Gray and silver hair can look remarkably chic at whatever age. We’ve seen it work fabulously for stars like George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and even younger style icons like Ariana Grande.
But what many don’t realize is that gray hair can become ridiculously dull and unflattering with one wrong move.
Gray and white hair doesn’t stay neutral in tone forever. Over time, it naturally starts getting a warm, brassy tone, which more often than not is quite unflattering and looks unnatural.
The key to rocking gray hair is never succumbing to the brassy, yellow color it develops and knowing how to maintain its cool, flattering tone.
Table of Contents
Best Color-Depositing Shampoo For Gray Hair
Like most blondies, many silver foxes will turn to color-depositing shampoos to help color and tone their hair.
It gets rid of unwanted warm, orangey tones to keep you shining bright like a cool, sleek diamond.
Here are the most awesome color-depositing shampoos for gray hair:
Davines Alchemic Silver Shampoo
If you want a fuss-free neutralizing shampoo that takes away brassiness and replenishes moisture and shine too, cop this one from Davines.
It contains purple pigments to counteract any yellowish tones, bringing out that cool tone that is most flattering for your silver tresses.
The result is a more light-reflective shade of gray, which illuminates your hair with intense shine and luster.
The shampoo is also infused with panthenol, also known as vitamin B5 – a hair vitamin known to build up strength and hydration in the hair shaft.
This purple shampoo is perfect for those with delicate hair and a sensitive scalp because it’s formulated without harsh ingredients like sulfates, silicones, or parabens.
Pros
- Has purple pigments to enhance your cool tone
- Illuminates your hair with intense shine
- Contains panthenol for strength and moisture
- Has no silicones, sulfates, and parabens
Cons
- Can make the hair tangly when not followed up with a conditioner
Matrix Total Results So Silver Color Depositing Purple Shampoo
Need a deep clean to remove the grime from your weekly hair routine?
Do it while eliminating those brassy streaks with this clarifying, color-depositing shampoo by Matrix.
This shampoo has rich purple pigments that eliminate unwanted brassy tones, leaving you only with cool, lustrous gray or silver hair.
It’s more heavily pigmented than other purple shampoos, so it’s incredibly effective at counteracting yellow tones in one wash.
It adds some shimmer and brightness to the hair so that it can go from dull and yellow to shiny, glossy, and chic!
It’s also formulated with salicylic acid that helps purify your hair and get rid of any oil and dead skin sitting in your scalp and hair.
Pros
- Clarifies the hair with salicylic acid
- Eliminates brassy tones with purple pigments
- Adds shimmer and brightness to light-colored hair
- Heavily pigmented, so it’s very effective
Cons
- Can be drying on the hair because of sulfates and acids
Redken Color Extend Color Depositing Graydiant Shampoo
Redken is one of the most trusted hair care brands out there, so it only makes sense that they come out with an efficacious purple shampoo for gray and silver-haired ladies.
This Graydiant shampoo is fantastic at removing yellow and orange tones from your gray hair.
It allows the cool tones from your locks to peek through, making you look dazzling.
The shampoo also has some strengthening properties, thanks to amino acids that help smoothen out any roughed-up hair cuticles that have done through some form of damage.
These amino acids nourish the hair and strengthen each strand so they can be more resilient against breakage.
Pros
- Removes yellow and orange tones from the hair
- Effective on both natural and dyed gray or silver hair
- Has amino acids that can smoothen out cuticles
- Strengthens the hair so it can be more resilient
Cons
- Doesn’t add that much shine to your locks
Keracolor Color + Clenditioner
This coloring shampoo by Keracolor is perfect whether you want to maintain the cool tone of your silver hair, or want to switch things up for a few days with a fun, playful color.
This shampoo-and-conditioner-in-one is unique because it’s more of a temporary hair dye than a neutralizer for brassy tones (although you can do that too with the silver and platinum shades).
It colors your hair as you wash, so you don’t have to go through horrid chemical treatments that add so much damage to your hair.
This formula also has conditioning properties that add some softness and shine to your hair.
You’ll love how hydrating your locks will feel after using this!
Pros
- Colors your hair instantly while you wash
- Silver and platinum shades can tone gray hair
- Has conditioning properties that add softness and shine
- Has 18 fun colors to choose from
Cons
- Color can be faint if your hair isn’t porous enough
Aveda Blue Malva Color Shampoo
Getting rid of brassiness is one thing, but making your gray hair sparkle in radiance is another.
This shampoo by Aveda uses blue malva, or mallow, to create a beautiful brightness in your hair, making it look more like a light-reflective and ultra-flattering silver.
The shampoo has purple pigments that neutralize yellow and orange tones that take away from the glory of your silver fox potential.
It also cares for the overall health of your hair.
The product contains aloe leaf juice, a humectant that lightly hydrates the hair, adding shine in the process.
It also has some wheat amino acids and panthenol to strengthen your locks and add extra moisture.
Pros
- Adds a touch of bright silver to gray hair
- Neutralizes unwanted warm tones and streaks
- Hydrates the hair lightly with aloe juice
- Wheat amino acids and panthenol strengthen your locks
Cons
- Not as pigmented as other purple shampoos
Sachajuan Silver Color Shampoo
Sachajuan is a brand that’s more on the luxurious end of the spectrum, so it’s only fitting that they create an opulent all-in-one power product for gray-haired ladies wanting to leave their hair toned, hydrated, and protected from the elements.
This shampoo contains rich violet pigments that can counteract any harsh yellow tones in your hair that can make your locks look dull.
It also has UV protection against heat damage from tools or under the sun.
The shampoo is designed with a unique Ocean Silk Technology that adds a lot of softness and hydration to your hair, making it touchable.
It also adds voluptuous volume to keep your hair from being flat.
Pros
- Violet pigments counteract any dulling warm tones
- Made with Ocean Silk Technology for softness and hydration
- Provides UV protection to keep heat damage at bay
- Adds volume to the hair
Cons
- Can be drying because of the lack of hydrating oils or vitamins
Celeb Luxury Viral Colorwash: Color Depositing Shampoo
Celeb Luxury’s Viral color-depositing shampoo line provides everything your gray hair wants and needs – color correction, deep nourishment, and hair strengthening.
The line comes in tons of colors ranging from bold to neutral.
You could go for the fun pinks and greens for a fun temporary color, but if all you want is to get rid of some brassiness, you can grab the pastel silver variant.
These shampoos have nourishing properties that replenish moisture in your dry locks, as well as a bond rebuilder to strengthen damaged hair.
Although the cleaning agents in this shampoo are plant-based and have no sulfates, the shampoo still creates a rich, creamy lather for a satisfying wash.
Pros
- Comes in many fun shades
- You can use the silver shade to tone gray hair
- Made with nourishing properties to replenish moisture
- Rebuilds hair bonds to keep your locks strong
- Formulated without sulfates
Cons
- Less intense on darker hair
Joico Color Balance Purple Shampoo
The problem with many purple shampoos is that the effects don’t last a long time.
After a couple of days, brassiness envelops your gray hair again.
But that’s not the case with this shampoo by Joico.
On the contrary, it can allow your results to last 12 weeks.
This shampoo has purple pigments that eliminate yellow tones from your hair, giving your locks that cool undertone that makes your color look oh-so-trendy.
It’s also formulated with green tea extracts to help you maintain that brass-free tone.
It’s designed with Smart Release technology that allows the shampoo to pump out rosehip oil, arginine, and keratin to moisturize and strengthen your hair.
Pros
- Purple pigments remove undesirable yellow streaks and tones
- Results last for up to 12 weeks
- Has green tea extracts to keep your color from fading
- Rosehip oil, arginine, and keratin add shine and softness
Cons
- Leaves a sticky residue on the hair after rinsing
Framesi Color Lover Dynamic Blonde Purple Shampoo
If you follow a vegan lifestyle and love feeding your hair natural proteins for extra strength, you’ll fall head over heels for this purple shampoo by Framesi.
It’s made with deep, rich violet pigments that take away brassiness from warm, orangey tones in your gray hair.
The best part is that it keeps your cool tone 95% longer than other purple shampoos.
This shampoo is infused with quinoa and soy proteins to help strengthen and fortify your hair.
These proteins also add a bit of softness and smoothness to your locks to make them touchable.
With this vegan shampoo, you only get the good stuff.
It’s formulated without unnecessary nasties like parabens, sulfates, sodium chloride, and even gluten.
Pros
- Deep violet pigments eliminate brassiness from blonde or gray hair
- Keeps your tone and color 95% longer than other shampoos
- Has quinoa and soy proteins to strengthen and smoothen locks
- Vegan formula created with no gluten, parabens, or sulfates
Cons
- Difficult to lather up in the shower
How Does A Color-Depositing Shampoo Work?
People with light-colored hair know the struggle of watching your hair accumulate so much brassiness throughout the weeks, making it look more warm and unnatural than cool and ashy.
It’s especially frustrating when you’re watching it happen on gray hair, which entails a lot more work and effort to look flattering.
Luckily, there are color-depositing shampoos formulated with pigments that help eliminate unwanted orange, brassy tones, therefore neutralizing your hair’s overall color and pulling it back to a cool tone.
It’s more popularly referred to as “purple shampoo” because of the violet pigments that cancel out the yellow streaks that develop over time in light-colored hair.
It’s a godsend for people with naturally blonde or gray hair and those who love bleaching their locks.
Some color-depositing shampoos are designed to dye your hair in the short term, many of them doing so gradually when used regularly.
It can also aid in maintaining a vibrant color post-treatment.
These shampoos are super easy to use.
Wash your hair and massage your scalp as you would with an ordinary shampoo.
A quick rinse later, and your gray hair should have a much cooler appearance without brassiness.
Use the shampoo as often as you need to get rid of warm tones.
Using a color-depositing shampoo will stain your hands and nails, but it’s easy to wash off later on.
But if you have somewhere to be right after your shower, use some gloves to preserve your pretty manicure.
You should also stay away from white towels.
Shampoo Ingredients To Look For If You Have Gray Hair
Aside from depositing pigments, a good shampoo should also look after the overall health of your hair.
As hair dials down on melanin production and turns gray, its texture becomes different too.
It becomes dry, which can lead to locks looking frizzy and feeling straw-like and brittle.
Because of that, any shampoo you use on your gray hair must provide much-needed moisture to improve elasticity, smoothness, and shine to bring some life back to your tresses.
Some ingredients you can watch out for are rich oils like coconut, argan, rosehip, and jojoba oils.
And if you have normal to oily hair that only needs light hydration, go for humectants like honey or aloe vera.
Your hair also needs nutrients to help it grow strong.
Reparative vitamins like biotin or panthenol are known to strengthen brittle hair so that it’s more resilient against split ends, thinning, and breakage.
Look for ingredients like keratin and proteins from wheat or quinoa.
These help to fortify your hair and make it thicker.
They also repair damage from chemical treatments, sun exposure, free radicals, and heat styling.
Conclusion
It’s discouraging to see gray hair look overly brassy as if you used low-quality bleach at a DIY makeover gone wrong.
Luckily, color-depositing shampoos maintain gray hair in a low-maintenance way and make your locks cooler and more flattering.
From the review above, you’ll be able to identify the best color-depositing shampoo for gray hair that will give you the desired results.
Try one out and see how easy it is to zap away warm tones and shine like the sleek silver fox you are.
