A Washed Out Blonde Bombshell (Laboratoire Garnier Natea)

Member Name: shewhosmiles

Product:	Laboratoire Garnier Natea
Date:	12/08/02 (638 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Inexpensive, Colour eventually nice, Attractive packaging

Disadvantages: Colour washing out, Takes longer to apply

A long, long time ago, back in the days before videos, microwaves, camcorders, cd players, personal computers and punks appeared I had my first encounter with an hair colourant.

I was only 14 and fed up with being mousy picked the colour that I fancied from Woollies. When my mother saw the results she dragged me straight up to the bathroom shreiking (both of us) and washed my hair over and over until all of the colour came out. I didn't know that my favourite colour red would look bloody awful on me. Fortunately it was just a 6 wash rinse and not a permanent colour else my mother might have washed my hair away.

A few years later I became a Hiltone bleached blonde and then used Wood Nymph Oats - remember those girls? Since then I've been a blonde on and off and have mainly stuck to Clairol Nice n Easy beige blonde.

Because my natural colour isn't madly dark and the roots don't scream at you I can get away with colouring my hair once every 3 or 4 months rather than every few weeks when the roots are showing. I have a splattering of grey that looks more like highlights when I'm my natural colour. Because of that grey I have to be careful when choosing colourants because if they are not meant to cover grey your hair can turn orange.

Two weeks ago I decided that the time had come to re-colour my hair with Laboratoire Garnier Natea Nutricolour Masque, which I bought for £3.87 at Superdrug. Although I was happy with Nice n Easy I fancied a change and the masque in the title intrigued me. I honestly thought that the application might be simpler than the other products that I've used. Another plus was that the package states that it gives coverage of up to 100% grey hair in comparison to the 50% that Nice n Easy offers. Looking to the future when my hair gets greyer - probably after the Ciao meet - I assumed that this was a better product for me.

BATHROOM PREPARATION

Knowing that it would be a loc
k in unless I wanted to drip bleach all over the house, I made sure that I had everything that I needed for the next hour. Magazines, coffee, ciggies, foot sauna, towels, scissors and the Masque.

PACKAGING

What attracted me to this product initially was the cheerful yellow and green box with red white and green print. It looked great on the shelves, far more attractive than most of the other hair colourants and it conveys the impression of natural even though colouring your hair is not.

We are told that Laboratoires Garnier aim to offer women (don't men colour their hair?) hair colourants containing natural ingredients which are always more effective simpler and easier to use. Looking at the long list of chemical ingredients hidden away at the bottom of the box I feel that the focus on natural ingredients is a touch misleading.

On the front of the box you see a pretty blonde models face whose perfect image I would never be able to emulate no matter how many times I use this product. On the box lid the colour that I chose out of the many on offer, Golden Barley <light beige blonde>. I would have loved to have added the names of some of the other colours for the fun factor, but apart from one called Aphrodite I can’t remember the rest. Also you see 2 columns with 3 rows, headed ‘Your natural hair colour is’ and ‘Indication of colour result’. Usually the results indicated are nowhere near the results that I get but one of the colours is close now but might not be next week; we’ll go into that later.

OPEN THE BOX

Inside you find 5 items:
1) A see through plastic applicator bottle containing the developer milk
2) A squeezy tube containing the colourant
3) A plastic phial of nutritive fruit oil concentrate – perhaps the natural ingredients.
4) A sachet of after colour nourishing conditioner
5) A green and orange instruction leaflet

As all of
my previous hair dye purchases contained no more than a developer, colourant, conditioner and instructions I had a feeling at this point that the Masque with it’s extra item wasn’t going to be as simple as the bumff on the package leads you to expect.

PREPARATION

Attached to the instruction leaflet you find a pair of gloves. It is sensible to use these as apart from the possibility of staining the chemicals could irritate the skin on your hands. Once your gloves are on you pour the fruit oil into the applicator bottle and then squeeze the colourant in too. Firmly screw the applicator cap on and give it all a good shake until you have an even mixture. Snap off the self-breakable seal and use immediately.

Immediately is stressed. I vaguely remember reading years ago that if you leave mixed blonde colourants too long they expand like milk does if you freeze it. I guess that the bottle would eventually blow apart if that’s so and leave you with a mess to clear up.

PRECAUTIONS

No you can’t use the gloves as condoms. If you are prone to allergies you are advised to do a skin sensitivity test by applying a little of the mixture with a cotton bud to a square centimetre behind your ear or inside your elbow. Do not wash for 48 hours and if you notice itching or reddening during that time do not use the product.

48 hours before application you should also do a strand test to preview the colour results and see if your hair is in a good enough condition to take the colourant. To do both tests you can mix a teaspoon of the Masque with a teaspoon of the developer in a non-metallic bowl, but remember to re-screw both caps firmly.

Other advice given is to never use if scalp is irritated, sore or has any cuts and abrasions, keep out of the reach of children and pets and if it comes into contact with your eyes rinse immediately with clear water.

APPLICATION

I didn’t take p
recautions, preferring to dive straight in and worry about the results later. I applied the mixture to my hair while it was dry starting at the roots. Then spreading the remainder evenly throughout, massaging gently. As I have short hair one pack is plenty, for long hair you may need to use 2 packs.

Then the long wait sitting on the pot with my feet being massaged by my foot sauna, my brain being massaged with a magazine and my coffee and ciggie comforts at hand. Development time is 25 minutes but if your hair is particularly resistant leave for 35 minutes. I chose the middle path of 30 minutes.

After your time is up you apply a little water to your hair and gently massage, then wait a further 10 minutes groan. I didn’t have a jug in the bathroom as I didn’t expect this extra part of the process up to the other colourants that I’d used so not quite as simple. I got into the shower and did the massage bit but then I had ten minutes to kill under the shower and trying to avoid wetting my hair further. I complicated matters by shaving my legs and can laugh now at the thought of trying to balance on one leg while playing dodge the spray.

Ten minutes later it was a relief to rinse my hair thoroughly until the water ran clear. Then I found a use for my scissors and cut open the sachet of nourishing conditioner. Softly massaged it into my hair and left it for 2 minutes to do it’s job. Rinse thoroughly again and it’s time to escape from the bathroom.

RESULTS

I never have any idea what colour my hair is going to be until it’s totally dry so it’s hard to be patiently apprehensive during the wait. I wasn’t too impressed on first sight. The colour was rather yellowy and reminded me of my Hiltone days. I noticed that a little bit of grey was still apparent but it wasn’t too bad.

I expected to have to buy something to tone the colour down as I used to with Hiltone but each
wash since has done that for me. The colour is now quite light, less harsh and I like it. What I don’t like is that with every wash more grey has appeared. Probably not as noticeable to other people as it is to me. I find it surprising that a permanent colourant that isn’t supposed to wash out appears to be doing just that.

The condition of my hair was dry and no better or worse than when I've used alternative colourants.

Would I buy it again? No, I will go back to Nice n Easy until I have more than 50% grey because it’s a little simpler to use, doesn’t wash out and the colour is just as good.

P.S. Other colours than blonde are available.

Summary: