HEMA Hair Dye - Natural Medium Brown

Bonjour!

I had my first exam yesterday, and as I was walking home I felt a sudden urge to do something impulsive. So, I decided to buy some hair dye and dye my hair brown! Now, to be honest, it wasn't completely impulsive because I had been planning on doing this for a while now, I just didn't know when it was gonna happen yet. I loved having red hair and might go back to it one day, but I was kind of sick of it right now. It kept fading every time I washed it. I really love the vibrant copper look, but what I ended up with most of the time was a faded icky colour that just wasn't what I wanted. 

I've been wanting to try dark brown hair for such a long time! I've had black hair, but that was a little to harsh and made me look quite pale. I've also tried a lighter brown, which was nice, but it washed me out a little and didn't have the *pop* I generally look for in a hair colour. So this time, I wanted to do it right!

Since I am still in the middle of exams and (a) don't have time to go to the salon and (b) hate how the salon costs so much, I decided to dye it myself. I bought HEMA's 'Natural Medium Brown' hair dye, because I've had good experiences with the HEMA dyes before. So, I just popped it on, waited 30 minutes and tadaa!

It turned out quite dark actually. I suppose it will wash out and become gradually lighter, and then the red will start shining through again. I read a lot about people who complain about the redness in their hair when dying on top of red hair (which I personally think is pretty) but this dye covered it pretty well. It looks a teensy bit more red around my roots, because those had grown out and were lighter than the rest of my hair. Also, it looks really different depending on the light. In the evening it's really dark, but in the sun it's a very warm chestnut colour! 

Oh also, going from red to dark, kind of makes me feel like Willow gone dark! 

But don't worry, I'm still my dear sweet self. One of things I love most about dying my hair is how different it makes everything look. Your clothes look different on you, you skin and eye colour seem different (I though the red hair made my blue eyes pop, but holy cow so does the brown, right?) etc! 

So anyway, if you're thinking of dying your hair brown, or it's already dyed and you need a touch up: this is a good product. For long hair, I wouldn't recommend it if you want to dye your entire hair with it because it's always safer to go to the salon. Also, you would need at least two boxes of dye and eventually it might end up being just as expensive as a trip to the salon. However, for touch-ups this dye is perfect! 

Last but not least, this hair makes me feel really French. I don't know why.

Au Revoir mes chéris!

HEMA Hair Dye - Warm Copper Gold

Hi!

I've been loving my red hair so far! It looks great, and it is so much easier to dye at home (than blonde, that is)! However, my hair had been losing it's colour lately, it really became a faded vanilla red (see 'before' picture below). So I decided to re-dye it! I looked up tons of products but they all got pretty bad reviews because they have a tendency to turn out pretty dark and wash out quickly. I rinsed my hair with a mixture of La Riche Directions (colour: tangerine) and conditioner to keep the colour vibrant for a while, but it was kind of reddish to my taste. Eventually, I ended up buying this product from the HEMA! It was really cheap (less than €7!) and it turned out really nice! You can see how nice and bright it looks outside in the picture below. Beware though, that this is red dye on top of dyed red hair. Maybe it'll look neon orange when used on blonde hair, no guarantees! I can't tell you how quickly it washes out just yet, because I've only dyed it last thursday, but I'll update when I know more. :-)

Also, a little extra, the conditioner that came with this package is the best thing that every happened to my hair. Seriously, try it.

*** DEC 27th Update*** It lasts pretty long, longer than other products I've tried. Of course it does still wash out eventually. If you want it to last as long as possible: only wash your roots, and use cold water. The longer you can keep the colour looking fresh and vibrant, the less often you will have to dye your hair, which is a good thing because dyeing is damaging!

*** JAN 19th Update*** When I dyed my hair red for the first time (at the salon), I went from platinum blonde to red. This meant that underneath the red colour, there was still white hair. So every time I washed my hair, a little red washed out and a little white came through. I just wanted to let you know that -if you have the same issue- it gets better. Every time you re-dye it red, the colour lasts longer. The first time it looked washed out after about 3 weeks, whereas now it stays vibrant for almost two months! I think almost all the 'white' is red now. :)