color treated hair How to Use a Purple Hair Mask to Tone Brassiness

Blonde hair and brassy tones are an unfortunate duo but also an inevitable one. When you bleach and color your hair blonde, over time, those pesky orange and yellow tones are bound to make an appearance. Luckily, the fix is simple and a toning shampoo or conditioner can rebalance your blonde hue in as little as a few minutes. 

Everyone who has gone blonde, dyed their hair gray or lightened their hue in any way knows the importance of purple shampoo, but there are other noteworthy products, like purple hair masks, that can also curb those unwanted brassy tones. Read on to learn how to add a purple toning mask to your weekly hair care routine.

What Does a Purple Hair Mask Do?

A purple hair mask, like purple shampoo, applies the principles of color theory to hair care. Remember learning about the color wheel in art class? Colors that sit opposite one another on the wheel (red and green, blue and orange, and purple and yellow) are complementary and this means these colors can neutralize one another. 

We see this idea with color-correcting makeup where a green concealer can hide redness, an orange one can hide blue veins and so on. With hair care, colored toning products can counteract hues that are opposite to their own. This is why a purple toning mask or purple shampoo is used to remove unwanted orange tones from hair.

The L’Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Anti Brass Purple Mask Treatment is a purple hair mask that’s formulated with toning pigments to neutralize stubborn brass from blonde and bleached hair colors. This ultra-pigmented, treatment mask not only corrects your color but also deeply nourishes and conditions your hair. You can expect powerful results in as little as five minutes, all thanks to a formula that’s free of sulfates, parabens and harsh salts and surfactants.

How to Use a Purple Toning Mask

To really reap the benefits of a purple hair mask, pair it with a purple shampoo. Wash your hair with the L’Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Brass Toning Purple Shampoo, then rinse the soap to ready your strands for the treatment mask. Instead of reaching for the coordinating conditioner — L’Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Toning Purple Conditioner — you’ll use the mask.

Dispense the entire tube into your hands and apply it to damp, towel-dried hair, massaging the formula through your mane to evenly distribute the formula. Leave the purple mask on for no more than five minutes, but keep an eye on your hair because two minutes may be enough if you don’t want your color to be super ashy.

While you wait, you can use this time to reorganize your skin care drawer or exfoliate your body. Once the time has passed, rinse the mask thoroughly. The water will run clear when you’ve washed all the mask out.

How Often Should You Use a Purple Hair Mask?

A purple hair mask shouldn’t be part of your daily hair care routine. The majority of the time, regular color-treated hair-care products will do the trick. For blondes, we recommend the L’Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Bond Repair Shampoo with Citric Acid and L’Oréal Paris EverPure Sulfate-Free Bond Repair Conditioner with Citric Acid. This system helps to strengthen hair inside and out by repairing weak hair bonds without ever dulling your color.

When brassy tones start to appear, that’s your cue to reach for your purple shampoo and conditioner or mask. Depending on how often you wash your hair, some will need to use purple shampoo a couple of times a week while some will only need to use it once weekly. 

The aforementioned purple hair mask is meant to be used no more than once per week in order to avoid over-toning. If you need to tone your hair twice a week, use the purple shampoo and purple mask one day, and the purple shampoo and purple conditioner on the other.

Next: The Best Shampoos for Greasy Hair

Photo Design: Sarah Duvivier