Try it you may like it.......Olia!

This weekend I found myself in need of re-dying my hair. I've been dying my hair for roughly 20 years now (ouch!) and now more than ever it's so necessary.

I was born a redhead. My hair went blonde as I got older, but somewhere around junior year in high school it turned a bizarre ombre of dark brown to lemon blonde with no help from me. After about 6 months of being accused of dying my hair I decided to take the leap. I was very much a one color gal.

Since then my hair has donned a multitude of auburns and light copper blondes. I've tried just about every manufacture's versions there of and can honestly say I've been disappointed in at least 50%.

Now as I've crossed the threshold of my late 30's I'm also combatting white/grey hairs!

I'm trying to keep an open mind as new products develope and today I had the chance to use one of the most interesting products to date, Olia by Garnier.

Yesterday while waiting for my husband @ the gym I started reading an issue Of New Beauty on my Nook. Tucked in their reviews of new products was a review on Olia.

Olia is first 60% oil based, permanent hair dye on the mass consumer market. It contains no ammonia.
Instead it is the oil that opens the hair follicle to allow the dye to deposit.

This is awesome for several reasons:
No harsh chemicals
No harsh smells
Deeper, more nourishing deposit of color
...just to name a few

So, how was it?

For a drug store find it was a little on the expensive side. It ranged from $9.99 @ Ulta to $10.95 @ CVS.  The packaging also seems a little over the top and somewhat wasteful. In the red category there was really only one color that even came close to what I use as a "Summer" color = Light natural auburn.That's about where my complaints have to stop.

It was easy to mix, mostly thanks to the consistency of the colorant which was somewhere between a lotion and mouse. The color was easy to apply and although more liquid than creme it was not runny. This would be very easy for a first timer.

When using a new brand/color for the first time I always do a full coverage dye. It requires a 30 min processing time.

I waited about 40 min to start rinsing. It does require an extra bit of rinsing, but that's to be expected with the oil. It also comes with a conditioner. There's enough for probably two treatments with the conditioner. The dye itself had no problem covering my whole head with a little extra left over. My hair is considered long by most salon standards and comes just a few inches below my shoulders.

The color was fairly true to the color/description shown on the box. It gave an extremely nice coverage. Probably the best coverage I've experienced with a drug store dye. The color is a little darker than I would normally like for this time of year, but over-all I'm very satisfied with this test!

I would recommend trying Olia , especially if you're new to @home hair dye or have been avoiding dyes due to chemicals like ammonia.

I'll keep you all posted on it's performance/ up-keep factor in the coming weeks!

Have you tried Olia? What did you think?

Go try something new!
-J.D.