Move over, purple shampoo. Blue shampoo is having a moment. Designed to extend and protect color-treated brunette strands, these innovative hair cleansers help prevent orange, brassy tones while keeping your tresses vibrant, shiny, and healthy in-between coloring appointments.
What Is Blue Shampoo
“Think of it as similar to color-correcting makeup, but for your hair,” explains Maria Elizabeth, professional hairstylist and owner of Salon deZEN. “Every time you lather up with this beautiful blue hue, tiny blue pigments deposit into your hair that help neutralize brassy orange tones in brown hair, leaving it brighter, cooler, and more vibrant.”
These color-extending formulas also contain hair-strengthening ingredients, such as silk proteins and botanical extracts, so you can enjoy your dark strands without breakage and damage.
When To Use Blue Shampoo
When incorporating a blue shampoo into your routine, Elizabeth suggests alternating between your regular shampoo and blue shampoo to achieve the best results. “I would recommend using this type of shampoo just one time a week to help cancel out any brassiness that is making a guest appearance in your color-processed, highlighted, or balayage hair,” she adds. “If you feel like your hair needs extra toning, then leave the shampoo on your hair for 3 to 10 minutes before rinsing it out.”
For celebrity hairstylist Clariss Rubenstein, whose clients include Gemma Chan, Jennifer Garner, and Mindy Kaling, less is more when it comes to blue shampoo. “About once a month, I do a big blue wash allowing the shampoo to sit on and tone my hair for a few minutes,” she explains. “If you overuse your blue shampoo, your hair can go a bit ashy or even pick up some of the blue tones. The less we wash our hair, the healthier it will be and the longer our color will last.”
Ready to jump into the world of blue shampoo? Read on for our picks of the best blue shampoos for brunettes to whip your mane into shape and give it the perfect tone it deserves.
Matrix boasts an impressive range of salon-quality shampoos and conditioners we adore, especially this one. The Brass Off shampoo deposits blue-violet pigments to neutralize brassy tones and boost cool tones.
It's not wildly expensive, and it provides some serious results if you're dealing with an ultra brassy situation. This tinted shampoo also helps to protect your hair from breakage, as it tones your strands to perfection!
Fanola's No Orange Shampoo delivers exactly what its name promises. If you're battling serious brass or underlying orange tones, this top-rated blue shampoo will knock them right out. It also works to tone down grey hair trying to peep out!
We love Joico's Color Balance collection, blue shampoo included! It nourishes and protects strands while blue pigments work to neutralize red, orange, and other unwanted brassy tones that creep into brunette locks over time.
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Best for Hydration
HASK Blue Chamomile & Argan Oil Blonde Care Shampoo
HASK's blue shampoo features both chamomile and argan oil for extra protection and hydration to keep strands silky-smooth as it color-corrects. It's great for brunettes, blondes, or anyone who wants to cool off the tones in their hair!
One of the newer offerings in the world of blue shampoo, the dpHUE Cool Brunette Shampoo is quickly becoming one of our favorites.
This blue-pigmented goodness helps maintain fresh hair color between salon visits by toning down unwanted brassiness. It also helps improve hair’s luster, and it'll make you shimmer like you just stepped out of the salon.
Oligo's Blacklight Blue Shampoo says it's for blondes on the bottle, but brunettes can surely benefit from this bottled magic as well. The blue-tinted cleanser deposits the perfect amount of pigment to ward off any orange shades that have been messing with your look. Filled with 11 amino acids, it also gives hair an extra dose of protein to help with hair growth and retention.
If you want to take it a step beyond toning the brass out and switch up your hair color to a fantasy hue temporarily, this Viral Extreme Blue Colorwash will do the trick.
Be warned: On light blonde hair, it can turn your hair bright blue, while on darker brunettes, it'll be a deeper blue shade. You can also keep this on hand and pop a teeny amount into your regular shampoo to dilute it if you don't want to go full electric blue.
Aveda's Blue Malva shampoo is one of our holy grail shampoos. It's a little pricier than most, but it's packed with quality, plant-based ingredients that make it worth the splurge.
It adds silvery brightness to gray hair, and it neutralizes brassy tones in all shades. Plus, like all other Aveda products, it smells amazing thanks to its aroma, created with certified organic ylang-ylang, lemon, eucalyptus, and other pure flower essences.
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Best Sulfate-Free
Redken Color Extend Brownlights Blue Toning Sulfate-Free Shampoo
Gentle enough for sensitive scalps, this blue shampoo from Redken gets your hair squeaky-clean without using any harsh, color-stripping sulfates. Its blue hue also keeps your brunette strands perfectly glossy, never brassy or orange.
Color maintenance just got so much easier thanks to these game-changing blue toning drops from IGK. Just add a few drops to your favorite shampoo, conditioner, or leave-in product to instantly cancel out orange and red brassiness while turning up the brightness on your hair's shine. Oh, and did we mention it's a heat protectant, too?
Katie McBroomBeauty EditorKatie McBroom is an award-winning content creator and beauty/grooming expert.
Emily BelfioreContributorEmily is a contributor for BestProducts.com, where she’s searching the web for the greatest finds in fashion, beauty, and wellness.
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