I'm not the most organised of review writers. I have discarded all the packaging from this product (in order to hopefully never be reminded of its appearance in my life), and therefore am unable to give you the obligatory listings of chemical ingredients that this type of review normally contains. I don't think that's too bad a thing, though. After all, do ANY of us know what those chemicals actually are? Or what they do? Thought not. In fact, this point was illustrated beautifully the other day, when a Ciao member wrote out the ingredients of a certain bubble bath, but was unaware until it was brought to her attention that "aqua" was, in fact, "water". There's a fool in every village... It does however also mean that I can't reel off the product descriptions as given by L'Oreal, or accurately tell you what colour this product is supposed to be. Again, this is no bad thing, as all that is irrelevant. This is one product which, in my experience, isn't as it should be I'm surprised my hair isn't in terrible condition. In the past 8 years, I've dyed and bleached it every which way. I actually quite like it in its natural state, but I'm terribly temperamental, and I often do things on a whim. The past year or so though, I've tried to give it a break, and so I've only used home streaking kits to add to my abundance of natural tones. Then the other day, I was out shopping,
and the impulse took me again. Before I knew it, I was back home with some colour protecting shampoo and conditioner, and a packet of L'Oreal Couleur Experte (in "Chocolate Mousse" shade,as I recall). This, on the packet, was brown with reddish streaks, not too dissimilar to my hair at the time. I hoped to just enhance the look I already had. I chose L'Oreal, because generally I trust their products, and because this relatively new dye product claims to look more natural by adding complimentary streaks to the finished result. After all, that's what I've always disliked most about hair-dye: the fact that although the shade may be what I was hoping for, it just looks so, well, dyed and unnatural.
One of the first luxuries my husband and I cut out when we got into debt was going to the hairdressers, so for about 4 years now we've cut each others' hair. At first, it took ages, and looked pretty rubbish, but over time, I think we've gotten pretty good at it. So, cuts and colours are always done at home. Therefore, last Friday, I produced the L'Oreal Experte after he'd finished with the scissors, and gave him the puppy-dog eyes. The product comes in two stages - firstly the all-over colour, and then a highlighting kit (with a large mascara wand) to add personalised streaks. Stage one was easy to mix up - hubby put on the included gloves, poured the contents of one bottle into the other, gave it a shake, and away we went. For once, there was plenty of dye (normally we're eeking it out at the end praying not to run out!). In fact, I even had some left, which has never happened! So, hubby pops off for a bath, and I sit for 25 minutes reading my book (Angel and Demons by Dan Brown, in case you're wondering. Brief review: it's exceeding expectations so far). Phase one then gets rinsed from my hair, and it's back downstairs for the streaks to be added. Again, this stage is really easy to mix up, this time in a plastic tray. Another pair of gloves donned, and hubby's working his magic with the mascara wand (not a phrase I ever expected to write!). We sit for a further 20 minutes playing the PS2, and then I go back to the bathroom to rinse it all off and use the included "after-colour conditioner with added apricot oil". Crossing my fingers that my allergy to fruit oils in toiletries doesn't extend as far as my scalp. Turns out that it doesn't, and my hair felt wonderfully soft afterwards, even when wet. The generous souls at L'Oreal give you enough of this conditioner for about three uses, which is an added bonus. So, one final trip downstairs (a hair dye AND a workout in one!), and away I go with the hairdryer, only to become more and more horrified as my hair dries. Thought #1: This isn't looking much like the colour on the packet. Thought #2: Ummm, the only streak I can see looks blonde. Where are the rest of them? And why aren't they red? Thought #3: My hair is now mainly burgundy. Not the natural look I was going for. Thought #4: Where can I buy a hat on-line that will deliver before I can't make any more excuses about not leaving the house. And it really was that bad. My first thought was that there must be a different bottle inside the box, a shade mix-up as it were. So I checked. Nope. Shade 3.54 Chocolate Mousse was indeed the bottle I had in my hand. So why was my hair bright red with 1 blonde streak? Guess I'll never know, but the situation called for immediate action. My darling mother, in her misguided and irritating way, pointed out that I shouldn't have bought a permanent dye. Not the most helpful thing she could have said, but it wasn't her problem, it was mine. So on-line I went, and ordered a chestnut brown dye from Clairol's Nice and Easy range (also permanent. I think ignoring my mum is something I just do automatically these days). I also doubled the cost by paying for next-day delivery (which actually translated to 3 days later because of the weekend), but there was no way I was venturing out in public the way I was! Of course, everyone I spoke to in those 3 days tried to create paranoia for me. "You can't dye it again so soon, it'll all fall out" and "I'll laugh if it goes green" were two of the least helpful comments I received.
Anyway, to cut a long story short (probably a bit late for that!), the Clairol dye came, I applied it (noting that it also claimed to be multi-tonal), and didn't look in a mirror until I'd finished blowdrying it, just in case it was green! In fact, when I was rinsing the dye off, the colour of the water running away down the plug hole was bright red. Not the chesnut brown I had in mind, I thought. I swore that if I looked like Ronald McDonald, I'd never dye my hair ever again.
Thankfully, my hair now actually looks pretty good (phew!). It's darker than I anticipated, but it does have a lovely red tint to it, that I probably can't recreate without combining the two products again. And I can now leave the house.
Oh, the L'Oreal Experte costs between £7.95 and £11, depending on where you get it. It's for sale at all the usual places: Boots, Superdrug, major supermarkers (and some minor ones!), Wilkinsons (the cheapest place I found it), Savers, etc. I got the Clairol Nice and Easy from boots.com for about £4.50.
So, for the skimmers, avoiding and most definitely not recommending L'Oreal, but giving a big thumbs-up to Clairol. I'd like to say I've learned my lesson, but I daresay I'll be writing another one of these one day. I'll see you then.
KT x
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This happened to my friend, she asked the hairdresser for 'chocolate' hair and they put this on and she got bright red hair.
kitty_l 13.10.2005 22:54
hmm this thing left me ginger tones!!! grrr... and teh bleach didnt lighten as much...
sallysmith1973 20.04.2005 21:22
What a 'mare!!! I colour my hair a lot, 31 years old and going grey - got that from my Dad who went grey in his 20's!!! I've used this before, I think! I tend to pick one up that looks somewhere near the colour I want, but they're usually the wash in, wash out in 30 washes jobs. Haven't yet plucked up the courage to go all 'permanent'!! Great review, Sal x
Advantages: Great idea and looks good in the ads Disadvantages: You could end up looking like you've been tango'd
supersexycoolchick 08.12.2003 (08.12.2003)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of L'Oreal Couleur Experte
Advantages: Glossy colour, shows up well, good price Disadvantages: Very strong smelling & messier than all other dyes I've used (probably due to the fact you need to dampen hair)
Feb 24th, 2005
exceptional by (6%):
very helpful by (94%):
