How to Use Fanola No Yellow Shampoo (and How Long to Leave It On)
To use purple shampoo such as Fanola No Yellow, apply it to wet hair, massage it into a lather, focus it where the yellow is worst, leave it on for 3 to 5 minutes as the product listings on this site direct (1 to 5 on the 2 x 1000ml twin pack; the 350ml allows up to 10 for a stronger result), then rinse thoroughly and condition. The standalone listings recommend once a week.
How do you use purple shampoo like Fanola No Yellow, step by step?
You need the shampoo, gloves and a conditioner or mask. Step 1 is from Fanola's official page; the rest quote the product listings on this site, which are our own retail copy.
- Put gloves on. Fanola's official directions begin "Wear appropriate gloves". The UK No Yellow listings don't repeat it.
- Wet the hair thoroughly. The 100ml listing's first step is "Wet the hair thoroughly to prepare for application".
- Spread it evenly, then focus on the yellow. The 100ml listing asks for "even distribution"; the 350ml says to focus on the areas "most affected by yellow tones"; the 1000ml asks for both: "ensuring even distribution", then "focusing on areas with yellow tones".
- Leave it on for the listed time. 3 to 5 minutes on the 350ml listing, extended "for up to 10 minutes" for "clients needing a more intense tone", which is written as a salon instruction.
- Rinse thoroughly. The 100ml listing says "Ensure all product is rinsed out completely".
- Condition. The 350ml listing pairs it with "a hydrating conditioner" or the Fanola No Yellow Mask 350ml; the 1000ml says "a nourishing conditioner or hair mask to restore moisture".
The 350ml listing adds "Repeat if necessary for optimal toning results". On very light or porous hair, read the timing note further down before you do.
It is a violet dye in a shampoo base, with no developer to mix and no peroxide on its printed ingredient list (the twin-pack listing prints it in full), so it can tone but can't lighten. More in how purple shampoo works and what it can't do.
How long do you leave Fanola No Yellow Shampoo on?
3 to 5 minutes on the standalone bottles' listings, with the 350ml allowing up to 10. But the same shampoo carries different published times on different listings, so use the one for the bottle you have.
| Source | Published leave-on time | Published frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Fanola No Yellow Shampoo 100ml listing | 3 to 5 minutes "for standard toning or longer for a more intense effect" | "Use once a week" |
| Fanola No Yellow Shampoo 350ml listing | 3 to 5 minutes; up to 10 "for clients needing a more intense tone" | "For best results, use once a week" |
| Fanola No Yellow Shampoo 1000ml listing | 3 to 5 minutes | "Recommended for weekly use" |
| Fanola No Yellow Shampoo & Mask Twin Pack 2 x 1000ml listing | 1 to 5 minutes "depending on the desired toning effect" | "once a week or as needed" (shampoo and mask together) |
| Fanola's official No Yellow Shampoo page (fanola.it) | "leave on for a few minutes" | Not stated |
Time is the dial. Fanola's official page says the shampoo "delivers an increasingly intense neutralizing effect the longer it is left on", and that "the result is gradual and adjustable". Fanola publishes no test data behind it, so treat it as a direction, not a measurement.
10 minutes is the longest figure in print. The 350ml listing's "up to 10 minutes" is the longest time on any No Yellow Shampoo listing we checked, double the 5-minute top end on the 1000ml and twin-pack listings. The 100ml says "longer" without a figure. Nothing in Fanola's directions or our listings supports 20 minutes or leaving it on overnight.
How long should you leave it on for your hair?
Fanola doesn't publish a time per hair type, only the ranges above. What the listings on this site say about different hair is below.
| Your hair | What this site's No Yellow Shampoo listings say |
|---|---|
| Needs a stronger result | 350ml: extend "for up to 10 minutes". 100ml: "longer for a more intense effect", with no upper figure given. |
| Damaged or dry | 1000ml: "use the shampoo sparingly to avoid over-processing and pair it with a moisturising treatment". |
| Curly or coarse | 1000ml: "may benefit from mixing it with a hydrating shampoo for gentler toning". No mixing ratio is given. |
| Grey | The 100ml, 350ml and 1000ml listings all name grey hair alongside blonde and bleached. None gives a separate time. |
This is practice, not a Fanola instruction. On very pale, freshly bleached or porous hair, start at the bottom of your bottle's range (the twin-pack listing for the same shampoo starts at 1 minute) and add time at a later wash. Don't go past the top figure your listing prints; the 100ml prints none, and the longest figure on any listing is the 350ml's 10 minutes. Revive Hair Artists, a UK salon, puts it this way: "Start with a short contact time and build up — it is much easier to add more tone than to remove it." The reason is that deposit varies with the hair: Wella says results depend on porosity and starting level, and a 1987 industry patent reported much less violet-dye deposit on unbleached white hair than on bleached white hair, judged by eye only. Before a first full application, try it on one hidden strand.
Can you use Fanola No Yellow on dry hair?
Not according to the directions for the shampoo. Every No Yellow Shampoo direction we read is for wet hair: the 100ml, 350ml, 1000ml and twin-pack listings on this site, and Fanola's official page ("apply to wet hair"). Fanola publishes no dry-hair method for the shampoo and no time for one. Wella's toner directions treat dry hair as the stronger route (its UK Color Touch 10/0 page offers dry application "for even more intensity"), so a wet-hair time can't be assumed to transfer. That is a toner, not a shampoo, and none of the sources our research checked measured the difference. If you want more effect from the shampoo, the lever the listings give is time, within your listing's range.
The one No Yellow product whose listing mentions dry hair is the Fanola No Yellow Incredible Foam 250ml: "Apply it to wet or dry hair, style as desired." It gives no leave-on time.
The No Yellow Mask is the one that goes on after shampooing: its listing says "apply the mask evenly on damp hair, leave it for 3-5 minutes". The No Yellow Color Toner is a separate product; its ratio and timing are not published on its listing, so follow the pack or a colourist.
How often should you use Fanola No Yellow Shampoo?
Once a week is what the standalone No Yellow Shampoo listings give (100ml, 350ml and 1000ml). The 100ml's specifications add "or as needed for colour maintenance", and the twin pack says "once a week or as needed". The Complete Blonde Care System kit listing says "once or twice a week" for the 100ml inside it. None of the listings suggests daily use. On the washes in between, use a shampoo that doesn't tone. Fanola's official professional tip is: "Alternate its use with Wonder Nourishing Shampoo and, for even greater softness and shine, continue the treatment with the No Yellow Mask". The shampoo it names is Fanola Wonder Nourishing Shampoo 100ml.
Expect to keep using it. Fanola's page talks about maintaining your blonde "wash after wash", and the Wonder No Yellow Shampoo 1000ml listing on this site calls its toning action a "Temporary solution; use regularly to maintain cool tones between salon visits". Fanola publishes no figure for how many washes the tone lasts.
What if Fanola No Yellow over-tones your hair?
Over-toning shows as a purple or blue-violet cast. Revive Hair Artists, a UK salon, says No Yellow "can turn your hair purple" if left on too long or used too often on very pale or porous hair, and calls it the most common complaint about the product. One industry patent describes blue and violet dyes leaving grey hair "too blue or violet", and others describe similar casts, but none of the studies our research checked measured over-toning on hair with instruments.
Fanola publishes no removal method. What the sources support:
- Stop the toning washes for now. The violet is a direct dye, the same non-oxidative family as semi-permanent colour, not permanent colour, and Fanola's safety data sheets file its shampoos as "HAIR COLORANT (TEMPORARY)". Revive Hair Artists says a purple tint "will wash out within a few washes with a regular shampoo".
- Wash with a non-toning shampoo, as Fanola's alternate-washes tip suggests.
- Go back to the shortest printed time on your bottle when you start toning again.
Know when it is a salon job. Patchy or banded colour, a cast that doesn't shift after several normal washes, or hair that is breaking needs a colourist who can see it. Don't try to lift a violet cast out with lightener; that is a correction for a colourist who can see the hair. And if the warmth is orange rather than yellow, more violet is the wrong answer: see the No Orange section below, or how blue pigment works on orange tones.
How do you use Fanola No Orange and No Red shampoo?
The same way: wet hair, lather, time it, rinse. The colours differ, and so do the published times. Fanola names each product for what it removes: No Yellow is violet, No Orange is blue, No Red is green.
| Shampoo | For | Published time | Published frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fanola Wonder No Orange Shampoo 350ml | "blonde and light brown hair" | 1 to 5 minutes on wet hair | "twice a week" |
| Fanola Wonder No Orange Shampoo 1000ml | "light brown to dark blonde hair" | 1 to 5 minutes, "depending on the intensity of toning desired" | "once or twice a week" |
| Fanola No Red Shampoo 350ml | "brown and chestnut hair" | 1 to 5 minutes, focusing on mid-lengths and ends | Not stated |
Note the frequency: the No Orange 350ml says "twice a week" and the 1000ml "once or twice a week", where the standalone No Yellow Shampoo listings say once a week. Fanola's official Wonder No Orange page also says to wear gloves. Of the UK listings we checked, only No Red prints a glove line: "Remember to wear disposable gloves during application." The colour logic is in how blue pigment works on orange tones and green shampoo for red tones. You can see the blue range in the Wonder No Orange collection.
Common questions
Can you use Fanola No Yellow every day?
Not on the published directions. The standalone listings say once a week and the kit once or twice; none suggests daily use. Fanola's tip is to alternate with Wonder Nourishing Shampoo.
Does it work in one wash?
Fanola describes an "immediate toning action", and also a result that is "gradual and adjustable" and maintained "wash after wash". So expect some change from one wash and the effect to build over repeat use. Fanola publishes no measurement of either.
How much should you use?
Enough for even coverage. The No Yellow 100ml listing says "a generous amount", "ensuring even distribution"; the Wonder No Yellow 1000ml listing says "a small amount evenly across the hair". No listing gives a millilitre figure.
Do you use it instead of your normal shampoo?
For that wash, yes. The directions treat No Yellow as the shampoo: wet the hair, apply, lather, leave and rinse. The one exception is the 1000ml listing's suggestion that curly or coarse hair "may benefit from mixing it with a hydrating shampoo for gentler toning". On the other washes in the week, Fanola's professional tip is to alternate with Wonder Nourishing Shampoo. People also often ask what's in it, including whether it contains sulphates; the twin-pack listing prints the full ingredient list.
I have the No Yellow Mask. How do I use it with the shampoo?
After the shampoo. The mask's listing says "After shampooing, apply the mask evenly on damp hair, leave it for 3-5 minutes, and then rinse thoroughly." The twin-pack listing says towel-dried hair, roots to ends. When the mask is the better tool is covered in when the mask beats the shampoo.
Is Wonder No Yellow used the same way?
Nearly. Fanola's official Wonder No Yellow page says "leave on for 1 to 5 minutes", and the 1000ml listing says "1-2 times per week", against the classic 350ml's 3 to 5 minutes once a week. Follow the bottle you have; the other differences are in Fanola No Yellow vs Wonder No Yellow.
What are Fanola's official directions for No Yellow Shampoo?
On Fanola's English page: "Wear appropriate gloves, apply to wet hair, massage, leave on for a few minutes, emulsify and rinse." The Italian page says the same: "Indossare guanti adeguati, applicare a capelli bagnati, massaggiare, lasciare in posa qualche minuto, emulsionare e risciacquare." The UK listings add the minute figures in the table above.
The No Yellow range on this site
No Yellow Shampoo comes in 100ml, 350ml and 1000ml, and in a 2 x 1000ml twin pack with the mask. Check the directions on the listing for your size.
Fanola No Yellow Shampoo 350ml →
Fanola No Yellow Shampoo & Mask Twin Pack 2 x 1000ml →
Browse the whole No Yellow care range →
Next in this series: what is No Yellow shampoo? The violet pigment explained →
Always follow the instructions supplied with the product. Strand-test before a first full application, and if you are unsure about a colour service, speak to a professional colourist.
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Posted in
Blonde, How to, No Yellow, Purple shampoo, Using it properly
