As many of you know about 2 years ago I got involved in the world of product reviews. Over the course of this school year I kinda let all that take a backseat since my schedule is SO packed with all the paramedic-ing and learning and all that jazz.  You know, adulting.  Well, recently I started picking up products again, and one of the sites I do it through is Crowdtap.  I’ve had a lot of real winners these past couple months, but then came last week…

Let me back up a bit.  My hair color has never been fantastic.  It’s a kind of dull brown with more and more gray sprinkled in as I’ve gotten older (it still hurts to admit it!), so I’ve colored my hair for years.  Recently I got the opportunity to host a Garnier Olia party.  I was shipped a box of 7 different shades of Garnier Olia and the aim was to get a group of friends together and have a big ‘ole hair dying party.

So I did.

I couldn’t find 6 people (and lets be honest, finding one person to love every single shade that came in the box would have been a miracle, even living in a college residence hall like I do), but I did find 3!  I quickly reserved the red shade for myself and let the others pick from there.

I must say I was a pretty big fan of the packaging, and especially the instructions.  They were a lot easier to read than the Loreal hair dye instructions I had used in the past.  I also liked that it didn’t make my scalp itch as I waited for it to set like other dyes do.

And that is where the liking stopped.

First of all the dye didn’t turn my hair a beautiful auburn like the box.  It turned my roots a fiery, unnatural red.  So much so that had my paramedic instructor told me it was verging on being out of dresscode.  On top of that the dye did not easily wash out either.  The night I colored it I stood in the shower for at least 30 minutes rinsing it and letting the color flow out so I thought I was good.  Two days later I washed my hair again and noted streams of red coloring flowing from my head.  Odd I thought, but again, I spent at least 30 minutes shampooing and rinsing it. I put on a white t-shirt when I got out off the shower and went on my merry way.

Bad idea.

The next day I took a look at the collar of my shirt (which was also new by the way) and it was stained red, FROM THE STUPID HAIR DYE.  I was so upset.  I immediately bleached it and thankfully the dye came out, but the point is it shouldn’t have happened in the first place!

Two of my other friends have also dyed their hair so far with the Garnier Olia I gave them.  As far as I know the one who dyed her hair black is happy with it, the one who went blonde however is not.  In fact the resulting color is so different than the one on the box that her mom immediately offered to pay for her to go the salon to get it fixed.

So the conclusion?  Garnier Olia is not a hair dye I will be using again or can stand behind unfortunately.  There are some good things about it I’ll admit, so if they can make some changes I would be willing to give it a second try, just not the way it is now.

 

•  I received the product mentioned for free in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.