I have been overblonding my hair myself for years now, and it seemed each time I colored my hair was bright white-yellow on the bottom and my natural dark blonde at my roots. Very Britney Spears; not very sexy. I decided to do the big change myself by tossing on a deeper base and some nice highlights with L’Oreal Couleur Experte Haircolor in #9.2, “Light Beige Blonde Creme Brulee”. I had some initial concerns, as the color on the box looks VERY warm and almost red in the undertones, yet it notes that it is a “Cooler” shade. I was also concerned that applying color and highlights one right after another might dry my hair too much, but the box said to do it so I did it!
The base color was a nice creamy formula, and my bleachy hair sucked up the color like it was dying of thirst. I was a bit dubious because during the 25-minute waiting process, parts of the color sitting on my hair looked dark red, while others appeared to have that signature bluish green tinge that often comes with ashy colors. I was surprised that the haircolor instructed me to condition with my regular conditioner; though it was nice to not have another L’Oreal product hawked at me, I thought, “Will this be enough moisture for my tortured hair?” Though I had visible roots, the base color came out cool, uniform and natural-looking. It was so nice in fact that I considered leaving it that way…but I gotta test the whole product for you guys!
I dried and styled as instructed and, liking the base color more and more, I became rather nervous about the highlights. Still, the box hadn’t lied about the cooler shade, so I wanted to get some golden tones in there if possible. The highlights went on fabulously with the nifty little tongs-style applicator the box came with. (It comes with the typical mascara wand type applicator too, if you’re wanting less defined streaks of highlights.) I was then instructed to wait another 15 minutes and condition with the conditioner they’d hidden in the highlighting compartment - ah-HA! I knew they couldn’t put out a haircolor without some special conditioner. I got done, dried it all and discovered natural, pretty highlights that weren’t hugely different from the base color - but of course, that makes it easier for the average DIY colorist to get it looking cute.
The verdict: 5/5 stars! Overall, I really liked the result. The kit was easy to use, and the color came out nice, professional and natural. I’ll definitely be using this again, but I might pick a different shade just to change it up.
L’Oreal Couleur Experte Easy 2-in-1 Color + Highlights is available at Drugstore.com for $14.99.
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