Hair Experiment: L'Oreal Excellence HiColor Intense Red

After a hectic couple of months, I decided to change it up a bit.  However, I do like to kept it a little in my comfort zone.  Once again, I visited the hair color aisle at Sally's Beauty Supply and picked up another box of red hair coloring.

I asked the sales associate what is the best hair dye for my dark hair without bleaching.  After telling her some of the hair dyes I had used before, she recommended L'Oreal Excellence HiColor Intense Red for dark hair with a 30 volume developer.

 I used two boxes of the hair color because the past has taught me that one box is never enough.  My hair tends to absorb anything placed on it quickly, hence why my hair tends to dry up so fast after a wash.

I was a little bit intimidated by the bright red color of the dye.  While I wanted obvious red hair, Crayola was not the color intensity I wanted to achieve.  After some hesitation, I parted and braided my hair and lathered it up.

Coloring the hair, while avoiding the roots, I left the color on for 20 minutes (like the box instructed) and then colored the roots for the last 10 minutes.

Now of all the hair color treatments I have tried, I had never had such a bright red dye.  If you check out some of my other color posts, you can see for yourself.  So I was kind of excited thinking for once I may actually achieve the color I wanted, but panic kicked in.  What if my hair does come out crazy red?

When I first rinsed my hair, I was highly upset. I could see no hint of red.  However, the next morning my husband told me the red was definitely obvious.  Unfortunately, I couldn't capture the red in a picture.  But I wanted the red to be a bit more intense, so two weeks later I tried the color again.

The pictures above are of my hair before the second dye job.  Once again, I colored it in it's natural state.  Now, the first time I colored my hair with this dye, I used the John Frieda Radiant Red Colour Protecting Conditioner after rinsing. I didn't use shampoo.

I washed my hair once after the first hair dye job and I used the John Frieda Radiant Red Colour Protecting Shampoo and Conditioner.

These are the results after the second dye...

It is hard to capture the red in pictures. But the last picture is the best I could get after multiple tries in various locations and lighting.  The color of my hair is more obvious in real life, though in different lighting it has some what of a purple red hue to it.

This time, I did shampoo my hair with the John Frieda shampoo mentioned above and used a product specifically meant to lock in the color after the dye job.  Also, I left the color on my hair for 30 minutes the second round before coloring my roots.  I think both things made a huge difference.

I am very happy with the results and with this product and would definitely recommend to my fellow dark haired colors who are trying to avoid bleach. Hell, I have even received quite a few comments, questions, and compliments about the color.

This line does have other levels of intensity, but this is the color I had been trying to achieve for awhile.  I will probably dye my hair one more time in about a month or 2 and will definitely post an update on here or Instagram.

Until my next dye job:-)