Blue Vibes: a purple shampoo bar from a colourist

“It looked perfect when I left the salon. Three weeks later it is yellow.” If you are blonde, you have probably said this. I hear it from clients all the time, and it is not because the colour was wrong. It is because toner fades.

When we lighten hair, we lift out the natural pigment, and what is left underneath is warm: yellow on pale blondes, more golden or orange on darker ones. A toner sits on top to give the shade you asked for. Every wash, every hot tool and every day in the sun wears a little of it away, and the warmth starts to show through.

Blue Vibes is the bar I made to help my blonde clients keep that toned look at home between appointments.

What it is and who it is for

Blue Vibes is a 100g soap free purple shampoo bar. It leaves a small amount of violet tone on the hair as you wash, which helps balance unwanted yellow. It comes with a shampoo bar bag.

It suits:

• lightened blondes, including highlights, balayage and all over blonde
• natural blondes who prefer a cooler, brighter finish
• grey, white and silver hair, which can pick up a yellow cast over time
• anyone with blonde hair that feels dry, as the bar is creamier than most toning washes

It does not lighten hair. It tones the colour you already have.

A little colour theory

This is the part I enjoy explaining, because it makes choosing products so much easier.

Colours opposite each other on the colour wheel cancel each other out. Violet sits opposite yellow, so a violet tone on yellow hair makes it look more neutral and cooler. Blue sits opposite orange, which is why darker blondes and brunettes with a coppery warmth usually need a blue based product rather than a purple one.

So Blue Vibes works best on hair where the unwanted warmth is yellow: pale and mid blondes, platinum, and grey or white hair. If your warmth is more orange, it will help a little, but it will not do as much. That is worth knowing before you buy any purple shampoo, not only mine.

What is inside, and why I chose it

Sodium cocoyl isethionate (SCI), sodium lauryl sulfoacetate (SLSa) and cocamidopropyl betaine. Three mild cleansers. SCI is made from plant fatty acids and betaine is partly plant derived. Lightened hair is more porous and fragile, so I wanted a wash that cleans properly without leaving it rough.

BTMS (behentrimonium methosulfate). A conditioning ingredient. Most purple shampoos leave blonde hair feeling dry and squeaky, and I wanted the opposite. BTMS helps the lengths detangle and feel soft as you rinse.

Mango butter and shea butter. Rich plant butters for softness on dry, lightened ends.

Jojoba oil and hemp seed oil. Light plant oils that leave the lengths feeling smoother.

Panthenol (provitamin B5). Helps hair hold on to moisture, so it feels softer and looks shinier. Shine matters on blonde, as it is what makes a cool tone look bright rather than flat.

Hydrolysed wheat protein. Helps the lengths feel smoother and look more polished. If you are sensitive to wheat, please check the full ingredients list.

Aloe vera powder and kaolin. Aloe adds a soft, conditioning feel, and kaolin, a gentle white clay, helps absorb excess oil at the scalp.

Cetyl alcohol and stearic acid. Give the bar its creamy texture and firm shape.

Violet colourant. This is what does the toning. A small amount is left on the hair each wash.

Preservative. A gentle preservative system (gluconolactone and sodium benzoate) keeps the bar safe, as it gets wet every time you use it.

What makes it different

Purple shampoos have a reputation for drying out hair. Many are strong cleansers with pigment added, used on hair that is already the most fragile on your head.

Blue Vibes is built the other way round. It starts as a conditioning shampoo, with BTMS, butters and panthenol, and the violet tone is added to that. You get the toning, and your lengths still feel soft afterwards.

How to use it

1. Wet your hair thoroughly and evenly with lukewarm water.
2. Lather the bar between your hands first, rather than rubbing it straight onto your hair.
3. Work the lather through the areas that look most yellow, then through the rest.
4. Leave it on for [CONFIRM: time]. Start with less time and build up.
5. Rinse well and condition your mid lengths and ends.

Use it [CONFIRM: how often] and alternate with a gentle everyday bar, such as the Rice Shampoo Bar.

My tip from the chair: the ends of lightened hair are the most porous part, so they take tone fastest. If you notice a lilac tinge on your ends, apply the lather to your roots and mid lengths first and only bring it down to the ends for the last minute. And always make sure your hair is evenly wet before you start. Dry patches grab more pigment, and that is how you get uneven toning.

If you have a colour appointment coming up, tell your colourist you use a purple shampoo at home. It helps us plan your toner.

What it is free from, and why

This bar contains no SLS or SLES, no soap and no silicones.

That matters more on blonde hair than anywhere else. Lightened hair loses moisture easily, so I use milder cleansers. And silicones, while not harmful, can build up on porous lengths and make blonde look dull and flat, which is the last thing you want from a toning wash.

Looking after your bar

Let it dry fully between washes, in its bag, on a draining rack or in the aluminium Shampoo Bar Box. Never leave it sitting in water.

Try it

If your blonde or grey starts to look yellow between appointments, Blue Vibes is an easy way to keep it cooler and brighter at home. Pair it with the Deep Conditioning Conditioner Bar for lightened lengths.

You will find the full ingredients list on the Blue Vibes Shampoo Bar product page. If you are not sure whether your warmth is yellow or orange, send me a photo in natural light and I will tell you.

Eliz, colourist and founder of ECBEAUTYLAB