in this article we’ll tell you the secrets to:
- What color your purple hair will fade to
- How to keep purple hair color as long as possible
- What color to choose when it’s time to dye your hair again
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How Does Purple Hair Look as it Fades?
As we said at the beginning of the article, purple hair dye tends to fade to a blue or red tone as it’s washed, and the color it fades to depends on the intensity of the color.
Are you curious why?
To answer that question, we have to remember that purple hair dye is made up of two pigments:
Red and blue.
- Lighter purples have more red pigment.
- Darker purples have more blue pigment.
As the purple fades the blue or red tones become more noticeable.
That being said, it’s not something you need to lose sleep over.
This doesn’t mean that you’ll one day wake up with fire engine red hair.
All this means is that your hair will appear somewhat more blueish or reddish as the color fades.
The same thing happens with clothes. Have you ever notices that some colorful clothes fade a bit after being washed and dried a few times?
The sun, soap, and heat of the clothes dryer all fade the color.
And the same thing happens to hair.
And, just like there are special detergents that preserve the color of clothes longer, there are hair treatments designed to make purple hair dye last as long as possible.
We’re going to discuss those magical products next.
How to Keep Purple Hair From Fading
The answer is simple: purple color-depositing shampoo.
Let’s learn some more about this product.
- Color-depositing shampoo is an excellent product for highly pigmented color that require constant maintenance.
And their name implies, color-depositing shampoos contain dye, and add some pigment each time you wash your hair.
As you can see, it’s a godsend for intense colors.
- And all you have to do to get is go to your local store or pharmacy and last for purple color-depositing shampoo.
And use that instead of your regular shampoo.
Your hair color will last longer, and you can wait five weeks before getting it dyed again.- Another tip: if you want your purple hair to last as long as possible, you might not want to use moisturizing masks very often.
Masks contain chemicals that can remove the pigments from the hair fiber.
Therefore, I recommend using masks only once a week, and even then only if needed.
If you want to moisturize your hair, you can replace the mask with a bit of coconut or argan oil.
Those oils are excellent moisturizers and don't affect the hair dye.
All you need is to apply a few drops to your ponytail and ends of your hair to make a noticeable difference.
What to do When Your Purple Hair Fades and What Color to Dye it
The time has finally come: you have to dye your hair again.
There's two reason why you have to dye your hair again:
- Your locks have lost their shine and look dull
- To cover your roots as they grow out
If you're going to touch up your roots, I recommend just going ahead and dyeing all of your hair.
As we've discussed, purple hair dye is very highly pigmented.
And because of that, it needs to be maintained religiously every month.
If you only apply the dye to your roots to cover the growth, the rest of your color will look dull and faded.
Because of this, I recommend dying all of your hair when it's time to touch up your roots.
And your hair will be a perfectly even beautiful purple.
The dye should be redone every four weeks, which how long it takes for the new growth at your roots to show.
If you use a color-depositing shampoo, you can wait five weeks to redo the color.
So, now that you know how often you should redo your color, let's talk about what color to use.
Ideally, you should always use the same color of purple hair dye. Of course, we all want a change sometimes.- If you’re thinking of using a lighter purple color, you can do so without a hitch.
- You can also use a darker purple without problems.
So long as you choose another purple dye.
For example, you could go from a:
- From a deep dark level 3.16 purple to a light, level 4.66 purple.
- To a level 5.77 light purple to a level 4.77 dark purple.
As you can see, you can choose any tone, so long as it's purple.
But before you change your hair color, let's make sure one thing is clear:
Red, Purple, and very light blond hair dyes use special numbers.
So, you can choose whatever color you want, just make sure the word "purple" is on the box you choose.
You can choose whatever color you like, but just double check that it says purple on the box.
But What if You Want a Different Color?
If you're tired of purple and want another color entirely, you'll have to bleach it.
And to remove the purple color, you will need to bleach your hair two or three times.
Are you curious why?
- Like we said earlier, purple hair color is made up of red and blue pigments.
Red hair dye is especially tenacious, and the hair has to be bleached several times to remove it.
How many times you need to bleach your hair to remove the color depends on what you've chosen for the final color.
If you chose a very light color, you'll have to bleach your hair two or three times.
- Make sure to bleach your hair at a salon, don't try it at home.
Bleaching is a chemical process that damages hair, and if you don't know what you're doing, can result in hair with more colors than a rainbow.
Simply go to the salon and choose a new color. The colorist will determine how many times it needs to be bleached.
- But if you're not the type of girl to go to the salon, you can do the same thing at home, although it will take much longer.
You’re probably wondering how.
I would recommend trying something called intermediary tones.
For example:
- If your hair is a level 3.16 dark purple, you could use a level 4 brown.
- Then dye your hair again after four weeks.
- Starting with the level 4, you can apply a level 6 light brown.
As you can see, the goal of the intermediary tones is to continue to move up in tones and lighten your hair.
This way you can change the color of your hair without bleaching it.
Of course, this process will take some time. If you choose a level 8 blond, for example, it will take four months at least.
Remember, you can't apply more than once color per month, and you'll need to give your hair time to absorb the pigment.
This way you can get the color you want without damaging your hair.
