Clairol Shimmer Lights Shampoo for Blonde and Silver Hair, 31.5 Ounce

My problem was brassiness from 30vol bleach for highlights that doesn't take blonde light enough (brassy yellow instead of lemon yellow that 40vol gives, but also has a greater risk for breaking fine hair). So, I tried a purple shampoo & conditioner, which didn't do much, if anything, to remove the brassiness. On searches turned up a suggestion to try purple food coloring to get rid of brassiness. After a week or so of daily adding that to my purple conditioner (thinking I was "enhancing" its effectiveness), I finally realized my low lights had turned red, so I was worse than where I began. But, I'm not surprised since purple is, after all, made by combining blue and red. What to do? I needed a blue shampoo (short of professional toners). All "silver" shampoos, it turned out, were purple, except this one from Clairol. I followed a reviewer's instructions and shampooed once, rinsed, then shampooed a 2nd time, towel dried the hair to remove most of the excess water, and put a shower cap over the 2nd shampooing, followed by a towel wrap to catch water drips. Left that on for 45 minutes, checked the progress (looking good and not red!), so rinsed well and styled it. WOW, it took out ALL the red and left my highlights a little darker, but still visible, AND my hair very conditioned, shiny and unusually manageable - very hard to achieve in my dry climate. While one has to watch the process and not let it get too ashy, it worked wonderfully. Just watch it, especially your ends (and even more carefully with bleached ends), and stop when it appears to be enough. Someone wrote that twice a week is perfect, so I'll try that. I used it the next day as a "normal" shampoo in the shower and after drying it, the hair appeared to be a bit greyer, so I knew daily use might be too much. Conclusion: for getting rid of brassiness, or unwanted red tones, this is my new go-to! Stay away from purple products unless you want reddish tones.

This is great shampoo - looks great on my mostly-grey hair and leaves it shiny. I have tried other brands and this one works the best for keeping my hair looking bright and not dingy. But getting this shipped is a MESS. It came wrapped in plastic and STILL managed to leak all over the box and the other item in my order. The lid was not screwed on tight. I would STRONGLY recommend that you order this item as the only item in the order so that you don't end up having to wash purple shampoo off every thing else in the box.

I have used this product for over 20 years. It is great for a gray or a blonde hair. If your highlights look dullor even if they are a little too orange you can put this shampoo on the highlights and it will take the orange out. It’s very helpful in case you try to do your highlights yourself or if the stylist didn’t quite bring the blonde up to the color you wanted. I read in a book that you wash her hair once with regular shampoo and once with this shampoo to keep your blonde fresh. I have done that and it does work well. I would use this perhaps 2 to 3 times per week to keep blonde or gray hair looking fresh. Yes it is purple, and yes it does get everywhere when you use it, but it wipes right off with your hand or with some water so it’s not a big deal.

Use to tone wigs after bleaching , use for toning 613 wigs , good lather, last a long time, makes hair soft

I have been dying my hair since the wee age of 14 (35 now) - so I have dealt with some brassy moments, fire orange and flaming yellow hair in my experimentation with dye. I recently was sporting auburn red hair, but had a lot of dark underneath and just wanted to lighten as much of it as I could...I did a highlight job, made the mistake of adding a warm toner and BAM - I had all three problems, orange, yellow and BAH-RASS....so not sexy. So, not wanting to damage my hair any further, I tried the L'Oreal Brass Out (not sure if that's the exact name) - yeah, left it on for about 45 minutes, my hair was looking like a nice champagne color...washed it out...SHA BAM, no dice, didn't do anything. With a heavy sigh, I went and got an ash color dye, put that over my hair and went online in search of something to help with brassiness. I read through probably every review on this product, compared it to the reviews of other products and decided to go with this. After adding the ash dye, it helped to even out my hair, but I had a nice trumpet color sheen...not wanting instrument hair, I washed with the ClAIROL (Blue) Shampoo, rinsed and then per instructions on the bottle, washed again, but left it on for 5 minutes. I still had warm tones, but mind you, I had red hair originally and I didn't use an ash toner, but had tried dying an ash color over, but the brassiness was definitely in check. It TOTALLY does dry out your hair...I wanted to just use it for a complete week, but knew my hair would be straw, so when my hair gets a little brassy, I just wash with this. I have bought blonde shampoos and conditioners to use in between and I do leave in conditioners every now and then to help with the dryness it causes. Be careful with the blonding shampoos and conditioners, some are meant for natural blondes, others for color treated, but some will add tones to your hair and could cause warm colors and brassiness again, thus defeating the purpose. Next time I highlight, I plan to use an ash toner and something to make sure red stays out as my hair naturally goes to that color and see what happens. Best of luck, I don't think everyone has the same hair, so one product may work for some, and others not.