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Member since:14.03.2003
Reviews:68
Members who trust:43
After a good few home highlighting sessions and a mad moment where what were meant to be copper and blonde streaks ended up turning my head pink and yellow, my hair needed some TLC and a return to its natural colour.
The way to do this, I decided, was to pick a permanent hair dye as close to my natural colour as possible. This turned out to be Herbal Essences Permanent Colour number 26, which at the time was called 'brilliant dark blonde', but has now been renamed 'honey fusion', which is fairly accurate.
This was the first time I dyed my whole head with a permanent colour. I'd been using the other herbal essences products (Shampoo, conditioner and cleanser,toner & moisturiser) for a long time beforehand so I trusted the brand. This in mind, I didn't mind the slightly expensive price tag (close to £7 in some Boots stores, though I got mine on special offer in Superdrug, like the good bargain hunter I am). To be honest, my hair was in such a state I'd pay a lot more to get it looking normal again.
Like most hair colours, you get various bits and bobs in the kit. Sexy plastic gloves, of course, a 'colour gel' and developer cream, and the after-colour conditioner. You mix together the colour and the developer first. It comes out a nasty sludgy brown that deepens as time passes, and you wonder what the hell you're doing to your blonde locks. This mixture apply it all over the head (dry hair), making sure to cover everywhere evenly. This was the first time in my life I managed to apply a dye without help from a mom / flatmate / complete stranger who happened to be in my bathroom.
At the time, my hair (which is abnormally thick for a blonde) was quite a way past my shoulders, and though I managed to make do with one box of the colour, they do recommend those of us with long hair use two packs. Keep an eye out in the chemists because they quite often do a 2 for £7 deal on Herbal essences colour.
The colour takes between 30 and 45 minutes to develop. It's quite a thick liquid so you don't have too much worry if it dripping down your face, but if you do a bit of toner will shift it. My hair looked very dark brunette as the colour developed, but when I washed it out, a lot of that dark tone disappeared too.
The conditioning treatment is really gorgeous, as they always are with hair colours. It has the typical herbal essences smell, sweet, slightly fruity and very yunny indeed. I used the whole thing after washing out the dye, then set about blow-drying to see the final results.
I must say I was very impressed. My hair came out a lightish brown colour, with these intense honey tones when it caught the light. For the first couple of washes after I applied the dye, there was an almost red sheen to my hair, which faded over time to a nice dark blonde. All my messy highlights and bad dye experiences were covered up.
The colour did fade quite quickly, which was a shame, leaving my hair looking slightly brassy and yellow, but this wasn't a suprise, considering what it had managed to cover up in the first place. I dyed my hair with this for the first time in late October, and then again just before Christmas. It's now June, and I haven't coloured again. The roots are noticable from close up, but as the colour fades slightly over time and was so close to my natural colour anyway (just slightly less 'dull') there's no hard line where dye stops and real hair begins.
As for the condition of my hair, this colour didn't seem to dry it out any more than a semi-permanent would. There's no ammonia in it, and only certain blonde shades contain peroxide - I think the one I used was one of them, but it's not a huge quantity.
Overall, I was very impressed with the product, I just wish it didn't fade quite as quickly as it did.
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Advantages: Easy to use, no chemical odours and no irritation to scalp, natural looking results giving excellent condition and shine to hair Disadvantages: pricey, but I took advantage of a half-price offer
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