Nicky Clarke Colour

...I reviewing?

Nicky Clarke Truffle coloured colour system with honey and beeswax. This is a wash in colour, which will wash out in 15 - 20 washes.

I bought this colour a few weeks ago from Boots, it was £7.00 which is more than the ones I have used before but I was feeling like a treat and not knowing what to buy decided to give myself a lift with a hair colour.

So, why did I choose this one?

...good to me! Nicky Clarke colour works best on dry hair. All the other sorts I have used over the years have said to apply on damp towel dried hair, so this is new for me. They advise to take all jewellery off, I guess it will discolour any jewellery if it gets onto it, so off came mine. They also advise me to protect my clothes, well I am wearing an old black sleeveless tee shirt so with a dark coloured old towel that was good enough. I didn't actually ... more

What am I reviewing?

Nicky Clarke Truffle coloured colour system with honey and beeswax. This is a wash in colour, which will wash out in 15 - 20 washes.

I bought this colour a few weeks ago from Boots, it was £7.00 which is more than the ones I have used before but I was feeling like a treat and not knowing what to buy decided to give myself a lift with a hair colour.

So, why did I choose this one?

Well, it took me ages to choose, I looked at the ones I had used before, then my husband got fed up with wandering around along so came to help me. Of course he picked a couple that were totally different to my natural colour and even a permanent one. I had a pack of my usual colour at home but wanted something a bit different.

I put a wash in wash out colour through my hair a couple of times a year which gives it a lift and covers the few grey strands that mostly seem to be underneath, I look quite the grey old lady when I tie my hair up on top of my head. Generally I use a copper gold colour, finding anything-darker makes it just too dark and un natural looking. The copper gold helps and usually no one notices I have done it, so it must be about right.

Well winter is ending, spring is here, the sun is shining and my hair is looking a bit washed out and faded. Of course, I can see those grey strands even though my daughter says no one else would notice.

The Box!

It is a plastic box, blue in colour, the writing is white and there is a picture of what colour hair will turn when used. I find these a bit odd really because I never knew anyone that had hair the exact colour they recommend for the colour you buy, but never mind.

I bought the Truffle colour, which the box tells me is ideal for use on medium blond to light brown hair. I would describe my hair as chestnut, although if I use a chestnut named colour it always ends up several shades darker than it started.

Inside the Box!

A set of instructions, blue paper with both white and darker blue writing on, a pair of plastic gloves. (I ditched these and used a pair that I found in my pocket after work one day, they are a much better fit), a bottle of developer, a tube of colour and a sachet of conditioner.

Reading Glasses time.

They claim to use "Nicky Clarke colour in their Mayfair salon whenever they want to create a rich, glossy, believable colour. They go on to say that now we can use it at home and get the same kind of look. Apparently it uses gentle, ammonia - free colour and leaves your hair feeling soft and conditioned with their honey and beeswax conditioner which will give it fantastic shine as well."

This sounds pretty good to me! Nicky Clarke colour works best on dry hair. All the other sorts I have used over the years have said to apply on damp towel dried hair, so this is new for me. They advise to take all jewellery off, I guess it will discolour any jewellery if it gets onto it, so off came mine. They also advise me to protect my clothes, well I am wearing an old black sleeveless tee shirt so with a dark coloured old towel that was good enough. I didn't actually get any of the colourant on my tee shirt or on the old towel but it is best to be prepared and protected.

Application.

First mix the colour, unscrew the developer bottle, open the colour tube, squeeze the contents of the tube into the bottle. No surprises there, I took the top off the tube as instructed, put the top into the open bottle neck and squeezed like mad, nothing happened. Then I remembered that most of these sort of tubes have the end sealed, so had a look, turned the lid upside down, pressed it into the neck of the tube and hey presto! The stuff was coming out. Oh, and it was a pale bright orange colour, hum! I emptied the tube into the bottle, put the lid back on the bottle and shook like mad. It doesn't say shake like mad, but I had music playing and was dancing at the time.

Now, gloves on at the ready and squeeze this gloop all over my hair, then comb through afterwards. I squeezed, rubbed in lightly with my fingers, squeezed some more, eventually the bottle was empty and most of my hair seemed to be damp. Back to the instructions, ah! When all your hair is covered comb through using a plastic wide toothed comb.

Now, oh dear, it didn't tell me to brush all the nights knots out of my hair first did it? I expect most people would have done this automatically but I was multi tasking here, dancing to music, hoovering the house, checking my emails and having a look at a couple of reviews all at the same time, kettle on and make a cup of tea. Anyway, I combed through and found there were quite a few knotty bits of hair that weren't going to let the comb through them. So at this point I thought I would maybe get tie dyed hair, finished making the tea, and went back to the hoovering.

I did check the time, and decided my hair type was normal, partly grey, dark, so they recommend 20 minutes for this sort of hair. I checked the time again and carried on with the housework.

During the development time my head felt slightly warm but there was no tingling or stinging sensation which I have had in the past with another product, so this was good.

Rinsing.

Our shower broke a few years back and never got replaced, so how best to rinse this stuff off my head? I did what I usually do and turned on both kitchen mixer taps, now, they really don't mix that well and so part of my head gets the hot water and part of my head gets the cold, but no matter, it rinses just as well as any other way I have tried. After thorough rinsing it felt a bit harsh so now is the time to apply the conditioner. I tore the sachet across the top quite easily and spread the contents through my hair. This is called, Nicky Clarke Colour Shine Finishing Treatment with Honey. I was about to rinse it off when I read the rest of the instructions which told me to leave it on for five to ten minutes before sensing. So…I went back to the hoovering!

The Result!

Well, my hair is darker, shiny, smooth, and I have never really had smooth hair, it looks good and when my daughter came home, she said "Oh, you have coloured your hair, it looks lovely." She also said "the thing with your hair is it sort of grows in stripes doesn't it." That was surprising. She then said "It has evened out the stripes, the back looks great, let me take a picture." There followed a long conversation about my hair.

The instructions do say if you have shoulder length or long hair it might be better to use two packs, well I didn't read that bit until I had already started, but for hair that just about reaches my bra strap at the back and is quite thick, one pack was just enough. And going back to the knotty problem, no I don't have tie dye effect hair.

On the back of the instructions there is loads of good advice. Like, The lighter your own hair's base colour, the more intense and long lasting the result will be. The darker the base colour, the more subtle it will be.

There is a long list of cautions and the first tells you to read the instructions carefully and use only as directed.

This can be bought from Boots and quite a few independent chemists in my area so not difficult to find.

This product is supported by the Nicky Clarke advisory service. For further advice please contact: PO Box 6460
Basingstoke,
Hampshire
RG22 4YH

With a phone number UK 0845 601 4634
Republic of Ireland 1800 509 182

Do I recommend it?

Yes I do, it is more expensive than products like this that I have used before but for me it definitely seems worth spending the extra money.

 

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