The One Thing You Should Try If Your Dyed Brown Hair Is Turning Orange
Like a bad spray-tan, hair can sometimes veer too far into the orange end. You know...less copper and more...Ms. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus?
And while this problem is more common in blondes, even dyed brunette hair can turn a nasty shade of Cheeto. This is because dyed brown hair can fade faster than lighter shades (because color is deposited into hair, not stripped from it, meaning there's stuff to wash out), and those darker hues can get warmer (and brassier!) as they fade.
Enter blue shampoo. Similar to purple shampoos, which keep blonde hair bright, blue shampoos are specifically designed to color-correct dyed brunette hair, says Paul Cucinello, celebrity stylist and founder of Cucinello Studio NYC. Here's what else you should know.
How does blue shampoo work?
Think about the color wheel from back in art class:
Purple is on the opposite side of yellow on the color wheel—meaning that purple essentially acts to cancel out the overly-yellow shades that can crop up in dyed blonde hair.
The same goes for blue shampoos—blue opposes orange, so the blue pigment in shampoos “helps neutralize the hair,” says George Papanikolas, Matrix Celebrity stylist. “There’s a high concentration of blue direct dye color molecules in these shampoos that replaces the blue color that washes or fades out as the hair oxidizes and the PH level rises,” adds Cucinello.
If you're feeling a little skeptical about this whole color-theory thing, there's one catch: Cucinello and Papanikolas warn against using blue and purple shampoos interchangeably on blonde and brunette hair. “Using a blue shampoo on blonde hair can make it too ashy,” says Papanikolas. A.k.a. leave the blue shampoo to the brunettes, blondies.
If you're seeing orange tinges in your brunette hair, Cucinello suggests using a blue shampoo every other day until you're back to the look you want. For maintenance, use a blue shampoo once a week.
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