Thank you for all R/R/C! I always try to return the favour but if I seem to have missed you poke me...
Thank you for all R/R/C! I always try to return the favour but if I seem to have missed you poke me! x
Member since:16.01.2007
Reviews:10
Members who trust:6
L'Oreal Couleur Experte: Protective Multi-tonal colour system - Colour + harmonised highlights. I normally dye my hair every month or two (I get bored very easily, and changes in hair colour are less offensive to my boyfriend than me getting more piercings or a tattoo!). I'd seen the adverts on TV and the highlights looked really prominent and their hair looked luscious so I thought I'd try it out. My first problem with this product is that I tried to find it on the internet and failed! L'Oreal is French and so whereas I was searching for L'Oreal Colour Expert the results were coming back with nothing because it is spelt Couleur Experte. Minor problem though, and if you were normally trying to find the product in the shop you wouldn't have such a spelling problem! In the end I gave up and went to Boots on the way home from doing my shopping and picked it up there. It costs £9.54 from Boots which I think is a total rip-off as most hair dyes are about £3-£6 and I definitely
don't think the outcome is worth the extra money.
~ Basics ~ Name: L'Oreal Paris Couleur Experte Price: £9.54 from Boots Packaging: Mainly red box which is significantly bigger than all the other hair dye boxes Claims: Dye hair with highlights in two easy steps
~ The Packaging ~ The cardboard outer packaging is mainly a red rectangular box. It gives basic instructions about how to dye your hair using this product. It also shows six 'picture's of hair - blonde before being dyes, and then after; light brown before and after, and dark brown before and after. However, on the box, the three after pictures looked exactly the same colour which is unusual. Inside there are two plastic trays containing several bottles and sachets and tubes. I wasn't particularly impressed with all the seemingly unnecessary plastic packaging that was used.
~ Contents~ Two plastic trays plus instructions - Tray 1: Step 1 Kit 1. Tube of extra-protective crème-gel colourant. 2. The applicator bottle of developing crème. 3. A pair of expert quality gloves which were cased in a plastic oval shape.
- Tray 2: Step 2 Kit 1. The developing lightening crème. 2. The blue lightening powder. 3. A pair of expert quality gloves which were cased in a plastic oval shape. 4. A spatula 5. The precision highlighting brush 6. The crème conditioner This tray is also used to hold the mixture.
~ The Instructions ~ I hated the layout of the instructions. The instructions are 12cm x 84cm when flat, and 12 cm x 14 cm when folded. To read what you have to do for each step you have to unfold the whole thing out, but you need to have the room to put the whole thing spread out, and as I only have a tiny bathroom, I had to read them off the floor! I also don't think the instructions are particularly easy to understand at first. It took me a while to work out where to start and what I actually had to do. My initial reaction was to read each page separately, but the way they've set it out is across three pages and in three rows with each row being a separate section. So you really do have to fold the thing out and read across the folds and pages instead of reading it in the normal fashion. Anyway, once I had finally mastered the art of reading the instructions I had to follow them!
~ Step 1: Colour All Over ~ 1. Put on the gloves - the gloves are nicer than most gloves you get in normal hair dye packets. They fitted perfectly (which makes a change!) and had a closed neck to them to stop them coming off. They were also made out of some sort of almost latex material, I don't think it was latex but it definitely wasn't the cheap plastic you normally get. 2. Squeeze the contents of the tube of crème-gel into the applicator bottle. 3. Shake! 4. Snap off the top of the applicator bottle and apply immediately to hair. 5. Apply the mixture to unwashed dry hair evenly. 6. Levae for 25 minutes then add a little warm water and work into a lather. 7. Rinse with water until the water runs clear. 8. Gently towel dry hair until it is damp but NOT completely dry.
~ Step 2: Add Highlights ~ 1. Put hair into its usual style whilst still damp. 2. Empty the bottle of developing crème into the plastic tray in the section marked "mix 3 + 4". 3. Open the sachet of blue lightening powder with scissors and empty into the tray. 4. Use the spatula to mix the solution together. 5. Apply the highlights to small pieces of hair, evenly coating each section. 6. Levae for 20 minutes then rinse thoroughly. 7. Finally apply half the tube of crème conditioner to your hair for 2 minutes before washing it off.
~ How Easy Is It? ~ Once you've mastered how to read the instructions it's actually quite easy to do. The highlighting part was the hardest because I was scared of messing it up as it would be so obvious. However the mixture is blue on your hair so you can clearly see which bits of your hair have been highlighted.
~ The Mixture ~ The mixture for step 1 was quite runny and I kept getting it on the floor, because of this I was scared of moving out of the bathroom when I was waiting for the 25 minutes incase it dripped onto the carpet. This led to quite a boring 25 minutes spent reading shampoo bottles! The mixture for step 2 wasn't runny at all but was quite thick. The smell of both the mixtures was horrible! The crème conditioner smelt gorgeous, but I think it was less a conditioner and more a mask to cover the hideous smell of the previous two mixtures. ~ Also… ~ - This hair dye claims to cover gray hairs (I don't have gray hairs yet so can't comment on whether it does this or not). - You are advised to do a skin test 48 hours before application. I've never had a problem with hair dye before so ignored this step. However it is probably best to do the skin test in case you are allergic. - There is also a list of… 17 Dos and Don'ts in the instructions, but they start with "Do not inhale powder" and so I skipped the rest figuring they were probably along the lines of don't eat this mixture, don't apply while driving, do not rinse in a washing machine etc!
~ The Outcome ~ My hair went quite dark, which I wasn't expecting at all. Also the highlights didn't show up as well as I'd hoped. From the picture on the box, the highlights were all different colours and looked really striking. It's all a lie! I ended up with a few light brown highlights on dark brown hair - and not the gorgeous orangey/ blonde coloured highlights I was led to believe I would have. My hair doesn't look that much different to how it would if I'd just dyed it all one colour.
~ My Verdict ~ This was definitely not worth the extra £3 that it cost to buy. I would stick to the normal hair dyes personally. I have also learnt not to believe adverts or the fantastic looking pictures on the front of the boxes, it's lies, all lies! If this hair dye had been the same price as the other hair dyes then I would probably choose this over the other ones just because of the minute highlights in my hair. I very much doubt the price of this hair dye will lower, and so I very much doubt I will be buying it again.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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 20th, 2008
exceptional by (10%):
very helpful by (89%):
helpful by (2%):
