These gloomy winter months have not only taken a toll on my mental health, but also my hair. Usually, I rely on the sun to provide natural golden highlights–not to mention, I haven’t been to a hair salon since June 2018, so it’s fair to say that my hair is dull and in need of a change.
After the accumulation of snow that happened over the first weekend of March, I was feeling somewhat disappointed with the condition of the weather outside. However, this terrible weather wasn’t a complete loss, because it sparked a wonderful idea that would hopefully cure my seasonal sadness: I would dye my hair into a summery golden blonde. Some may classify this as a mid-semester crisis; I call it a “spring makeover.” So, I walked down to my local Kroger and bought the blondest shade I could find.
One size fits all doesn’t apply to hair
There is a negative stigma surrounding boxed hair dye—but why? Boxed hair dye is known for its unexpected results and ‘one size fits all’ mentality. Everyone’s hair is different, so of course, some boxed hair dye companies create upwards of a hundred shades for you to chose from to try and meet the needs of their companies. These products are formulated with maximum quantities of ammonia and permanent pigment in order to accomplish dying for almost everyone, but rarely do these boxed dyes ever successfully make it to your whole head. Another negative feature of boxed dye would be the dull effect it gives. This is due to the fact that a trained cosmetologist isn’t adding dimension with various shades, and since boxed hair dye is only one specific color, you can’t use highlighting/lowlighting techniques.
Possible botched results
Another factor of boxed hair dye that is unfavorable would be the way that it reacts with professional hair dye. This is a real issue considering the fact that boxed dye is notorious for becoming blotchy. This unsuccessful result could be due to the fact that, more often than not, companies change their formulas without advertising the switch in ingredients.
Reviewing the L’OREAL Paris Blonde Supreme in shade 01
Despite the potential negative outcomes, I tried the L’OREAL Paris Blonde Supreme in shade 01. My hair had a balayage done to it by a luxury salon nine months ago, so there is a leftover dimension and blonde highlights to work with.
Before:
Going into this, there were a few things I was definitely afraid of and this not being my first time using boxed dye, I was prepared for the worst. There is always a risk of your hair turning orange when lightening, plus, the risk of further damaging my already heat-sizzled ends. I followed the directions perfectly, except for the fact that I let it sit about 10 minutes more than recommended.
After:
This was the final result: I can honestly say the L’OREAL Paris Blonde Supreme did a very impressive job. My hair is not as vibrant or platinum as I had anticipated, but it did reveal to be evenly distributed and overall very lightened.
Overall I can say I am very happy with my results. Dying my hair accomplished exactly what I was looking for—it made me feel excited for the warmer weather of spring.