L'Oreal Colour Protect Conditioner

Reasons for buying the product.

As you get older, and vanity to a certain degree dictates that you colour your hair, you have to think about the condition of your hair, especially when using colourants that are harsh on nature, and most are, and I wanted to see that shine of youth in my hair as well as colour. Many of the dying products give you a small sachet of conditioner that makes it feel soft and glowy after the initial dye, although after several washes with ordinary shampoo, my hair was dull and lifeless.

The product promised colour protection, which to me is a good thing, because after a while, colours fade and even redden a little on auburn hair, and I thought that what the product would do would be to coat my hair and protect it from the damage of light, thus enabling the colour to last truer and longer, and this seemed a pretty good promise.

L'Oreal are very well known and respected in the cosmetic industry here in France and in the UK, and trusting their reputation, I parted with my money, hoping that I had at last found the product that would make my hair look and feel soft and shiny.

The acid test.

For me, the all important test was important. I am getting older. My hair is ageing too, and what was once my pride and joy was looking tired. We can do very little to aleviate the process of age, although this product did seem to make good sense, as potentially the damage done to hair from the dying process has to show up at some time, because you cannot expect it not to react to chemical treatments.

Having shampooed my hair, I applied the thick cream which wasn't bad smelling at all, although here I have to admit that flowery scents are really not my thing, and I believe that the odour of the product gave me the impression that the market it is aimed at is old ladies, still in the world of bath cubes and eau de cologne, rather than young people, and perhaps given the name of the product, my assumption is correct. It is aimed at us wrinklies.

The bottle gives all the right instructions for the use of the product, although is garish next to my other products in its horrible red bottle. I paid just over One Pound Thirty, which to me is a good deal if the product proved its worth. (300ml).

Leaving the product on the hair for a given time of a couple of minutes, I rinsed it out of my hair, and the odour of an old lady\s product wafted in my face as I rinsed, which I really did not like very much. It took ages to rinse out, although once, I had, the hair felt squeaky clean.

Drying my hair is probably damaging it as well as the chemicals I apply to it, as I always blow dry it into shape, and one thing I noticed was how easy the brush went through my shoulder length hair without tangles. I am prone to tangles, so thought perhaps enduring the flowery smell may have been worth it, and looked forward to the end result.

My hair felt soft at first, though after the first day, the softness was replaced by a heavy feeling, almost like my hair had been coated, which indeed it probably had. What upset me was the way that it made my hair feel heavy and unable to keep its' style, whereas normally it stays in place well after blow drying. The other thing I notice was indeed that same lack of lustre. Here, I really was disappointed, as I am seeking that product that will make my hair shine again, and have so far failed to find.

The bottle lasted a good while, but having tried it, it's not really a product that I would recommend, as my colour did not last any longer than it usually does, and it did not condition my hair enough to merit buying it. In fact, it felt heavy, and within days greasy, and one thing I hate is greasy hair.

Trusting the reputation of L'Oreal is only as good as my experience of their products now, and all the publicity in the world will not make me believe that this conditioner does what it says it will. Whilst other products in their hair range are super, this one disappoints.

Rachel