True Herbal Essence smelling dye-weird!

Having looked at the list of reviews of this product, I must be wrong in thinking this was a new prodcut, but as I have only been dyeing my hair for the last 6 months this may be why. After seeing the advert for this product on tv, I was convinced this was the product for me as it was kinder to my hair, smelt gorgeous and made my hair shiny (it never ever is!).

I have used this twice now, so feel I am now able to give you a helpful review to decide if this product is for you.

The first thing you notice is the packaging, and this brand is far more exciting to look at on the shelves than the others. It has purple sparkle, the expected picture of the model loving her new colour, list of its advantages and ingredients, nothing out of ordinary, it simply looks nicer than all the other boxes.
In the box you get the dye, bottle of mix which the dye is mixed with, a 6 week treatment conditioner and 'posh' feeling gloves.
These feel much better standard than most given in the home dye kits. There is also an instruction page which suggests testing for allergic reactions and the strand test. I would advise doing the strand test as this will determine how long the dye stays on for. Herbal essence recommend 20 mins at least, but it can go up to 40 mins if you wish, the strand test gives indication of how long your hair will need. Mine is about 35 mins.

After mixing the dye with the creamy mixture (while wearing gloves!!), I start to apply the dye to my hair. Instantly you are hit with the familiar smell of herbal essence, totally unexpected as I never believed they could get rid of the horrible chemical smell, although this is most probably due to the lack of ammonia and other harmful chemicals in the dye. The bottle has a tip on the end so is easy to apply, although it is best to comb all the dye through the hair to allow for even coverage. After this, I was allowed into the living room (as I didn't smell!) and could get on with reading the papers for half an hour or so, before running upstairs to was it all off. Obviously you have to wash it until the water runs clear, but I could stay there for half an hour and it still wouldn't run clear. No amount of shampoo can make the water clear, there is always a slight brown tinge to the water. I think this is a bad thing that it can't be washed out. I had a second shower about 10 minutes later to make sure it was as clear as I could make it, and then used the conditioner. After washing out the dye, I find my hair feels really horible, really dry and 'bitty', not like it ever has before. I was really worried, until I put the conditioner on, left it for 2-3 minutes, and was amazed with the results. My hair felt soft and lovely again. The conditioner is a miracle in a bottle and well worth using each week as a treat for dyed hair, mine loves it!

After washing the conditioner out, my hair is not particularly easy to comb, but it is soft. It smells lovely and drys the same. However I have had some problems. I first dyed my naturally red hair dark brown using the L'Oreal higlighting and all over colour kit and was impressed with the results, but was tempted to Herbal Essence because it seemed more 'natural'. The herbal essence dye takes really well to the already dyed hair, but my red roots remained more red than the rest of my hair, and some didn't take to the colour at all. This means that although I love the colour and the softness, I won't be buying again as the second time it did the same thing. Obviously for red hair, the stronger chemicals are needed to create the desired results. But, for those of you blessed with blonde or brunette hair, this product would be ideal for premanently lightening or darkening your natural colour, without the need for harsher chemicals. The conditioner lasts for about 6 weeks, and it is then that the colour starts to grow out and loose some of its shine.

I like the product but it just doesn't work for me. I wish it would as it makes dyeing your hair easy and nice smelling. But this cannot make up for simply not doing what it is meant to do, actually dye my hair.