I've been coloring my own hair for some time now, as was stated in my Manic Panic blog entry a few months ago. It saves me money and usually it turns out fine. Against my better judgement however, I decided to go w/ the Garnier Nutrisse color cream in 'True Red'this time, over my usual auburn shade of L'oreal Preference.
The difference was palpable. The L'oreal color is a liquid that you combine w/ the developer and which is quite thin after mixing. It's about the consistency of hair gel and is very easy to spread through the hair, saturating it thoroughly. I use a tint brush and have never had a problem w/ it. However, the Garnier color was a very thick cream and for that reason, I had difficulty getting it even. After I piled my hair on top of my head, waiting for the color to process, I already was developing misgivings. Sure enough, upon rinsing, I realized that the color had taken really well at the crown but the ends showed very little change.
Taking the advice of one of my channel subscribers, I bought a professional grade hair color from L'oreal at Sally's, one of their 'Mega Reds' options. I attempted to even the color out by applying it principally to the ends but ended up w/ a very mottled and very dark hair color. Ugh!
Once again, Manic Panic comes to the rescue. Since the crown of my head was a very deep burgundy, I decided to go w/ one of their blue based reds. The color I chose was called 'Pillarbox Red' and it looked like red Tempera paint. Using the same techniques as I had before, I applied the color and let it process about thirty minutes before rinsing. The result is a very deep cranberry and thankfully, it's mostly even. As you can see from the photo above, it's very different than the warm reds I've had in the past, and which I prefer. But it's very definitely preferable to the muddy mess that was there before.
Lesson learned: When you have good results with a product, DON'T bother changing it!
