Clairol Nice’n Easy: At Home Colour Change

Whilst I’m no stranger to dying my hair, either at home or in a salon – it is unusual for me to opt to go for a darker shade of blonde – but that’s exactly what I’ve done with this Clairol Nice’n Easy hair dye experience. I’m a natural blonde, being proper baby/golden blonde as a child, naturally going a little more strawberry blonde as a teen – then hitting the highlights in my early 20’s to make sure I stayed on the blonde side of the strawberry blonde spectrum. Over the years I’ve coloured my hair with temporary colours (mostly pointless if you’re blonde and wanting to go lighter – just wont happen), permanent colours (touch wood – haven’t any horror stories to tell from that) and in salon – which is usually fine, but I’ve actually been left more disappointed with some salon experiences than I have at home. Perhaps it’s down to the high cost of in salon colours, my expectations are probably higher with these…

Over the past few years I’ve had an increasing temptation to actually go back to the strawberry blonde colour and see how it looks on me – I guess I always had a feeling that my natural colour might actually suit me best?! So when I was invited to try out nice’n easy Permanent Colour Crème and give this a go, I decided now was my chance to brave going darker instead of sticking to the blonde, blonde and blonder of my past.

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So starting with the ‘before’, the two shots above were taken a day or so ahead of me colouring my hair. Before I dived in to the colour I got to meet with the lovely Jonathan Long – nice’n easy Colour Advisor – at his Lockonego salon down on King’s Road. I’ve met with Jonathan before, he’s great at making you feel at ease with whatever colour choice you’re going for and being totally honest and finding one that works for you. I went to him feeling pretty open on what I wanted, I just felt like going darker rather than lighter for a change, so we had a look at the shades (there are over 56 of them – the most in any at-home range). We settled on the shade ‘8GN’ in the end – described as ‘Natural Medium Golden Blonde’, but based on the pack picture I’d definitely describe it as darker – but that might just be me and my ‘blonde-aholic’ perspective!

I’ll be honest and say I was a little nervous, as it was probably the bravest colour change I’ve gone for since I first went for platinum highlights when I was around 20. But I knew I wanted to go for it – and in a way, what’s the point dying your hair if it isn’t for a bit of a change in colour!? In fact, Clairol recently created a ‘Professional at Home Trend report on the trends of at-home hair colour and found that 39% of women are inspired by magazines when making a colour choice – showing it’s not just maintenance, but more a case of following trends when going for an at-home dye job.

When they call this hair colour ‘Nice’n easy’ they’re really not kidding – it really is as simple as mixing two bottles together, shaking, and applying (making sure you do an allergy test first, 48 hours before – even if you have coloured your hair before, to check for any reaction). The bottle with the nozzle makes it really easy to get quite precise with application, which I did start doing and then towards the end it was more of a squirt it all over to make sure my head was totally covered – 25 mins developing time later (plus blow drying my hair…) and we have the ‘after’ shots…

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clairol before and after

Hopefully you can see how much of a richer colour this is, a couple of shades darker than I was before and I feel it looks that touch less brassy, but still very natural. In fact, it has me tempted to go darker again next time…! Although I suspect I will still go lighter when Summer comes around! For my pale skin tone though, I think this richer golden shade really works. My favourite thing about the result is that it doesn’t leave a flat colour – but works with natural tones and highlights to add that dimension that salon colouring is known for, but with the ease of doing it myself. Convenience for me is a big thing, and the Clairol survey said I’m definitely not alone in that – with 45% of respondants saying they’re too short on time to get it done elsewhere. As much as I love spending hours on a Saturday morning getting pampered in a salon chair, sometimes I just don’t have time and it will be something I put off so much that my roots start to look like I’m trying the Ombre look…(not a bad thing, just wish it was on purpose!).

The fact that it looks both natural and professional for me give it a massive thumbs up – of course, there are some times that only a salon job will do (for example, later in the year I’m getting married – I doubt I would colour my hair myself for that) but in-between big events or special occasions – or really dramatic hair changes where having a professional take the reigns is preferred, I am more than happy to reach for the box dye. As I said before, I was even browsing the shade range again at the weekend, wondering if I would brave a shade or so darker again… keep your eyes peeled on the blog to see if I go for it!

Let me know what you think of at-home hair colours, are you a fan? Have you used Clairol before and what do you think of the shade I went for?

For more information on Clairol you can find them on:

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12 comments so far.

12 responses to “Clairol Nice’n Easy: At Home Colour Change”

  1. Silvia says:

    I love the results, the colour suits you! I’ve never tried Clairol before.. tomorrow I’m trying Garnier Olia at home and I can’t wait to see my before and after shots.. 😀

  2. Joy says:

    Oh wow, it really suits you! Fits with your colouring really well and makes your eyes pop. It’s dangerous for me though – I’ve been debating saying goodbye to the platinum for a while and now I’m looking at all the Clairol colours. :s

    • Jen says:

      Thank you! I’ve tried a few from the Clairol range and always been happy with the result, if you’re tempted I say go for it!

  3. Both shades suit you and they both look great on you, you have the perfect skin tone for any shade of blonde hair. Love it

  4. Looks amazing, really suits you so well!

    http://www.chelsealeigh.ca/

  5. Kerry says:

    This colour looks gorgeous on you!
    Just a quick question, was this brand drying at all?
    x

    • Jen says:

      Not at all, I’ve found it really good. If anything, my hair is softer after the colour thanks to the conditioner that’s in the box (there’s enough for a few uses) and you can pick up spars, which I’ve been known to do as it’s a fab conditioner for coloured hair.

  6. Andrea says:

    I actually think you’d really suit red hair or a deep chestnut brown! It would really make your eyes stand out. I prefer this darker blonde on you so far though.

  7. That is a lovely shade of blonde. So pleased to see you mentioned the skin allergy patch test. 🙂

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