Oh my god - look at the colour! (Jerome Russell Bblonde Permanent Hair Lightener)

Member Name: whitby

Product:	Jerome Russell Bblonde Permanent Hair Lightener
Date:	14/07/02 (5813 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Doesn't damage hair condition too much

Disadvantages: 40% strength, quite dangerous to correct, peroxide blonde result not made clear on packaging

I have today spent 3 hours and £40 at the hairdressers correcting the awful mess that I made of my hair using this product.

You'd have thought that after my experiences with Sun-In at school I would have learnt to leave hair colouring to the professionals.

I've been ridiculed with names such as 'Canary' 'Carrot Top' and 'Rainbow' ever since I tried this product nearly two weeks ago.

Some of it is due to my own making but I also feel that the product is to blame.

I have mousey brown hair that was untreated until my experiment. I previously had highlights, perms and other treatments, all of which took well according to my hairdresser. I'd just had the last strands of highlights cut out before I went on holiday to Bournemouth.

Normally, using the south coast sun and some freshly squeezed lemon juice, I can recreate the lovely blonde streaks through my hair.

The weather this time in Bournemouth was wet and miserable so whilst in Boots the chemist I decided to purchase a hair colorant.

There are many products to choose from, previously I had used products such as Sun-In that is sprayed onto the hair and left. This never seemed to be the light blonde that I was looking for so my eye was drawn to the permanent hair colour shelf. I had a good look and then walked away, deciding to leave it to the professionals.

The downfall to my story is that I mentioned the idea to my mum, who encouraged me to give it a go.


HOW DID I DECIDE ON THE PRODUCT?

I've always thought the Nice and Easy range to be old and frumpy. My gaze was instantly drawn to the fashionable looking tube from Jerome Russell. It is gold in colour and has a picture of a blonde bombshell on the front (exactly like the picture Dooyoo have next to the product details). The wording states Blonde permanent hair lightener for maximum blonding with natural shine for fair to light br
own hair easy to use complete kit - SOLD!

The reverse of pack gave two before and after pictures. A blonde that went light blonde after 20-60 minutes action from the product and a dark brown haired person that went just lighter than mousey in 60-90 minutes. I wanted to be in between the end result colour, so decided to give this one a go.

The deciding factors were the trendy looking packet (shallow), the end result picture and the ease of use instructions. This information put a smile on my face, so I decided to part with my £4.99. I left Boots a very happy customer.


WHAT DID I DO?

Being a little scared of trying this all over hair colorant product (highlighting packs were another option but a little tricky) I followed the advice and read the instructions thoroughly. I shan't go into extreme detail but will instead list the three simple steps on the reverse of the packet and comment on how I got on with each.


***Step 1***

Preparation - the box/leaflet states:
Ensure hair is clean, dry and tangle free. Mix the sachet of powder with the peroxide and stir until smooth and creamy.


I had no problems here, gloves are provided so that the bleach doesn't damage our hands. A deep black pot is given to mix the liquid peroxide with the blue (yes blue) powder. I used the brush that was provided to mix the ingredients together. I managed to get most of the lumps of powder out quite quickly and there were only a few bumps left. I realised that my hair had to be tangle free to enable an all-over and unpatchy result, so I spent a long time detangling my shoulder length hair.

I completed a test, taking a strand of hair from behind my ear, I stroked the potion over it and timed how long it took to get to my chosen colour of a darker blond (like the picture that tempted me). This took 20 minutes and I recorded my time on the slot in the leaflet. This was a good idea provided by
the company. It would be particularly useful next time I used the product as I could then skip the time test.


***Step 2***

Application - the box/leaflet states:
Full Head application. First apply the cream to the end and middle lengths of hair. Leave root application until last. Massage any excess cream throughout the hair. Leave to develop to the desired stage.

I was a little worried that there wouldn't be enough mixture, but it spread evenly and well through my hair. I followed the instructions and completed the covering of my roots last. Then placed the plastic cap over my head. The idea being that as the potion heats up, the colouring effect takes place.

Here's were it goes pear shaped. Being tempted to see how it was progressing I had a peep after five minutes and my hair was turning yellow at the middles/ends and all appeared good. Five minutes later I looked again and the middle and ends were very very light and the roots and middles section were ginger!

Oh my god! I phoned my mum in her hotel room, but she didn't seem to understand the crisis I thought was beckoning. So I pulled a top on inside out and back to front (I'd stripped off so as not to ruin my clothes with peroxide), grabbed my key and ran barefoot through the hotel to her room. The minute she saw it she screamed 'Agggh what have you done!' My Dad was in the bathroom so we had to run back to my room and quickly exercise step 3!


***Step3***

Rinse and Condition - the box/leaflet states:
Rinse with warm water using the conditioning shampoo provided. Finally use a separate conditioner to ensure your hair is soft, shiny and easy to manage.


Well I did all of the above whilst my Mum sat on the loo laughing at me. Imagine how I felt! When I looked in the mirror my hair was white, yellow and orange with light brown roots!




WHAT NOW?

I towel dried
my hair and it still appeared three colours - ginger, yellow, and brown. Using a hairdryer did calm me a little, as gradually my hair did become one colour in the main part, with darker roots underneath. However as I am quite pale, the hair seemed to be the only thing I noticed when looking in the mirror!

We telephoned the local rate helpdesk number as advised in the leaflet if hair is too light, but that just told me to write to the company, something that I didn't have time to do as I wanted it corrected now!

I spent the following days hiding in the car whilst my Mum went into chemists trying to obtain a quality toner (another suggestion in the leaflet). Unfortunately many pharmacists didn't have a clue what she was talking about. I went into a punk hairdressers, and they were very helpful and said it was great. The only thing they could do to correct it was make it lighter or turn it purple or pink!

I ended up phoning my own hairdresser who has told me to use cover my hair with Head and Shoulders for 20 minutes at a time to try and pacify the colour, she will then see me next Saturday to try and make it more natural. I could hear the other stylists in the background giggling and asking if I was canary or banana - oh no, a laughing stock!

In short - Paul thinks it's hilarious and has told everyone, I've done my shopping via www.tesco.com so that I don't have to go out, and I'm digging out my Damon Hill baseball caps!

Since my return home today, I have read the other opinions on this product and they all talk about the peroxide blonde result, I think if this had been described better on the product packaging then I would not have been caught out.

My hairdresser has managed to apply a toner to it today and I am still blonder than I would like but at least my hair is the same colour all over. She was quite surprised that this was a 40% peroxide mix. The toner that corrected my error
was 20% and took affect brilliantly. The top where I massaged the lotion in is still lighter than the rest as it had longer to 'stew', but overall I am happy and can walk the streets again.




PROS
My hair, although multi coloured due to the early washing out, is still smooth and soft and does not feel damaged which is great!

The kit is very simple to use and very well described with pictures.

The massaging method of getting all over colour works well.


CONS
Despite the timing test, please exercise care and keep a careful watch on what is happening.

The help line is not a help line, just a signpost to the company address. No help in my time of crises, it just added to my panic.

It can't be changed immediately - it is permanent as it says on the packaging, please bear this in mind.

I'm unlikely to purchase it again - It's wrecked my self-confidence!



Tips to future users.
Of course because of the disaster, I have been over and over the instructions asking myself 'What could I have done differently' and 'where did I go wrong'. These tips are my own learning's that may help future consumers:

Ensure that there are absolutely no bumps of powder when mixing your potion.

When making a strand test, do not use a darker part of your hair. Use an area that has a colour and texture that is common to most of your hair. I think that using the darker hair behind my ear may have affected my test time.

Don't leave it to the luck of the gods; consider keeping a little mixture back and regularly rinse sections of your hair to see if it has reached the desired colour. If it is not the colour you want reapply the lotion and keep checking back.

Again keep some of the lotion for damage limitation. When I panicked and washed of the colorant, it meant that my roots had had the minimum amount
of time to brew! So when the colour was washed off, my roots were darker. I wish I'd had some potion left to touch this area up after the initial shock had died down. Then my hair would just be two colours (ginger and white/blond) rather than ginger, white blond and light brown.


I have classified as a poor product because of the results, the colour description and the helpline.
However if you want peroxide blonde hair then this does do the trick and doesn't seem to damage your hair like other products. The rating is my personal experience and may just make people stop and think before applying it.


Jerome Russell
Hampton
Middlesex
TW12 2HR

www.jeromerussell.biz

0845 6015783

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