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Lightening your locks warms up your color -- an idea that sounds gorgeous but can leave your tresses looking more orange than blonde. Over time, scorching UV rays, heat styling and chemicals from your showerhead can turn your blonde hair brassy. One remedy is shampoo that shields your strands from oxidation -- the kind that gives hair a faint penny-like sheen that's anything but natural-looking -- and counteracts the brassy damage that does occur.
Go Purple
Keeping a bottle of purple shampoo in the shower can save your locks from days of damage. It squirts out a rich purple color, which is opposite on the color wheel from brassy yellow. Applying it to your strands neutralizes those orange tones, leaving your hair a cool blonde shade. Some shampoos that claim to make your hair blonder -- or even keep silver manes silver -- are also violet shampoos, though you might not realize it until you open the bottle for the first time.
Guard Your Hair
Before you head out under the sun, protect your hair from oxidizing UV rays with a shampoo that includes UV shields. Shampoo designed specifically for dyed hair is your safest option. Not only do they keep the sun off, they also minimize the damage to your hair cuticle -- a good thing, since opening up hair cuticles lets color seep out and chemicals seep in, turning blonde hair brassy.
Play It Safe
When it comes to keeping blonde hair blonde, gentle shampoos that don't open your hair shaft are your safest options. Since it's the sulfates in shampoos that open the hair cuticles, opting for a sulfate-free shampoo -- available at drugstores -- will help ensure that your color stays in and harmful chemicals stay out. Volumizing shampoo may not be your best option for your hair type, as it opens the hair shaft to volumize, giving chemicals from your showerhead a chance to invade and conquer your strands.
Shampoo Like a Pro
Reducing shampooing to twice a week will minimize oxidation in the shower. Even a rinse can do harm, since hot water ruins color as much as chemicals. When you do shampoo in the shower, washing with cool water rather than warm will keep your hair cuticles closed to chemicals and oxidation. Apply purple shampoo once a week, alternating with a color protecting shampoo. You'll also need a follow-up deep conditioner, since violet shampoo can dry out your strands. And on days between in-shower shampoos, you can spray a dry shampoo on your roots -- preferably one with UV protection -- to soak up oils from your scalp and add a heap of sexy volume.
