How to Maintain Purple Colored Hair

Last Updated on February 7, 2023 by Gaga

How Long Does Purple Hair Dye Last?

Purple hair color is one of the latest trends and one of the most fascinating colors to dye your hair. Violet hair color has a lot of beautiful shades to try on, ranging from dark amethyst to light lavender. Unfortunately, this gorgeous color requires frequent touch-ups and a lot of maintenance if you want it to last more than a few weeks.

Purple hair color loses vibrancy over time regardless of if you use a permanent or temporary dye. Permanent dyes as their name suggests will last longer but committing to vivid color is not always a good choice.

If you’re using a semi-permanent purple dye, you will need to reapply the color at least biweekly to prevent fading and keep your hair’s fresh-from-the-salon shine. However, unlike permanent purple, semi-permanent violet hair color will last you longer if you have high-porosity hair.

Permanent Violet Hair Dyes

To keep long-lasting purple hair, consider investing in a high-quality dye.  Although they are classified as permanent, maintenance is necessary every few weeks to maintain the desired brightness. You can retouch the color by re-applying the product or by using a temporary dye or color-depositing product to add vibrancy back to your color.

Suggested Brands:

1. KAO Prettia Bubble Hair Color – DEEP VIOLET is a long-lasting foam dye but it is not suitable for covering gray hair.
2. Got2b Metallic Permanent Hair Color M49 Smoky Violet is a long-term color that changes when the light hits it.
3. Vidal Sassoon Pro Series 2VC Oxford Violet Onyx lasts up to 8 weeks and provides good gray coverage.
4. Pravana ChromaSilk Vivids -Violet is not so lasting but you can get a dark violet shade without bleaching your brown hair.

Semi-Permanent Purple Dyes

Semi-permanent hair dye comes in a wide spectrum of purple tones. The color will stay fresh and bright for as long as six washes depending on your daily hair care routine. For previously dyed locks, these pigments fade slower than in virgin or low-porosity hair.

Suggested Brands:

1. Iroiro Natural Premium Semi-Permanent Hair Color 20 Purple last longer than any other semi-permanent color and fades to a nice lighter purple.
2. Arctic Fox Semi-Permanent Hair Dye – PURPLE RAIN comes ready to use. It gives a purple tint to darker hair and a very vibrant purple color to pre-lightened hair. When the color starts to fade, it still looks beautiful.
3. Manic Panic Ultra-Violet Semi-Permanent Hair Color Cream can give violet tones to unbleached hair but if you want a vibrant color you need to lighten your hair.

How to Keep Purple Hair from Fading

Whilst purple color will fade regardless of the type of hair dye, there are still ways to slow down this process and to keep your purple color looking its best.

1. Don’t wash your violet hair daily

Remember, frequent shampooing is not recommended, especially when it comes to purple hair. Detergents in hair shampoos that help remove dirt and excess sebum can also fade your color.

Once you dye your hair, wait a few days before washing it. Try to wash your hair only when it is necessary. Use dry shampoo to keep excess oil at bay.

2. Wash the hair with lukewarm water

Hot water opens the cuticle allowing the color to leak out faster.  Using cooler water helps keep the cuticle closed and minimize leakage. Personally, I believe that lukewarm water would be a safer choice for the scalp area.

3. Use color-safe shampoos

To keep your purple hair bright, use only sulfate-free shampoos that are designed for dyed hair. Most drugstore shampoos are filled with sulfates. Sulfate-based shampoos will cause the hair color to fade faster and can cause scalp irritation in some people. Clarifying and anti-dandruff shampoos also tend to strip away purple pigment.

Suggested brands: Aveda Color Conserve Shampoo and Conditioner and MATRIX Total Results Keep Me Vivid Shampoo.

4. Use color-depositing shampoos and conditioners

One of the easiest ways to keep your hair color looking fresh is to use a color refreshing shampoo. This product keeps hair color looking brand new by depositing pigment back into your hair during your daily shower. Love to play with your hair color? These shampoos can be used to reinvigorate deeper tones or even create vibrant or pastel shades on pre-lightened hair.

You can also purchase a color-depositing conditioner to refresh and maintain your violet color.

DIY color depositing conditioner: Add some leftover semi-permanent color to your regular conditioner. Let it sit on your hair for 1-5 minutes after each shampoo to replace pigments lost during shampooing and to help your purple color stay vibrant for longer.

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Suggested brands:

• Celeb Luxury Viral Extreme Purple Colorwash Color Depositing Shampoo keeps the hair looking freshly colored. It can also give vibrant purple color to lightened or blond-dyed hair.
• Punky Color 3-in-1 Color Depositing Shampoo & Conditioner intensifies hair color with every wash and maintains color richness between salon appointments.
• Overtone Extreme Purple Daily Conditioner keeps purple hair color even, bright, and shiny when used continuously.

5. Limit heat styling

Hot styling tools can do a lot of harm to bright-colored hair. Straighteners, curling wands, and blow dryers produce the heat that opens the cuticle, and lets color escape. To decrease fading, turn down the temperature on your hot tools and use a heat protectant every time you apply heat to your hair.

Suggested Brands: Pureology Color Fanatic Multi-Tasking Leave-In Spray is a great heat protectant infused with an anti-fade complex.

6. Stay out of the sun

Excessive exposure to sunlight can make any color fade faster if you don’t protect your hair. Stay out of the sun and always apply sunscreen to protect your violet hair from damaging UV rays. Wear a hat to cover your hair when going out in the sun.

Suggested brands: Rita Hazan Lock Plus Block Protective Spray locks in color and protects the hair from humidity and sun damage.

7. Avoid swimming

Chlorine in swimming pools has a bleaching effect that can accelerate fading and change our lovely purple hair.

Make sure to wear a swimming cap to shield your hair from chemicals like chlorine. Before swimming in a public pool, saturate your hair with a chlorine-protecting product like AquaGuard Pre-Swim Hair Defense to reduce the amount of chlorine that would be absorbed by your hair.

8. Use color-lock styling products

Styling products that contain drying alcohols will cause hair color to fade faster. Use color-lock hair products to protect your color treatment by sealing the hair’s cuticle.

Suggested brands:

• Moroccanoil Protect & Prevent Spray slows down color fading, detangles hair, and makes it feel soft.
• Pureology Style + Protect Lock It Down Hairspray provides a firm hold, protects the color from premature fading, and adds radiant shine.
• ColorProof PowerSculpt Hard Hold Gel gives long-lasting hold, volume, and color protection.
• MATRIX Total Results Color Obsessed Miracle Treat 12 Multi-Perfecting Spray preserves hair color, tames frizz, and reduces hair breakage.