L'Oreal Colorista Washout in Lilac// Hair update and review

After seeing the really stylish adverts, I've been dying to try out L'Oreal's new colourista range. I bought the lilac washout shade on impulse and I decided to do a little cheeky dip dye for my 21st party. So here's my review, and a quick hair update.


Colour range// the thing that drew me to these dyes were the gorgeous colours available. I picked this lilac one, but there were a few other colours which definitely caught my eye, like the purple, mint and the dirty pink.

Price// They retail for around £7, which isn't too expensive, but it's not a lot of product for your money, I have to say. The tube is 80ml, compared to 88ml for directions (£4-5) and 150ml for Bleach London (£6)

Before//
My hair is a silverish grey, and the ends are quite light, so I figured the dye should have no problems showing up.

Application// 

Application is really easy, especially if you do an ombré like I did- just squeeze the colour on to your gloved hands and rub it in. I only used about half to do my ends, but my hair is pretty thin so if you have thick hair or are doing your whole head you'll definitely need more than one box. It says to leave the dye on your hair for about 15-20 minutes, and I left mine for about 17 minutes.

After// 

Natural light:

Artificial light:

The colour turned out really nice on my ends! Because it was already silver to start with, it turned out a little cooler than the colour on the box but I really liked it :) I'd guess it wouldn't apply so well to hair that's not white blonde to begin with, but I didn't try it on my more yellow toned roots so unfortunately I can't say how it applies on darker/yellow hair.

The dye definitely left my hair feeling smooth and not dry or damaged at all.

Longevity//

These pastel washout colours are supposed to wash out after one week. After one wash, (with colour protect shampoo) the pink colour had almost all come out, leaving my ends this muted blue-greyish purple. So it did last the 2-3 shampoos that it says on the box, but it definitely washes out fast.

After the second wash it was barely but still blueish.

After the 4th wash, the blue tint is faint, but still there. 

Did it stain my hair?// 

This was the thing I was most worried about, as cooler colours like purple or blue can stain your hair green.It definitely has left a blue tinge on my hair- barely noticeable in natural light but more obvious in artificial light. It didn't stain my hair as badly as Bleach London's washed up mermaid (which is turquoise) but it didn't fade out nearly as well as violet skies.

I'm not sure if you can see, but there is a definite blue tint to my ends under artificial light. I think it's cute, and it's fine for me because I'm in uni and don't need to have 'natural' hair colours, but if I was still in school I'd be told off for sure...

Overall// 

This was definitely an impulse buy- the packaging and range of colours drew me in. I think next time I want to dye my hair lilac, I want something that will stick around a bit longer so I might try a cheaper alternative like crazy color's lavender, but I liked this hair dye. Because it (mostly) washed out quickly, I'll use the other half of this when I have like a festival or something fun to go to, rather than for everyday. As long as you don't mind the possibility of a blue tint left behind (which is a risk with all purple/ blue tinted hair dyes) I think this was a fun hair dye :) I wouldn't rule out trying more of these, but I might stick to the warmer colours.

Edited to add: I used the other half before a night out, and the blue stain did stick around on my ends. I wasn't really impressed overall, and I prioritise not staining my hair a lot more now.... it is true that that's often a risk with semi permanent dyes, which is why I like to do my research!

Have you guys tried L'Oreal's colorista shades? What did you think?

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