/Hair/ Clairol Natural Instincts in Light Cool Brown

this was purchased by me
I've been doing a lot to my hair lately, at least according to this blog. I was intending to bleach my hair (when am I not?), but with my current school situation and such I didn't think it was too wise...yet. As my hair was losing the ashy loveliness of the last dye I used, I picked this up in the hopes to get the ash back in my hair.

Clairol's Natrual Instinct line of hair color is ammonia-free, non-permanent formula that "gives you healthier-looking, radiant color and blends away grays in 10 minutes." (as described on the box.) Color is supposed to last 6 weeks. I purchased mine at Target for $5.99 (on sale!), but it's available for $7 and up elsewhere. Once you open the box, you'll find these things inside:

colorant, developer, conditioner, instruction + gloves
Here's the ingredient list for the colorant, color activator, and conditioner.



As a refresher, this is what my hair looked like prior to using Natural Instincts:

natural light


with flash
It looks really orange-y. Hmm. I anticipated that this would tone that down. I neglected to so a skin test before coloring with this dye, a very bad thing to do, but I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't irritate me at all. I thought it was strange that the directions said to apply the dye on damp hair. Usually the instructions advise application on dry hair...but I dampened my hair anyway since it said to. Because this is an ammonia-free dye, its scent was didn't nauseate me like L'Oreal dyes tend to do. This actually smelled very nice. The directions said to leave the dye in for about 10 minutes and no more than 20 minutes. I left it in for 20 minutes. Then I rinsed out the dye and conditioned. This is what happened:

natural light


with flash
I was not expecting the results to be so dark. I was seriously freaked out after I washed and dried my hair. It was such a dramatic change and I was sad for a bit.
It's nearly been a week and I'm getting used to it. I think it's a much more natural look.

And I can wait a few weeks as the color fades (hopefully). I would use this in the future to tone my hair and probably pick a lighter color.

Overview
likes
.gentle, ammonia-free dye
.smells nice
.easy to apply
.tones brassiness well
.leaves hair shiny and soft

Dislikes
.darker results than expected (probably my fault...)

bright young person loves it

this much