Clairol Nice'n Easy

 This is a product which is readily available and very often reduced in price. I'll confess that I was seduced by not only the mark down but also a pretty comprehensive range of colours.
 
For the record, I chose 114C (Light Chestnut Brown) which doesn't appear on the Clairol website so maybe it's been discontinued.

As with all hair dyes, you need to do an allergy test 48 hours in advance. And here is the first con: you need to mix the colour and developer and use this for your patch test. I find this a massive pain as I can't just do the patch test on the spur of the moment. I have to be organised enough to find something to mix them together in and by that stage I have found something else to do.

You apply the dye to dry hair (a definite plus) and ideally you will have done a strand test to work out the perfect development time ... or you leave for 20-25 minutes.

As with all permanent colours, Nice'n Easy promises 100% grey coverage but I was a little disappointed.  Despite the much vaunted (by the ads) multi-tonal colouring, the greys turned out (as they so often do) a deepish pink which faded very quickly.

I liked that the conditioner treatment was resealable but, as far as I'm concerned, the faff with the allergy test and the less than awesome grey coverage far outweigh that.  In a hair colour, I think the most important thing is even, persistent coverage and on this count, Nice'n Easy did not deliver.

Widely available.  RRP about $12.99 though often on special

Clairol.

Source: purchase.

Garnier Nutrisse

I colour my hair intermittently.  As a rule, I don't make New Year resolutions, but I am on a constant quest to treat my hair better.  Last year I managed to do semi-regular hair cuts:  my hairdresser reckons I can get away with a cut every 10 weeks and I skipped just one of those.

I already have a weekly hair mask routine under control so this year, I'm going to try keeping my colour up.  After all, there's nothing worse than a last minute invite somewhere when your hair's looking a little sad.

Hair colouring in a salon is pretty expensive (my hairdresser charges about $60), but you can usually pick up a permanent colour for around the $10-15 mark.  That's a big saving, given that your time investment is likely to be around the same.  I'm sure a colour done in salon looks a little better but no one is ever inspecting my hair that carefully!

This time round I chose Garnier Nutrisse colour 5.25 (Frosted Chestnut).  Skin test done, I was ready to colour. 

Good things at the start:  you apply to dry hair, not too smelly and the conditioner comes in a resealable container, rather than a sachet.

I always find colours a pain to rinse out and this was no different. 


Grey coverage was very good, and the colour has lasted really well.  Unlike many reddish colours, the white hairs haven't faded to pink - they've held the actual colour.

Definitely both a product and a colour I'd use again.  Though knowing me I'd experiment with a different colour!