Clairol Natural Instincts

July 3, 2009 09:02 AM | Comments (0) | Posted in budget beauty, product review, do it yourself, clairol, Product Review

What: Angela changes it up with Natural Instincts
The Lowdown: There was a time when coloring your hair at home was a real risk—not only were the results not guaranteed to be great, they were permanent. Natural Instincts was one of the first non-permanent haircolors (lasts through twenty-some shampoos) we can remember on the market, and has managed to stick around for a reason.
If you’ve never colored your hair before, Natural Instincts is super easy to use. Mix it in the applicator bottle, and apply to damp hair. Leave on for somewhere between 10-20 minutes, and rinse and condition. The result? Consistently good color, super soft shiny hair, and a little body boost for good measure.
The downside of Natural Instincts is that for the best result, you need to stay within a range of your own haircolor—so for dramatic transformations, you’ll have to go another route (we’d recommend the salon for anything drastic, natch). And, as someone who has used this product for long stretches, I’ve found that when used repeatedly over long periods of time, it doesn’t completely wash out anymore. But in general, if you’re of a mind to make more subtle haircolor changes (add a little red, tone down the brass) on a regular basis, Natural Instincts is a reliable option.
The Verdict: Yea. The color is in fact natural-looking, lasting, and cheap—even if you use it EVERY month, it’s less than $10 per application.
Buy It: Wal-Mart, Target, Drugstore

Clairol Nice N’ Easy Root Touch-Up: Product Review

July 25, 2008 09:23 AM | Comments (0) | Posted in product review, clairol, Product Review, hair color

What: Angela takes Clairol Nice ‘n Easy Root Touch-Up for a test run.

The Lowdown: When the budget gets tight, getting your hair colored somehow doesn’t make it to the top of the priority list (seems that everyone else in the household wants stuff like food and electricity—go figure). That being said, when you’ve already been coloring your hair and have a half-inch of unsightly root to contend with, what’s a girl to do? Take matters into your own hands, as cheaply as possible, that’s what. Enter Clairol’s Nice N’ Easy Root Touch-Up home color kit. For less than $7, it promises a perfect color match, no matter what product you’ve used previously, salon or home color. Hmmmm.

While a perfect match was hard for me (a veteran of multiple color disasters) to imagine, as it turns out Clairol makes good on this particular promise. Using the broadly-named “dark brown” shade, I slipped on the rubber gloves, mixed up the color in the plastic tray provided, and applied to dry hair with the handy little application brush. The color went exactly where it was supposed to, with relatively little fuss or muss. The best part? After rinsing out and blowdrying, my roots matched seamlessly with the rest of my hair (which had been salon colored previously), and here I am a week later, with my roots still looking great. Which means I can wait just a little longer for my next full color, which in the long run saves me some dough. Which makes me happy.

Yea or Nay: Yea, especially if you normally get your hair colored at the salon—it’s cheap, easy, and will extend the life of your regular colorings, meaning you save money. Your colorist might not like it, but he doesn’t have to pay your credit card bill, does he?

Buy it: Online for $6.99 at Drugstore, but I got it for closer to $6 at my local WalMart.