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L'Oréal Casting Creme Gloss
by Praskipark
***My Hair***
My hair is very long at the moment, nearly waist length. I've always loved long hair and for most of my life it has been in very good condition. Over the last couple of years the grey strands have crept in especially at the sides and I haven't been enamoured to them. I am a natural sort of girl who doesn't wear ... much make up and the thought of dyeing my hair has always freaked me out. Unfortunately, I didn't want to carry on wearing my hair long with lots of grey in it so I decided to take the plunge and dye it. The first time I used a dye with ammonia in, this worked well although the damn smell made my eyes water and I found the whole procedure tiresome. Last year, I decided to change the dye to one that didn't contain ammonia and came across L'Oreal's Casting Crème Gloss series in my local Carrefour. The price was the equivalent of £5.
***Why L'Oreal?***
I know there are hundreds of different hair products on the market and before I purchased the above mentioned dye I had done some homework by asking asked my daughter in law for some advice. She also has very long blonde hair and has used hair colouring for most of her life. She suggested L'Oreal because she thought it was a reputable make and she had used their products several times with success. I took her word for it and also liked the idea that this product, Casting Crème Gloss was ammonia free. No more runny eyes and stinky bathrooms! According to their marketing blurb this product 'provides shimmering, full shades of colour and optimal grey coverage.' It is also nourishes the hair. Sounds good to me - let's take a closer look.
***Packaging & Choice of Colour***
The packaging is like most other hair colouring packages, a box with a model advertising the colour you have chosen and a colour chart on the back except there is a perforated cut out section in the box that you tear away to fit the bottle of developer crème in, this is a good idea as it stops spillage.
I went with Dark Chocolate, No 323 and not any of the black shades. My hair was originally jet black but with living in the sun for many years in Portugal and ageing, the black has changed to a very dark brown with auburn highlights. My husband always says that our cat, Harvey has the same coloured coat. To dye my hair jet black at my age would be madness, it would make me look washed out all the time so I thought Dark Chocolate would have a softer effect on my skin colouring.
***Inside the box***
A pair of gloves tightly rolled up, when unrolled you will see that they are usually too big and made for the hands of a giant.
White plastic bottle of developer crème
Purple tin tube of colour - Dark Chocolate
Plastic applicator to fit on top of the Crème bottle after colour has been added
Useful Information Sheet
Except in this case it wasn't useful as it was all in Polish. If bought in the UK I assume the instructions will be in English. No worries, I could understand the step by step drawings and with my still only limited knowledge of the Polish language I got there in the end.
Small white plastic bottle of conditioner
***Application***
Warning: Before you apply the dye do the recommended patch test just in case of an allergic reaction!
Once the two parts (crème and colour) have been mixed together I applied with the nozzle applicator to dry hair as the pictures suggested. On the side bits I tended to add more of the colour as this is where the grey culprits were. I also hung my head over the bath so all my hair hung down over my head (like you do when playing air guitar) so I could colour the underside grey parts. I then left the colour on for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes I added extra colour and left it for another 10 minutes.
I rinsed and then applied the conditioner, rinsed again and hey presto; I had a new warm dark chocolate colour which was the same colour as on the box.
***Results***
The first time I used this product was last June. I was very pleased with the colour, it covered the grey up and my daughter-in-law said that my hair looked natural and very shiny. As this is a semi-permanent colour I knew the colour would fade with every wash so I was prepared for this. My hair seemed to keep a good colour for ages so the statement about lasting for 28 washes is about right. At this stage I had no doubts about this product.
***Now for the Bad news***
June was a hectic month for me last year, I did lots of travelling and the publishing was beginning to take off, and not long afterwards my husband was ill with his heart condition and I had a few health problems myself. I became concerned because my hair started to fall out at the sides. I went to the doc's and she thought it was a thyroid problem. After having all the tests there was no sign of a thyroid problem so I put the hair loss down to stress. Eventually, it grew back and all was well except that my husband and a few other people suggested that it could have been the hair colouring causing the loss. I wasn't convinced about this theory but now I am not so sure because 3 weeks after colouring my hair again using the same product my hair at the sides and front is depleting and every time I wash it a small handful of hair falls out.
My husband noticed it the other day and said, 'Your hair is going thin again - it must be the hair dye.' You know, I think he is right and I am not very happy about it but it's too late now, the damage has been done. I only hope it grows back quickly like before. In future I will use a vegetable dye or even let the grey shine forth and have my hair cut short. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this product, I am too scared to use it again in case I go bald! I realise that this may not happen to everyone using the same product but as far as I am concerned it is worrying and I am wary. It certainly seems ironic that the hair dye I very first used which contained ammonia didn't cause a hair loss problem.
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L'Oreal Triple Active Multi-Protection Moisturiser
by LucksterMango
I found L'oreal Triple Active Day Multi-Protection Moisteriser on offer and decided to treat myself to this promising looking item instead of buying the cheapest product on the skincare shelves as I usually do. The box had soft, subtle colours, suggesting a moisteriser that would be gentle on the skin and I personally preferred the ... simple looking design as I felt that I wasn't paying more money for the packaging but for the quality product inside. A little to my disappointment, the little white jar inside the box only contained a measly 50ml of moisteriser, but of course, luxury goods like to come in small amounts.
Triple Active Day is aimed towards normal and combination skin and although I consider myself to have oily skin, the product didn't cause any adverse effects nor did it exacerbate the problems that I have with my skin type.
I always use a facial wash in the morning which leaves my face squeaky clean but a bit on the dry side, and I treat this with a moisteriser. The Triple Active Day absorbed quickly and left my skin feeling silky and hydrated in the mornings, I didn't even need to use a lot as it spread very smoothly over a lot of my face. I didn't find it heavy or greasy at all and it held eyeshadow and both kohl and liquid eyeliner very well, even without a foundation. The moisteriser was ever so lightly scented, which sat well with me as I'm not one for heavily fragranced creams, and I couldn't smell it at all after application. At the end of the day, I would still be able to feel the silky layer on my face, protecting my pores from the city pollution and it washed off easily without any need for soap.
I didn't feel that I was anymore radiant with the added Vitamin E and ceramide, but I was glad for the UV filter as I'm quite concerned about the damaging effects of sun exposure. These extra ingredients clearly add to the price but I don't feel the radiant ones are justified since I didn't perceive any difference even after using the whole jar.
Overall, I was happy with the quality and if I ever find it on offer again I would buy it; I'm just not prepared to pay full price for such a small jar. I gave it 3 stars here, but it's more of a 3.5.
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