I’ve been coloring my hair various shades of red at Vidal Sassoon since 1987 when I first went red at the Sloane Street Sassoon in London. I take the train into Boston and then take the subway to Boylston Street every 4 weeks to get my hair colored. I’ve been going to my colorist, Laurel, since the 1990s. She’s absolutely the best! In spite of the fact that it has gotten really, really expensive, I have never done it myself.
My last Sassoon appointment was on February 21, two months ago. I was supposed to have an appointment on March 23, but Sassoon had closed by then. I have never gone 8 weeks in between color. I definitely had at least a full inch of growth. In fact, I had no idea how gray and white (!) my real hair had become. Yikes!
I texted my colorist in March just before what should have been my appointment, and she said that she hoped Sassoon would reopen in April. If not, she said we’d work something out. I texted her again a couple of weeks ago, and this time, I didn’t hear back from her right away. I began to get worried. The next day, she texted me back and told me, the brother of her significant other died unexpectedly the day before. She was understandably distraught. I felt terrible, and I certainly didn’t want her to give my hair problems any thought. Nevertheless, she asked me to please wait to color my hair until Sassoon reopened, she thought it would be at the beginning of May.
I kept using root concealer. But because I had so much growth not just at my part but around my face, it was getting impossible to camouflage the gray. What to do?
Facebook must have showed me a million different brands of hair color and root color. The first one I saw was dpHue at dpHue.com. They had a shade of root color called Strawberry that I hoped would work for me. I sent them a recent photo. A couple of days later, I got a reply. The color consultant said that she didn’t think that their Strawberry shade would be a good match for my bright copper blonde. Boo! But I appreciated the fact that she told the truth, that I wouldn’t be happy with the results.
I also saw a for Color & Co. from L’Oreal. Vidal Sassoon Salons have partnered with Kerastase (from L’Oreal) for years, so I felt better going with them than with an unknown brand. Color & Co. had an online quiz to help you find the right product and the right shade. Unfortunately, the survey didn’t seem to address some of my issues. Thankfully, they have an option where you can have a free video consultation with a Color Consultant. I decided to go for the video consultation. My consultant was Vauneeka. She looked at my hair color, asked me about the process I usually go through and the products I usually use. She seemed very knowledgeable and experienced. She recommended shade C1, dark copper gold blonde, root color. She told me to apply it to my roots, leave it on for about 40 minutes, and then pull the color through to my ends and leave it on for 5 minutes. She also said that after I did the roots if I needed a semi-permanent glaze to brighten the color, to contact her.
I ordered shade C1 online at colorandco.com, and I got a 25% discount for signing up for their subscription service where you can choose the time period when you want to receive another kit. The default was 5 weeks, so I went with that. The subscription price was $19.90 plus shipping and tax. The total was $27.46.
It took about 10 days for me to receive my Color & Co. kit. I was literally counting the days. I knew it was supposed to arrive today (via tracking), so I washed my hair last night.
I was so eager to cover my roots that I didn’t even stop to take any photos of the kit and the items inside. I just wanted to GET GOING!
After opening the box and looking at the items inside, the first thing I did was change my clothes into an old front button shirt, old jeans, and flip flops. Next, I got a kitchen plastic trash bag. I cut it on one seam to open it up, and then I made a cut on one of the bottom corners, and I put the trash bag over my head to act as a protective poncho.
I placed an open plastic bag on my countertop in my bathroom. I got an old towel to have on hand, just in case.
The kit came with:
- Cream Developer to activate the color
- Custom Blended Color
- Reusable Color Brush (they only send this once, so you need to keep it on hand if you continue with this color)
- 2 pairs of black gloves: one pair to use during application and one pair for rinsing (I only needed one pair)
- Stain Block: a clear blocking gel to protect the skin around the hairline
- Stain Eraser: to remove any color that gets on skin (I didn’t need it)
- Infuse Replenishing Conditioner
- detailed booklet of directions for application.
I put on the trash bag, practiced using the long end of the Reusable Brush to part my hair. I applied the Stain Block around my hairline. I put on the gloves and broke off the tip of the developer bottle, so I could squeeze the color out. I poured the Custom Color into the Cream Developer, put my finger over the nozzle, and vigorously shook the Developer bottle to mix the color and developer. At that point, the color was a bright light golden copper color.
I started by squirting the color along my part and brushing it onto my roots. Then I applied color onto the brush and painted it around my hairline as best I could. Getting the area around my ears was harder than I expected. I tried using the brush “tail” to part my hair to the right of my part (since I’m a lefty), squeeze out the color and brush it on. Because I was so inexperienced, my long hair (it’s now past shoulder length) got rather tangled, but I proceeded as best I could. Then I used the brush tail to part my hair on the left side and I applied the color and brushed it on the roots. The back was the hardest. I started at the top of the back of my head in the middle and worked down. Then I did “whatever” to get the roots on each side as best I could without being able to see it. When I thought I was finished (I had used a little more than half the bottle), I set the timer for 35 minutes (according to the directions in the booklet).
By that point, the color in the bottle had darkened considerably, but the color at the salon also deepens or changes color with time so I wasn’t too worried.
The color was creamy, not drippy. So I didn’t need to use the shower cap I had at the ready to wear during the 35 minutes of waiting. Frankly, the entire process was much less messy than I thought it would be.
Next, I applied more color onto the rest of my hair and massaged it throughout. I tried coming it through to my ends, but I had gotten my hair so tangled that I couldn’t comb it all the way through. I thought/hoped that I had done a decent job getting the color throughout my long hair. I set the timer to 5 minutes.
I washed off the gloves while they were on my hands, took them off, and turned on the shower. Then I put the gloves back on, got into the shower and rinsed out the color till the water ran clear. Next, I tried to open the Conditioner packet. Although it had a little perforation at the top to open the packet, I couldn’t tear it open. I got out of the shower, found a pair of scissors to open it and got back into the shower. Note to self: next time, open the Conditioner packet before getting into the shower!
I applied the Conditioner, left it on for at least 2 minutes, per the directions, and rinsed it out. My hair was completely untangled and felt very smooth. After getting out of the shower, I checked out the color in the mirror while my hair was wet, and I liked what I saw.
I put on my black Aquis hair turban, toweled off and got dressed. Then I dried my hair, and it was surprisingly manageable. Finally, I flatironed it, as usual, and it felt silky smooth. I thought the color looked great, much like my Sassoon salon color.
A few minutes ago, I noticed that I missed a small spot by my left ear. Truth be told, I didn’t have the energy to put the color on the spot, rewash , re-dry, and re-style my hair. I’ll live with it.
Although a couple of weeks ago I made an appointment at Vidal Sassoon for May 6 (the day after they are supposed to reopen though I doubt they will), I can’t imagine that I would feel comfortable going into Boston, the nexus of the virus in MA with over 5000 confirmed cases as of now, to get my hair colored with my colorist standing behind me and with one of the students bending over me washing my hair and breathing on me. Not happening.
So I assume that I will be getting at least another kit in 4-5 weeks from Color & Co. Yet, I know that eventually I will have to go back to Sassoon to have a “Malibu”, a product that takes out color especially from the back of my hair where the color gets taken up into the hair shaft, builds up and looks muddy over time. And although I am very pleased with my Color & Co. results (no makeup these days!),
especially with me doing it for the first time ever, I won’t hesitate to go back to Sassoon to have Laurel color it for me.
Do you color your hair? Do you usually do it yourself? If you don’t color it yourself, what are you doing now?
The color looks great! It’s an excellent match.
thank you, thank you, Paula! xo
Hi Allison,
Thanks so much for your recommendations and guidance (the plastic bag “tunic” was the best tip). With much trepidation, I used Color&Co based on your experience, found a shade that turned out to be perfect. It was easy to use, not nearly the mess I expected, and fortunately had my daughter to help with the back of my head. This might become a regular habit!!!
Aggie, I am thrilled to hear from you! So glad you are well! And glad that my post and tip about the plastic bag cape/tunic was helpful. Did you have a consultation with one of their people or did you choose the color yourself? My hair color was so faded since it had been 2 months since my last color, that I really needed the help. But like you, I am very pleased with the shade and the results. I know that I will be using Color & Co. again in May. I am wondering when I will feel comfortable going into Boston again to get my hair cut and my color freshened up? At any rate, glad I tried this. Hope you are doing OK at home, and take care xo
Hi Allison:
Like you, I have been treating my gray roots with Color Wow for the last several weeks, and it has been doing a very good job, but the roots have so much regrowth that it is becoming impossible to keep up. So I went online to see what higher end dyes might be available. I checked out Madison Read, E salon and DP Hue. None of them had availability of the color that I needed and all said that they were out of stock until some point in May.
However, I felt the DP Hue would be best and went online to see if I could find it elsewhere. I found that there was one available at fragrance net.com and ordered it. It just came a few days ago and I plan to do it on Friday or Saturday.
I think your hair came out fantastic and I hope that mine will look as good. Like you, although they say that the salons here in Rhode Island will be reopening May 8 or later, I am not that comfortable having my stylist in such close proximity at this point. But even if I am able to do the color myself, it’s still very long and needs a cut. So I’m not sure exactly how I am going to handle that.
You get to a point where the root coverup just doesn’t cut it anymore. I was impressed that the Consultant at dpHue was honest in telling me that their sole shade of red wouldn’t work for me. LMK how you like it once you use it. I’m sure your hair will look great. It did struggle a bit with applying it on the back of my head (I still can’t see what that looks like, lol), and I did miss a bit near one ear. Also, I learned that next time I will apply more along my hairline near my temples where I didn’t squeeze it on but just painted it. I hope you have fun with it, Rachel!
It looks great, and it must feel SOOOO good to have no roots!! I’m going to do mine tomorrow or Friday…. hope it comes out looking as good as yours.
xoxoxo Do yours on Friday when it rains so we can go for a walk on Thursday afternoon!
I think that you did a great job, and your hair looks gorgeous. Who cares if you missed a spot! I definitely wouldn’t make the trip to Boston to see your colorist– it is definitely not worth the risk!
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Thank you, Helen! I hope that when my salon does reopen…in June or thereafter, I hope everyone wears masks!
CONGRATS!! It looks good years ago it was hunt and seek to find a color that was not to light or to dark. Life is easier now I just let it go gray………… all I need is a haircut 🙂
I need a haircut too, Gloria, but I’m afraid to tackle that! LMK what you decide to do 🙂
I never would have thought to use the garbage bag. I have the same amount of roots as you but I haven’t tackled color. I could get by with some of the products I have like Grey Away but I’m not going anywhere and my husband only makes fun of me a little. Since I’m helping cut his hair he won’t say anything negative. LOL. Your color looks great by the way.
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I finally bit the bullet because I couldn’t stand looking at my roots. I know I won’t be going into Boston to get my hair done till at least the end of June, so I figured I should just do it. Glad I did. Next, what to do about cutting my hair 🙁
It looks like a really good match! You did a good job. I use a L’oreal Hi-Color for my hair, and I’ve always had good luck with the brand’s products. I really need to dye my roots, too.
Thank you, Rachel! I’m quite pleased. Yay, L’Oreal!
Hi, Allison – Your color came out beautifully! Hair really is our crowning glory; it makes such a difference in our look. Thank you for demonstrating every step of the way. – Angie, http://www.yourtrueselfblog.com
Thank you so much, Angie!