Jun 23, 2011

WARNING: This Dye May Turn Your Hair Black!!!

This is the message that should appear on every box of Clairol's Nice 'N' Easy 5RB (Medium Reddish Brown).  Seriously, I'm not kidding.  (And, yes, this picture on the left is what my hair looked like immediately after dying it.)

Just to clear something up, I am NOT new to coloring my own hair however I did just recently start doing it again in an effort to save money and have fallen completely in love with L'Oreal Excellence Creme in 5RB (again, a Warm Reddish Brown.)  Unfortunately, when I went to re-purchase this awesome dye it was sold out!  Everywhere!! So instead I grabbed a box dye with the same coloring and classification as the L'Oreal.

I was wrong......oh so very wrong.  How two separate brands can have the EXACT same color system/classification and yet end up so dramatically different is completely beyond me.

Oh, did I mention that this Clairol color was a foam?  Well, it was.  The foam brands have been getting rave reviews online and I selected this because of what others said.  I will say that the mixing of the colorant into the foam bottle was very easy as both were liquid.  (No messy containers or squeeze bottles.) 

However, the fun ended there.  First, the smell was absolutely atrocious.  As it was going into my hair, the first thought that came to my mind was rotten fish.  (I know, terrible comparison but it was grossly disgusting).  Second, the foam did not stay foamy; in fact as soon as I squeezed it into my hand, it turned to liquid.  This means that it dripped everywhere from my forehead and down the back of my neck.  Once on, the instructions said to leave on 25 minutes which I did.  I rinsed out, used the awesome (I say awesome because hair dye conditioners are amazing!!!) conditioner, stepped out of the shower and screamed.  Yes, my hair was black.  I crawled swiftly into bed, covered my head with the blanket so Allan couldn't see me and fell asleep.

I was up at 4:30 with an incredible plan of stripping my hair.  Armed with Head & Shoulders Dandruff Shampoo and a box of baking soda, I made my way to the shower and shampooed (a mixture of shampoo and backing soda) three times.  After that, I shampooed with my normal shampoo, twice, and conditioned with my Moraccan Oil Treatment Conditioner.  45 minutes later I emerged from the shower with a dark red hue.  Much better.  (Left: color after the backing soda application.)

Lesson of the day: Just because a hair dye claims it's the same tone/shade as another, does NOT mean they are the same.  Never again will I use the Clairol Nice 'N' Easy Foam Color and even if every single store in Vancouver is sold out of the L'Oreal color I love, I'll drive to through the States until I find it.  Case closed....

Here's a quick picture of me making the best of my new hair color.  What you CAN'T see from this photo are my bright red eyes and tear-streaked face.  Thank goodness for concealer....

12 comments:

  1. and the moral of THIS story is to never stray from loreal excellence. That stuff is spun gold. I love the crap out of it!

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  2. Oh nooooo! I feel so sorry for you! I think black suits you well, but reddish colors really are YOUR thing! ): And that you cried... oh nooo~ ))): I exactly know what you mean... q__q
    So do you wanna dye it into another color with your L'Oreal?

    http://4seasons92.blogspot.com/

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  3. Oh that sucks!! It's happened to me before, too :( The end result looks great though!! :)

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  4. Oh man, that really, really sucks!! I'm so glad you're semi-happy with it now. I've had many hair mishaps, so I know how you're feeling. I wish I knew then the secret of the H&S shampoo with baking soda!!
    I ♥ the OOTD tho, super cute! xo

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  5. @Suzanne.....I TOTALLY agree with you. Never will I ever venture out of the L'Oreal realm.

    @Natalie...I know I love red!!! Well, I am going to wait for this one to fade a bit and will probably then use one of the L'oreal dyes. (I found some on a recent trip to the states so I stocked up.)

    @Pretty in the Desert....thanks lady!

    @Bronwen...Awww, yeah, I really this dress too. Yes, the hair is much better though it's still dark. I am getting used to it though

    xo

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  6. Oh wow that's too bad! I like the color your hair turned out after you shampooed it though, it's lovely! :)

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  7. Great haircolor! Even if it's darker than expected, it looks great!

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  8. Even though the colour wasn't what you expected (wow!), you look great with dark hair as well! I think you could have kept it and it would have been great. :)

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  9. Sorry this didn't work for you, this foam dye can still be improved.

    ***** Marie *****
    allthingsmarie.com

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  10. How strange! Honestly, I hate mousse hair colors, they just don't work for me. I picked up the darkest brown available and I was left with a light brown on my hair, WTF? Glad you could fix it though, Nice 'N Easy is my favorite brand of hair color (the original version, NOT the foam one)

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  11. i like clairol nice and easy but i use the non-permenant. and i always get the dark brown which turns my hair into an amazing rich deep brown;) sorry you had bad results with the foam, now i'll know to never buy the foam version.

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  12. Maybe I'm the oddball but I think the dark result looks good on you. Prob have to do the brows a little darker.

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Thanks for the love!...XO Christina


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