I've been dying my hair for God only knows how long now; it started off blonde as a baby, turned dirty blonde as I got a little older and by the time I was about 10-years-old it was becoming a mousy brown colour, which I did not like. Not. One. Bit.
Ever since, I've been dying my hair blonder and blonder every couple of months. I wish I was one of those people who could get highlights and low-lights put in every few months but, no, I have to make do with hair colour from a bottle. Not that I'm complaining! No, I've never had any issues with hair-dye; I've never woken up with clumps of hair falling out or had my hair turn from dirty-blonde to bright orange over night. It's been pretty plain, comfortable sailing for me and hair-dye.
I never, ever stick with the same hair dye; brand or colour. I don't know if this is a bad thing or not? I simply pick the colour that I like the most when I go into the shop. I've gone from L'Oreal to XXL, to Garnier and now on to the dreaded 'own brand' product. Just kidding, I'm no brand snob. I bought it because it was cheap and, boy, do I love cheap?!
I managed to get the dye for under £4 which I thought was a steal, compared to the normal £6 or £7 that I spend on hair dye (I appreciate that this is nothing compared to £60, £70 or maybe even £80 in a salon) and here's what I thought.
I went for the shade 'Natural Light Baby Ash Blonde' as my roots were in dire need of lightening, and this was one of the blondest shades I could find. Inside the box were all the usual contents so we got started straight away. (By 'we' I mean me and my dad, yes, my dad dyes my hair for me. Weird? Maybe, but he's so good at it... New profession, perhaps?)
The first thing that struck me was that there seemed to be A LOT of product. I mean that in a good way. I used to use two bottles of hair-dye before I got my hair cut, but this time there was still some dye left even after my entire hair had been covered, which is great.
I found the dye to be slightly itchy but, having said that, most hair-dyes seem to irritate my scalp a bit. I don't get rashes or turn bright red or any unfortunate side-effects like that, but it was slightly uncomfortable as it felt like it was getting really hot on my scalp.
I left the colour on for ten minutes longer than recommended (I always do this) just so I could get a better result. When it came to rinsing, the dye washed out of my hair so easily and after shampooing and conditioning (I used the Superdrug colour performance conditioner which came in the pack), my hair felt really sleek and smooth.
The only issue I had with the after-care was that the conditioner had a really odd smell; to me it smelt of Sudocrem, which is a new one for me in terms of hair-dye. I've never smelt a conditioner like that before! That's not to say it was unpleasant, it certainly got rid of the dreaded scent of hair-dye which usually clings on to my hair for dear life for at least 3 days.
As usual, I let my hair dry naturally and when I woke up in the morning the colour was light, blonde but not brassy, and it felt incredibly silky and manageable. My family all commented on how good the colour looked and my roots are now practically non-existent.
All in all, I'd say this is a fantastic budget beauty product. Although the results may not be as good as some of the leading, and more expensive, brands - for the price, I really can't complain. Here's a before and after:
As you can see, my hair 'before' was quite brassy and yellow, with horrendous black roots.
Now it is much lighter and my roots are more disguised; the dye also got rid of my brassy tones.
Apologies for the poor quality of the photographs; I've been using the camera on my phone and I've literally just taken the second photo just before writing this post, and just before washing my hair! These photos, I feel, don't really show how good the product was but, honestly, it's worth every penny.
Do you use any budget hair products?
Which would you recommend?
Lots of Love,
Becci xo
