This $5 Hack Will Transform Your Highlights For Winter

Source: Steve Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images

As much as we love experimenting with our hair color, it’s definitely a high-maintenance beauty habit – especially if your shade of choice is on the blonde color spectrum. Sometimes it feels like our color can go from salon fresh to brassy lioness within a matter of weeks. And although golden, honey tones may have worked during the summer months, we’re now riding the ice-queen vibe for winter, and that means cooler, brighter tones are the look du jour. Plus, silver and ashier tones are seriously trending right now, and this DIY is the easiest (and cheapest) way to brighten up your blonde highlights: introducing purple shampoo.

What is purple shampoo?

Purple shampoo is a blonde’s best friend. It instantly revives your color by neutralizing any golden, brassy tones. It deposits purple pigment into the hair, which cancels out the yellow tones, as purple is directly opposite to yellow on the color wheel. You can buy purple shampoo from most drugstores and salons (check out the best purple shampoo’s here) but we like to make our own – it’s SO much cheaper and it lasts a hell of a lot longer!

Source: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images & Steve Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images

DIY Purple Shampoo

To DIY this hair-saving formula, you’ll need gentian violet dye and a bottle of white shampoo. We’re obsessed with the Arctic Fox 100% Vegan Violet Dream Semi-Permanent Hair Dye, $11, which will give you a supply of at-home DIY purple shampoo that’ll last forever.

All you have to do is add a couple of drops of violet dye into a bottle of white shampoo and shake well to evenly disperse the dye – it’s that simple! Just remember the more dye you add, the darker the purple pigment will be and therefore, the more potent it’ll be. So don’t apply more than five drops unless you want a lilac tint in your hair. If you’re feeling a little nervous, you can always add the shampoo into a bowl and mix in a couple drop of purple dye so that you can see the color transformation.

If your color is in need of a serious lift then we recommend doing a purple shampoo hair mask: apply it to dry hair from root to tip and wash it off 15 minutes later. Alternatively, for upkeep, simply use this shampoo 2-3 times a week, apply it to wet hair and wash it off 3-5 minutes later.

Let us know if you’ve tried this hack in the comments below.