My hair took a beating at the beach. Salt, sand and sun add up to dry, dull hair. Blonde hair is especially prone to turning dry, brittle and brassy, thanks to the bleach—so I’m trying some cheap, easy at-home tricks to brighten things up a bit.
My hair is very blonde—about as blonde as the poor stylists at the salon can get it. (This seems to get harder and harder as I get older!)
By the way, did you know that gray hair is harder to color and bleach as it already has basically no pigment left in it? That’s why it gets trickier and trickier to hide grays.
However, I don’t have to let go of being blonde just yet—but sometimes my hair definitely needs a brightening refresher between washes. I discovered in InStyle that products with purple tints keep it from turning brassy or fading too quickly.
Sure, there are salon-brand purple shampoos and conditioners that you can buy, but there’s always a DIY option. And guess what, you can brighten blonde with Kool Aid!
Yes, that Kool Aid—as in the Kool Aid Man.
You can’t just use any color Kool Aid for obvious reasons, though. You need purple Kool Aid—remember on the color wheel how yellow is directly across from purple?
Using purple tones cancels out any brassiness that might be hanging around for hair that’s perfectly icy blonde—just the way you want it! If you’re thinking, “well, then why don’t we use blue?” let’s go back to the color wheel.
Directly across from blue is orange—the kind of orange that basically only shows up on hair as flaming redheaded hair. That’s not the kind of color that we’re looking to cancel out—if you are, then your hair stylist hasn’t bleached your hair properly!
For an all-over boost: Add 1/4 tablespoon purple Kool Aid powder to 4 tablespoons of shampoo. Make sure you mix it thoroughly so that the purple color affects your hair evenly.
Remember, we’re not using Kool Aid as hair dye here. It should be just purple enough to cancel out any super yellow tones, but not enough to actually change your hair color.
This is a ton of shampoo—way more than I’m guessing you usually use—so enjoy a big ol’ lather. Take time to massage it through all of your hair so that it’s going to be evenly brighter and blonder.
Rinse thoroughly. And rinse the tub too to make sure no purple remains!
I am totally sold on this tip. Not a trace of purple remained after I rinsed it, and my hair looked nice and bright white! You can do this every month as needed—although you’ll need appointments to do your roots in between, obviously!
But it’s a great way to keep your hair as blonde as possible without needing to head to the salon. Then, if your hair is still feeling dry from a little too much curling or a little too much salty air, you can always follow up with your favorite hair mask to make those locks super silky and sleek.
Not a blonde but still looking for a color refresh? There are lots of ways you can get DIY natural highlights at home! You can also use an array of easy-to-find, natural ingredients like honey, lemon and chamomile to get natural highlights.
Brightening Blonde with Kool Aid FAQ
Will this shampoo turn my hair purple?
No, it shouldn’t turn your hair purple. My bleached blonde hair is a bright, cool shade of platinum after using this DIY purple shampoo. Remember, you’ll be mixing the Kool Aid with a hefty measurement of shampoo—and you’re using it to tone your blonde rather than to dye your hair. If you follow this recipe, the shampoo should be just purple enough to cancel out any super yellow tones without actually changing your hair color.
Will this purple shampoo work on gray hair?
This recipe is ideal for brightening up bleached or dyed blonde locks. As you may know (and as I’ve struggled with myself!), gray hair can be harder to color and bleach as it already has basically no pigment left in it. That’s why it gets trickier and trickier to hide grays.
That being said, this shampoo can still be useful in cancelling out yellow tones if you have some gray mixed in with dyed blonde or bleached blonde hair, so it’s worth a try!
Will other flavors of Kool Aid work in a pinch?
No, you’ll definitely want to stick with purple (also known as grape) Kool Aid. Because the goal is to cancel out yellow tones in dyed blonde hair—and it just so happens that yellow is directly across the color wheel from purple—purple is your best choice, which is why you’ll find so many purple shampoos and conditioners at drugstores and salons.
How to Brighten Blonde with Kool Aid
Materials
- 1/4 tbsp purple (grape) Kool Aid
- 4 tbsp shampoo
Instructions
- Combine Kool Aid and shampoo in a bowl and stir to mix thoroughly. Take time to massage shampoo through hair so that it's distrubuted evenly and is able to fully saturate hair for even toning. Rinse thoroughly and style as usual (and rinse the tub too to make sure no purple remains!).
Does she mean 1/4 teaspoon kool aid to 4 tablespoons shampoo??
Does it matter what color the shampoo is?
Fixing to try this
Would this work if you dyed your hair dark blonde? I wanna make it blonde
I tried it after bleaching my hair just today. I couldnt sleep because I eas so mad about the brass. So I found this tip and it worked. I shouldve left it on even longer but NO nrass ALL platinum for me. LOVE LOVE LOVE
Please tell me how long you left this shampoo lather in for?
Does it matter what color shampoo it is? I have platinum blonde hair but i have a little brassiness in my hair would it get rid of it?
It turned my hair paink no joke
so can this help brighten naturally blonde hair?
I just dyed my hair Blonde again last night and tried the Grape Koolaid trick this morning and it worked to blend my hair enough to cover the brassiness. Thanks for the great and (CHEAP) idea.
Just curious if anyone knows how soon after coloring you can do this? Could you do it right away or wait a couple of washes first? I’m excited to try it!
How do you get 1/4 a tablespoon?
Use a measuring spoon. You can buy one from just about anywhere.
1/4 tablespoons (Tbsp) would be equivalent to 3/4 teaspoons (tsp). However, measurements usually aren’t given (and measuring spoons usually don’t exist) in fractions of a tablespoon so I’d almost wonder if it was a typo and was supposed to be 1/4 teaspoon…
Love the uses of Kool-aid and all the things you can do with it for hair color. This is the first time I’ve heard this – brilliant! I will have to pass this info on to my blonde friends
OMG! I never would have thought of this! I’m so trying it! Brilliant!
FYI: It will stain your hands so wear gloves! I didn’t but found that after scrubbing my hands twice with baking soda the color was gone. Should be in the directions :)
What a great idea!! If your hair is naturally blonde will it still take out the brassy color in it?
i wish i would have known this years ago when i got my hair dyed blonde, and even the salon couldnt get all of the brass color out…thanks!! i will have to try it when i dye my hair again!
can you use this on brown hair?
Cool! Sure would have been nice to see some before and after shots :-)
I was wondering if this would work! Thanks for sharing.
amazing! I have been buying purple tinted shampoo to make my salt a little more bright against my pepper. I will have to try this homemade version with my favorite shampoos!!
I do this with my brown hair that gets ridiculously brassy. It really does help to tone things down. Downside: kids get excited to see purple kool-ade in the cart, then get mad at me for not letting then drink it.
I just did this & it TOTALLY worked! Don't be afraid to try it. It is SO MUCH CHEAPER than the toners & conditioners made for this purpose, & so much more gentle on your hair.
It totally works, doesn't it!! So glad you tried it!
I understand that the Grape KoolAid will take brassiness out of hair……what will the Grape KoolAid do to the gray hair that is mixed in with the brassy colored hair?
Dying to see pics of this! Sounds crazy cool! Thanks for linking up with DIY under $5!
What a great tip!! Awesome!!!
What a great idea! That pink looks delicious!! Thanks for stopping by :)
Ha, I used to dye my hair crazy colors (pink, blue, purple) with Kool Aid when I was in high school. Drove my mom crazy, I'm sure. Too funny that it can actually help with "normal" color hair too!
Rachel, that's too funny :) I was actually a little worried about turning my hair purple!
We use lemon-aid kool aid to pull the cholrine out of my daughters hair. She is a swimmer and was going through swim shampoo like crazy a hairdresser suggested we try it! Works awesome and super cheap!!!
Jessica, what a great tip! I'm so amazed at all the cool stuff you can do with Kool-Aid! Who knew?! :)
did you know they have purple shampoo at sally beauty supply that is made for hair? its for the same purpose, to cut out brassy tones, but is actually made for your hair. blue tones too..i like blue malva from aveda. its a life saver!
Great tip! thanks! I order lemon kool-aid by the box full because it's the BEST at getting dishes in the dishwasher clean! 1 tbsp. added in with the soap! – NOW I have a NEW kool-aid trick! :)
Oh my gosh, this sounds so crazy! I'd be terrified to try this. I'd be scared that my hair would turn green, like Anne of Green Gable's when she tried to dye her hair raven black!!! lol….
How would your hair turn GREEN from using something PURPLE? Lol!
I've never heard of this before! I'd love to see an after picture :)
Wow..I was a little iffy to read this. I've heard of people dying their hair with red kool-aid. But I'll take your word for it! Show us a picture of the result!! :)
That is really awesome! I don't have blond hair, but still- that's a really good tip, considering Kool-aid packets are like 20 cents each! ;) You're so smart!
That's so Kool Stephanie! (Sorry, lame I know! LOL) You would save a fortune on some of those hair colour treatment shampoos and conditioners. I'm getting my hair coloured a platinum blonde (sort of) colour tomorrow. I'm hoping the greys that are growing through really quickly won't be as easily recognisable! LOL
Anne xx
Ok, I'm going to try it out!!! Thanks for the tip! :)
Ahh this is kind of crazy but I'm diggin it anyway!! I want to see pics! ;)
Really? Kool-Aid…I had no idea!!
Is it safe to use grape koolaid to get orange out after trying to dye hair blond
Use blue to contrast the orange. Look at the color wheel.. for future reference. Do opposite of each other..works for any shade.
This is a great tip! who would've thought?!