Schwarzkopf Brilliance (89 Bitter Sweet Chocolate)

I've never tried this Schwartzkopf hair tint before even though this is a brand that I like. 

 

The package contains a large colour tube, a bottle with the developer, a generous tube with post-colour treatment, a pair of average plastic gloves and the instructions leaflet. All of this is average for most DIY hair colours I've tried. As I always do, after mixing the colour I used my professional colouring bowl and comb to get the best possible results. 

 

The quantity of product is more than enough for long hair if you want to do both regrowth and cover the rest  of the hair to unify the colour. 

 

I followed the instructions and the resulting colour was not as lovely as in the package photo, but it looks natural and nice. I left it on the roots and the rest o of the hair the time recommended in the leaflet. I would normally leave it longer on the roots as I have many thick rebel greys, but I didn't do it this time. The result is that the colour covered my greys but not enough to make the regrowth the same colour of the rest of the hair. It would have needed more time to fully achieve those results. 

 

The conditioner tube was quite large and it can be used for at least two washes if you have long hair, or three if you have it short. However, my hair is really dry at the moment, so I used it all. It detangled my hair beautifully and left it soft and shiny. 

 

I would say that I prefer other colouring brands, but this is still a good economic option. If your greys are many and thick, wavy or curly you might need to adjust the time to get a consistent uniform colour. 

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L’Oréal Magic Retouch Permanent (Dark 5 Brown)

This is a new product in the L'Oreal Magic Retouch range. I use the spray to cover greys when I haven't had the time for colouring. However, the spray only lasts till I wash my hair. So this mini-tint package is great. It has the same quality permanent colour that you find in the full box, but in the right amount to cover my part line and temples but also some of the sides of my head. 

The box contains a dispenser bottle with an brush attachment, the jar with the colour and a very good and useful instructions leaflet. I mix the product as per the instructions but I never use this colour, or any other, directly from the bottle. I always pour it into a professional tinting container and use a professional tinting comb as these allow a more efficient use of the product and I get better results.

 

I'm very satisfied with the results as the tint covers my greys perfectly, the colour looks beautiful, it does not irritate my scalp, and has a mild odour. 

 

Now the downsides. The first one is this, like other L'Oreal tints I've used, dries my hair noticeably. The colour looks great, especially if you put a dark colour on, but I also noticed that my hair is less soft, freezier, and feels dry to touch. This being the case I have to put a full mask and then use tons of Moroccan oil to compensate. Being honest, we're meant to leave the product 10 minutes on only, but I tend to leave it 30 minutes as I have rebel thick greys and otherwise they would not get properly covered. So, be aware that if you use it longer than recommender, this might be your case as well.  

The second downside is this. The price of this bottle is almost identical, sometimes the same, sometimes a couple of dollars down, to the full box. However, the latter contains more quantity and a great shampoo and conditioner. So, to me, the full box is better value than the MR version, and it serves me better as I have a large amount of greys all over my head. Magic Retouch is better for guys or just girls with short haircuts or just people with not many greys.

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L'Oréal Excellence (Brown 5.0)

I've never used L'Oréal  Excellence to tint my hair mostly because it's more expensive than my usual brands. Having used another brands of DIY hair colour, I can easily compare what this package has in it, the tinting experience, and the results.
 
THE PACKAGE
The package contains a cream colour tub, a bottle of developer, hyaluronic acid shampoo and conditioning mask,  a pair of average of plastic gloves (which I hate) and a very useful instructions leaflet (great presentation and organisation of the information and illustrations, font size, etc.). Unlike other DIY hair colour packages I've used, this also includes a tube of shampoo and a comb applicator, which can be attached to the developer bottle to apply the colour directly on the hair.
 
THE TINTING EXPERIENCE
I used the comb applicator and I didn't find it useful  for me, but I'll keep it as a mark-making tool for my art practice. I think it might be good if you have a Pixie haircut or just straight hair.
 
I emptied the bottle into a professional tinting bowl and used a professional tinting brush to get the best results.

Due to this colour shade being a bit lighter than my previous colour, I left the colour on the roots nearly an hour and about 20 minutes on the rest of the hair. I did NOT get any itchy or burning sensation during the long application.  
 
The colour combo is creamy so it does not drip and spreads beautifully. Despite my long thick hair, I had enough product to cover all of it and even have some leftovers. That’s great because there is nothing worse that being short of colour when tinting at home.
 
I removed the excess colour once the time was up and it washed easily. To be honest,  I initially thought that the shampoo tube was too small for my long thick hair. But, surprise!, the quantity was perfect; it's a fabulous creamy shampoo that leathers beautifully. The conditioner is also fab, with just a bit of product being necessary to detangle and soften my hair. I had more than half bottle left for another week at least.  The results were a shiny healthy-looking hair. 

 

THE RESULTS

Did the product cover my greys in full? Yes and it also lightened up a bit my hair. The colour looks beautiful and is true to the box photo.

 

Do I prefer this colour or the other ones I've used in the past? I'd say the results are very good with all the brands I've used before, but I thought the colouring mix was also creamier, more nourishing, spread better and was not irritant at all.  

Would I buy this again? Totally. I'll be looking up for discounts and flash sales to get the best possible price. Yet, I understand why this is always more expensive than other brands I use.

 

MIND

This product has both ammonia and hydrogen peroxide. 

UPDATE 13/2/25

I've used this product several times already and, although the colour is lovely, this tint has done what others never did, dried my hair badly. So, mind the time you leave the colour on on the hair because you won't notice anything if you use it just for regrowth, but your hair will be destroyed when you use the colour for longer than mentioned in the box (which is necessary for me to fully cover my white hair).

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Eylure Dybrow permanent brow tint kit (dark brown)

This is the first time I use this brand and kit and I will definitely buy it again. I can't but compare it with another brand very similar product (1000Hour) that I have been using for years, and Eylure wins by far. It follows the same procedure for eyebrow tinting: mix 1 cm of colouring cream with 3 drops of developer, mix well, apply with the provided wand, wait 15 minutes and voila. While the 1000Hour kit requires me to have the product 30 minutes on to cover the greys on my eyebrows and it does not cover them well, this one does this perfectly in 15 minutes and greys are gone. Dark brown colour is true to the colour.
 
I had no reaction to the product at all, and it didn't itch or burn when applied. I have used this dye with some greys showing on my temples and small patches on my hair line, and works beautifully as well.
 
Instructions of use come in leaflet written in different languages.
 
The photos on the product page don't reflect the reality of the product I got. The external packaging is identical but not the internal. The developer is a small bottle with a liquid, not a cream tube and the plastic container is also different, as the one I got has not rest for the application wand. 

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Clairol Nice 'N Easy Permanent Hair Colour 4G Natural Dark Golden Brown

This hair colour is really great. Easy to apply, good quantity to fully cover my roots and part of my hair, and the results always get me compliments on how healthy and shiny my hair looks. 

 

The package includes a treatment that really rounds up the colouring process and gives me the shine that I love so much. The golden bit is great because, although it doesn't show when I first apply the colour (what you see is a nice dark brown), it shows when the colour fades away. This is good because it holds onto my greys and they look light brown not white. 

 

The colour lasts me on about 3 weeks due to the fact that I have very white grey hair and I don't wash it every day. 

 

Although my hair looks super healthy and shiny after application, the truth is that it dries it off considerably due to having Hydrogen Peroxide as one of the ingredients.

 

For the rest, this is my usual DIY preferred colouring between salon colouring.

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Clairol Root Touch Up, 4 Dark Brown

I use this brand and colour kit on a regular basis between visits to my hairdresser's. It fully covers my very white grey hair and I find it easy and safe to apply. I always let it on more than the time the package recommends, as I've seen that, if I don't let it stay longer, my greys aren't fully covered. I do this as I haven't noticed any allergic reaction when using it for longer. The colour lasts me great about 2.5 weeks, which is OK and what I expect it to do.

I wish the bottle had a bit of more product so that I could cover my back head roots. The quantity in this retouch kit allows me to cover the front and top layers not the back or my hair, which is OK as I have long wavy hair and it would not show much either way.

Unlike the same brand full-regrowth package, this kit comes without conditioner.

The application brush is excellent for the price. I don't put it in the rubbish, but I use it for my artwork, to clean grout or other home purposes.

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1000HOUR Eyelash & Brow Dye Kit (Dark Brown) 72 g

I have been using this product for several years now, and it does wonders for my eyebrows. The tinting lasts for several weeks, and it looks like the tint I used to have done at a salon before I started using this kit. This is so because the results look natural and polished and it doesn't tint my skin at all. The kit comes with everything you need, so you don't need any extra tool or container to develop and use the product. I sometimes use the product to tint the grey hairs around my temples.

I have sensitive skin but I have never had any problem with this product.

I have never used this for tinting my eyelashes, so I cannot comment on that.

SO-SO
1/ They seem to have changed the formula recently and the colouring doesn't last as much on my eyebrows and it is not as saturated as it used to be.
2/ The quantity of accelerator and tinting cream is not balanced, so I usually finish the tube with the colouring and the developing liquid bottle is still half full.

MIND
Allow extra time if you have some grey hairs.

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