My trip to the dark side

My natural hair colour is a very boring mousey brown, and as a result I have been colouring my hair since I was about 15. Since then I've been every shade of brown from golden to almost black, an illadvised plum colour, and, most recently, blonde.

I've been having my hair highlighted for over two years, and each time I got a new set of highlights my hair would get blonder and blonder, until I recently decided that enough was enough - my hair was getting too blonde for my complexion, and the bleach was leaving it dry and damaged. On top of this, highlights are bloomin' expensive - the cheapest I ever managed to get my hair done still set me back £40. All of the above led me to the same conclusion - it was time to go back to the dark side.

Being the cheapskate that I am, I chose to colour my hair with a DIY kit rather than going to a salon to get it done professionally. The dye that I used was Garnier Nutrisse Creme in 'Dark Golden Brown', which I found in Wilkinsons for £4 (yes, Wilkinsons...in my defence, I went in looking for lightbulbs). I used to use colours from the same range when I was dying my hair before I had it highlighted, so I was quietly confident that it wouldn't end in disaster.

Before, during & after...

The dye is enriched with shea butter, as well as the oils of avacado, olive and blackcurrent, and as soon as I opened the box I was struck by a very pleasant smell. This dissipated slightly once I'd mixed the colourant, but at the end of the day I didn't buy the dye for it to make my hair smell nice. My lovely housemate Anna applied the dye for me, and the applicator bottle seemed fairly idiot proof - a simple plastic bottle with a nozzle to squeeze the dye through. It wasn't a particularly messy process, but then I had wrapped myself in some mouldy curtains just in case. Anna applied the whole bottle to my hair, which falls just below shoulder length, so if you have longer hair you may want to consider buying two packs of dye.

I waited the 25 minute development period, and then rinsed the dye out in the shower. When the water finally ran clear, I applied the nourishment creme treatment that came in thepack, and was then finally ready to dry my hair and see how the colour had come out!

Overall I'm pleased with my new hair colour - I definitely wouldn't want it any darker as it would probably start to wash my face out - but I'm happy with the warm tones that shine through; it's a nice rich brown colour. The dye gave full coverage, although this is probably as much due to Anna's hairdressing skills as the dye itself. The box promises that this product will prevent dryness in my hair for eight weeks, but as an extra precaution I am going to be using a lot of nourishing treatments over the next few weeks to help protect my locks from the damage that colouring can cause, particularly as I'm trying to grow my hair long again.

If you're thinking of colouring your hair, then I'd be happy to recommend Garnier Nutrisse. At £4 I'd class this product as a bargain, especially when considering that I'd be paying at least 10x as much for highlights! I can't say that I want to stay brunette forever, as I did love my blonde hair - but for the time being I'm pleased with the results that I got using this dye. Get it online from Wilkinson's here, or pop into your local store to avoid paying delivery.

I'd love to know your (honest) thoughts on my new hair colour, so please post a comment below!

4/5