From a foundation hack that promises the best skin of your life to creating curly/wavy hair with your bathrobe belt, TikTok is filled with clever hacks and tricks.

One that recently gained traction on the social media platform is the #PurpleShampooChallenge. The challenge is thought to have been first done by Abby Kovi (@makeupbyabbyk), who posted a video showing her apply purple shampoo to her blonde hair. After washing it out, her hair has been lifted to a bright, platinum blonde.

The video has amassed a staggering 24 million views and kicked off a trend – #PurpleShampoo currently has 234.6 million views across TikTok and #PurpleShampooChallenge is on 29.1 million.

Multiple videos uploaded under the hashtags see brunettes applying purple shampoo to dry hair in the hopes of achieving the same icy blonde effect. Except, Kovi’s hair is already blonde to begin with.

Purple shampoo is actually made for blonde hair. “Violet tones neutralise yellow,” explains Tom Cruickshank, senior colourist at Neville Hair & Beauty. “These purple shampoos are used to neutralise brassy tones in blonde and highlighted hair.”

So, unless you’re applying purple shampoo to already-blonde hair to lift the tones and take away brassiness, you aren’t going to see much of a difference. Plus, you would’ve wasted an entire bottle of shampoo for no reason.

Those with brunette hair will see a much bigger difference in using blue shampoo. When brown hair colour starts to fade, it can take on a red/orange tone. Hairdressers often refer to the colour wheel, explaining that every colour can be neutralised and lifted by the colour it’s opposite to. In this case, blue is opposite to orange. The blue shampoo deposits blue-toned pigments onto the hair, neutralising any brassy tones and taking it back to brown.

So unless your hair is already blonde, don’t waste your time with the #PurpleShampooChallenge. Those bathrobe curls on the other hand? Genius.

Main image: Getty

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