Intended for anyone with lightened, bleached, blonde, silver, or gray hair — natural or color-treated — who notices yellow or brassy tones developing between salon visits or colorings.

It's a retail, at-home-usable conditioner (no professional mixing required), suited to regular consumers as well as salon use. It isn't intended as an everyday conditioner replacement used with every wash; Joico's directions call for it two to three times weekly, using a regular conditioner on the other wash days.

Brassiness in lightened hair comes from warm underlying pigment being exposed as color fades, and correcting it usually means adding a separate purple or blue toning product.

This conditioner folds that correction into a normal conditioning step — violet and red pigments neutralize yellow tones while rosehip oil and keratin address the dryness that bleached or lightened hair tends to have — so upkeep between salon visits takes one extra step rather than two.

Shampoo hair first (with Colour Balance Purple Shampoo or a regular shampoo), then apply this conditioner through mid-lengths and ends. Leave in for one to three minutes — longer leave times deposit more violet pigment, so err on the shorter end for lighter or more porous hair — then rinse thoroughly.

Use two to three times per week rather than with every wash to avoid over-toning. This is a conditioner, not a shampoo, and doesn't replace regular cleansing.

Pros:

• Pigment-based toning built into a conditioner step, so you can correct brassiness without adding a separate toning product to your routine.
• Rosehip oil, green tea extract, arginine, and hydrolyzed keratin are included for conditioning on top of the tone correction.

Cons:

• Purple pigment can build up with overuse — Joico's own directions cap it at 2-3 uses a week rather than daily, and leaving it on longer than directed risks an unwanted violet cast, especially on very light or porous hair.
• Contains dimethicone and amodimethicone, so it isn't a fit for a silicone-free routine, and it offers little benefit on hair without an underlying blonde, silver, or gray base.