**LIKE ALL HAIR DYES, A 48 HOUR SKIN TEST MUST BE PERFORMED BEFORE USING THE DYE!**

I have coloured my hair for years and I always find it a nuisance. It drips, or it's too thick, there's too much, not enough, it's not even, it smells, it's hard to apply, takes too long to develop, and so on and so on.

I needed a new hair dye so on a whim I chose John Frieda's Precision Foam in extra light blonde. I chose it simply because it sounded easy to apply. On the back of the box is a picture of a woman with patchy colour, which is EXACTLY what happens to me, and then a picture of the woman after using the foam and having no patchy colour. I was sold! It cost me £9.99 from Boots which is almost twice the price of most normal hair dyes, but this didn't put me off too much. It is available in a number of shades from black to dark browns, light browns and blonde.

Inside the box is a bottle of colourant, a bottle of developer, a tube of conditioner, the instructions, a pump (the lid that goes on the developer bottle) and a pair of black rubber gloves which I found to be a very tight fit. The instructions are very clear which I was thankful for as it is my first time using a foam.

Mixing the dye is easy. You pour the colorant into the developer, screw the lid on and tilt it upside down 5 times. You don't shake it or tilt it more than five times. (Tilting it more often does not increase the foam). I noticed that it still looked liquidy and unmixed so I admit to tilting it a few more times but only because I didn't tilt it properly the initial five times (I didn't tilt it upside down fully). When mixed, it is still liquid. I was expecting it to be foam somehow. Anyway, you then remove the lid and screw on the pump lid.

*********

There are two methods of colouring. To make the foam, you squeeze the middle of the bottle gently. This produces the foam which is quite thick, a bit like shaving foam.

FOR ROOT TOUCH UP:

Spread a tennis ball sized amount of foam onto your roots, massage gently. Leave for 10 mins. Spread through the rest of the hair, leave another 10 mins. 20 mins total time. Rinse and apply conditioner.

FOR FULL HEAD COLOUR:

Spread a tennis ball amount onto your roots, part hair and do all roots. Massage gently. Spread throughout the rest of the hair. Keep adding foam and massaging until hair is over saturated with foam. Leave for 20 mins, or 30 mins for stubborn greys. Rinse and apply conditioner.

*********

I did a full head colour as my roots were a bit too long and my hair was quite patchy. I found that the foam came out very easily and quickly and was very easy to apply. At first I couldn't smell it, but the more I applied, the more it smelled - it is a nice smell, a lot like the Sheer Blonde shampoos actually. It doesn't drip, so you are free to move about without worrying about getting dye everywhere. The fact that it was a foam meant it was very easy to apply, and massaging it in reassured me that I would not end up with patchy colour. The main problem with other hair colours is applying it correctly and getting all the hair done. With the foam, this is easy - you massage it in which makes it a whole lot easier. Rinsing it out was easier than other dyes, but it did take a while.

The conditioner is thick, white and creamy and smells lovely. It is easy to apply and you leave it on for 3-5 minutes to condition the hair and lock the colour in. You then use it weekly. My gripe with this is that there isn't that much of it.

The result? Very pleased. My hair is not patchy at all! It used to be patchy every time I coloured but not this time. The colour is fantastic, just as I expected/hoped it would be. My hair is soft and smells nice. It's a tonal colour, which means it has depth and tone and is not plain or brassy. It also did not cover my highlights like other dyes do, so my highlights are still visible. The dye did take a while to apply, but that is a price worth paying for thorough, easy application. All in all, I am very pleased and will be using this all the time in future.

MY REVIEWS APPEAR ON CIAO AND DOOYOO UNDER USERNAME PINKPRINCESS24/244