Hi, my name is Kelly and I am a hair color addict. I color my hair every three to four weeks.I do this at home because otherwise, I would not be able to afford other luxuries, like food. I use a variety of brands, some drugstore and some beauty supply. I really like Garnier and Ion. I have been coloring my own hair since gal-pal Bridget and I discovered Sun In in the 5th grade. I haven't seen my real hair color since the summer before 5th grade. At least, not more than an inch of it at a time. The crazy thing is, I'm not kidding. Bridget will vouch for me.When Frédéric Fekkai came out with a home hair color kit that had GORGEOUS shades of color, I had to try it. They only rhad one red with a kick to it, and my options for staying red were a bit limited, so I went with the 6R. It reminded me a little of Tori Amos, so it wasn't a hard sell.Here is why this kit is different. It comes with a pre-treatment to help ensure color adheres evenly. It doesn't use a bottle to mix the color, you use a brush and bowl. It costs $30. This had better be some amazing color for three times what I would normally spend. The colors are a little different from the usual color lines in boxed color at the drugstore, so I guess they had that going for them.I decided to only use half of the kit now and save half for later. My hair is uber short and doesn't need all five ounces to saturate each strand. Here is the deal: Kids, don't try that at home. Home hair color is like chemistry class and if you don't mix the exact correct proportions, you end up with facacta hair. After I measured out exactly one half of each container, I added them to the bowl and mixed with the brush.A bit about this bowl, please. It's made of a hardy styrofoam. Bleck. For $30, I would have hoped to keep it or at least use it more than once. Then there is the brush. It's a bit on the flimsy side. This becomes a problem when I am trying to section off my hair and get to the roots. I did like that the brush was not as wide as my normal brush but with such short hair, my hair was too heavy for the brush - if that makes sense. I ended up switching to one of my usual brushes I had waiting in the wings. (I prefer the bowl and brush method over bottles every time and have the collection of them to prove it).The color had a very strong odor to it, stronger than many boxed colors I have used recently. That wasn't a big deal, though. You leave the color on for a total of 35 minutes (longer than most boxed color) and then rinse and use their conditioner.The end result? When I first did the color, it came out really nice. It isn't as light as I thought it would be, but I had heard their colors start darker and end slightly lighter, after several washes. Either way, the vibrancy of the color is good. The feel of my hair, however, is really dry. While that is pretty common for me to have some dryness, this is definitely a new level of dryness I need to combat. Thank goodness I had Leonor Greyl Hair Masque on standby to help fight this battle. I also have a bit of gray and that was covered nicely.After wearing and washing once, some of the original color faded and left me with more of a multi-tonal color, versus the flatter one-toned color I saw after I first colored my hair. I am much happier with it now than I was when I first used the product. In fact as more days go by (and I am constantly amending my original post before publishing it), I might even dare say I love it.Flash forward to one week later. This specific red is having a really hard time staying put in my hair. After one week, the color has changed dramatically. In fact, the color is now a really faded orange. Part of that could be my hair. I have been testing a shampoo with a gentle sulphate, which could have led to the fast demise. It could be that my hair is so porous, and the red so delicate, the color couldn't permanently attach. That said, I washed my hair 3 times in one week and the color faded to the point where Mr. Lox said, "I think you need to do your hair. When was the last time you did it? It looks a little blah."The colors available are interesting and slightly different than other colors currently on the box hair color market. The directions for use are slightly different, so be sure to follow the directions and don't go on your previous box hair color experience. For a $30 box of hair color, I am not sure I would use this again, at least, not while I am on makeup spending probation. And while my particular shade of red is really pretty, I have been really happy with my Garnier experiences. I'm not sure this rocked my world enough to warrant switching to a color that was three times as much.Have you tried it? What do you think?If you are new to coloring your own hair, or looking for a color you can't find at the drugstore, you may find this kit helpful. I can't suggest the reds - in the end, my color faded dramatically very quickly.Subscribe and never miss a thing! Copyright 2009, Gouldylox Reviews. All rights reserved.
