You’ve taken the plunge and gone blonde! Whether a rich honey-like hue or a bright platinum, you leave the salon feeling fresh and ready to take on the world.

And then life happens. You’re out in the sun, washing your hair, and firing up that flat iron, and pretty soon your beautiful blonde locks start to turn yellow.

Do not despair! And don’t rush back to the salon right away, either. Unless, of course, you want to, in which case, more power to you. The easiest at-home fix for brassy, yellow tones is to use purple shampoo.

It can seem a little scary if you’re new to blonde, and you even might not have heard of it before, but it is a must-have for blondes everywhere, and really not so scary once you get to know it.

Why Purple Shampoo?

While some people go for that bright yellow look, most of us are aiming for a more natural, slightly ashier shade. So first, a little bit about color:

Assuming that you’re going from brunette to blonde, you’re dealing with underlying colors in your hair. If your hair is really dark, during the bleaching process you go through shades of red, then orange, then gold, then yellow, all before you get to platinum (if that’s your goal).

Most bleached-blondes are at the stage where they are combatting yellow undertones in their hair, and if you look at a color wheel, purple is the opposite of yellow. This means that purple will cancel out yellow, taking crayon-like bleached-blonde to why-yes-this-is-natural blonde.

During the process of bleaching your hair, your stylist should also tone your hair, which operates from the same color theory as purple shampoo. They’ll apply a purple or blue toner to your hair, depending on what level of bleached you’re dealing with, to cut down on the amount of brassy color.

A good purple shampoo is highly pigmented, so when you squeeze it out of the bottle, it pretty much looks like bright purple dye. Understandably, you might be worried about putting something that is so deeply colored onto your precious hair, but do not fear!

Purple shampoo will not turn your hair purple (unless you leave it on for way too long), and it needs to have lots of purple in it for it to do you any good.

OK, So How Do I Use It?

You’ve found an awesome, super-purple shampoo. Congratulations! You’ll likely be using it once or twice a week in order to keep your color fresh in between salon visits. The time to leave it on varies between brands, but it’s usually up to five minutes. Any longer or any more frequently could cause your hair to take on that darker, purple hue.

Also keep in mind that purple shampoo is not really a shampoo in the sense that it doesn’t really clean your hair. It’s more of a lathering toner. You’ll have to use your regular shampoo in between purple shampooings, or you can even just mix some purple shampoo in with your regular one.

You could wash twice, once with regular and once with purple, but over-shampooing is a whole different hair problem.

If you just have some blonde highlights, not your whole head, then you should just use the purple shampoo on the highlights. Waste not, blonde bombshells!

Blondes Have More Upkeep

While you may be having more fun as a blonde, you’re also having to do more to your hair in order to keep your color bright and rich.

If you’ve bleached your hair, you know all about how lightening can make even the smoothest of hair into a rough, haylike tangle. This is because the chemicals have to open and damage the hair follicle in order to lift the color out.

It’s absolutely necessary to follow up with strengthening, repairing, and moisturizing treatments and masks in order to prevent breakage and to keep your hair flowing and soft.

This is doubly important because, while purple shampoo is an important part of blonde maintenance, it can also be drying.

Try No. 77 Leave-In or the masque from Hair La Vie to repair damage and restore your hair with natural, nourishing ingredients like argan oil and keratin.

Rock On, Blondes

Going blonde is a commitment, and for those of you who have really dark hair, it’s a several-step process. While bleaching and root touch-ups should be done by a professional, you can do a lot to maintain your color by taking care of your hair and using purple shampoo on a regular basis.

Think of it as another tool in your beauty stash, that secret weapon that keeps you looking and feeling your best.

You’ve finally found that perfect shade of blonde, so don’t let it fade away!