Oh boy, do I have a story to tell you about this hair dye’s results… or lack of results! So don’t go anywhere if you want to hear all about an affordable home dye kit that promises “intense colour and shine, even on dark bases.” And yes, everything in this blog that is written in quotation marks is a direct quote from the box.
Let me start by saying that I was really excited to try this product out. I bought it because the anticipation of the changing seasons encouraged me to start a new chapter in my style life. The dye is Nutrisse Ultra Color by Garnier, and the colour is Acai Berry (number 421). This simple one step process is said to deliver “an ultra-intense, shiny violet,” “even on naturally dark hair.” Oh, wow, so many promises and high hopes! There are three Before pics of different shades of hair (ranging from dark blonde to black) and their accompanying After pics. With the darkest Before hair colour being “darkest brown to black” and my natural hair being soft black with some red/brown undertones, I easily fit into this category. I could already visualize myself with the gorgeous, rich violet result shown in the After pic! My heart was racing as I came home, read the instructions on the insert, then wrapped a towel around my shoulders and started the adventure.
Mixing the colour concoction was simple. It didn’t take my years of experience in chemistry labs to figure this out, especially with detailed illustrations on the insert. You just snip off the top of the applicator bottle, add the colour cream, and then shake to mix. Then came the fun part: The application. It was simple and did not drip during the application. With a product like this, who needs to go to a salon? I felt like a professional stylist, artist, and scientist all at the same time. The whole process went so smoothly, AND I did not have to lift my hair first. The instructions just said to apply directly to my natural hair.
I spent the entire 35-minute development time daydreaming about how glorious my hair would look as I flipped it over my shoulder and let the “shine-enhancing technology” do its thing. When the development time was over, I could hardly contain my excitement as I practically skipped to the shower to rinse out the dye and then use the Rich Nourishing Conditioning Cream.
Before we go any further, have you seen Pscho (1960)? Get ready for flashbacks… Remember the iconic scene when Marion Crane (played by Janet Leigh) was stabbed to death in the shower, and we saw her blood flowing down the drain… That’s what it looked like in my shower. But instead of blood, my hair was bleeding out violet coloured water! The acai berry-coloured water took forever to “rinse thoroughly until the water [ran] clear.” I guess that can be seen as a win- I’d rather be standing in dye coloured water than in a puddle of my own blood à la Marion as her lifeless body fell and was draped over the side of the tub. But the amount of dye that came out of my hair, contrary to the claims of “ultra long-standing hold,” was unbelievable. If Hitchcock was still alive, he could use this dye for bloody shower scenes in a black and white movie.
An eternal optimist, I still thought that things would turn out. I let my hair air dry (my usual method of drying my hair) and ran to a mirror, expecting to see a whole new version of me to be looking back. But nope. I saw the same person with the same coloured hair as a few hours earlier looking back at me. I looked in envy at the protective gloves that I used when dying my hair. They taunted me from the garbage can. They were a beautiful shade of violet… a shade that my hair had no hints of. Can you imagine that- a HAIR dye having no effect on human hair- yet being effective on an inanimate pair of plastic gloves that had no desire to change colour. I’ve never felt so betrayed by a beauty product in my life!
This whole fiasco was fun but disappointing. The thrill of waiting for my new violet coloured hair to develop outweighs the disappointment and waste of time and money. But my natural brown highlights are a dull brown now and have lost their shiny, healthy appearance. That part alone is enough to make me NOT recommend this product to anyone who has dark brown or black/blackish hair.
If you have had success with this product without having to bleach/lift your hair, I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Or if you have a hair dye horror story, please share those as well! I think we can join as a community and have a laugh as we commiserate over bad dye or bleach/lifting jobs.
Janice MacGregor 