This product review is being blogged mostly for my own reference. Note to self: DO NOT choose shade 27a from Natural Instincts ever again! My hair colour is naturally medium-dark brown and the texture is coarse and wavy. I would consider it to be quite difficult to work with and very difficult to find a compatible new style for. My hair seemed to be only slightly wavy before I got the good ol' 80s perm when I was 16. After that, it seemed to stay really curly. I let it grow for years and ended up with long hair, probably about to my waste at about age 24. I went to hairdresser only on occasion (maybe once a year) and rarely (if ever) used any colouring products (since the 80s cap-highlights, that is). Anyway, in my late twenties my curls were not as predictable and gray hairs were started to rear.
Out of advice from a family member who is a stylist, I started using Natural Instincts. First of all, I need to post a picture of my natural hair colour. I will leave a space here and try to find one!
I had success a few times at around age 30 (including for my wedding) with colour # 28 - Nutmeg, dark brown. This provided solid, all over dark brown colour. Very dark, but very even. This is a do-it-yourself product that claims to be more gentle than permanent colour. It washed out in about 28 shampoos, though I find that darker colours last longer than that. Anyway, I got sick of the dark Nutmeg shade and decided to venture out.
This is my hair before today's not-so-fortunate episode in colouring:
Before - my hair has a few subtle highlights (foils) in these photos
I believe I tried Expresso once before. I think this was about two years ago, after our first son was born. I don't think I liked the results then, so I don't know why I put it into my hair today! This newest chapter in hair colour started a couple days ago when I bought Natural Instincts on sale at Shoppers. The lady there recommended a shade, but when I got home I saw on the box that it was intended for hair that is naturally lighter than mine. I called Clairol and the CR Representative recommended #24 Ash brown. I went back to the store but was confused by all the choices. I also thought that #24 looked really dull on those silly-little hair samples that they have. I called Clairol again today and the person I spoke with recommended #20 Hazelnut, medium brown. I was going to listen, I really was -- too bad they were all out at the store and I decided to throw caution to the wind and try Expresso (forgetting about previous experience).
A disaster
These pictures probably don't really show it - but my hair is really dark with some purple and red colours. Strange. I will be going with a plain, brown selection like #20 or #24 next time...if there is a next time. We'll see how the colour changes after a wash or two...hopefully the weird tones fade out a bit. Anyway, that is my story. I have liked this product in the past, but not the last several time that I used it. I could probably do better by doing the strand test, but who has time for that!!?? I did the colouring today while both kids were napping! Too bad it didn't turn out A cool, new hair colour would have been refreshing!
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