L’oréal Colorsonic Review: Shades Of Gray

When I was a kid, my mom and auntie would retreat into nan bathroom, hands wrapped successful latex gloves, newspaper covering nan counters and level arsenic they mixed together a dark, foul-smelling paste successful a integrative bowl. For hours, they’d alternately rumors and brushwood nan paste into each other’s hair. When nan monthly ritual was done, their grey hairs had been wholly vanquished. I, a judgmental know-it-all, would scrunch my chemoreceptor and opportunity this each seemed for illustration excessively overmuch effort. 

They told maine to clasp until I started graying.

Two decades later, I support that I was correct. Thanks to an ill-fated pandemic investigation pinch purple hair, I cognize at-home hairsbreadth dyeing is simply a righteous denotation successful nan butt. I vowed to ne'er do it again. Then, astatine my past haircut, my stylist tried to upsell maine connected a dye business because, “You’re excessively young to beryllium this gray.” At that moment, I saw my mom and auntie successful that aged bathroom, pointing their fingers astatine me, cackling. 

Thus began my two-month investigation pinch L’Oréal’s Colorsonic.

I first came crossed nan $124.99 L’Oréal Colorsonic astatine CES 2022. It’s a high-tech hairsbreadth wand pinch bristles that spit retired goo truthful you tin quickly dye your hair. The bottommost half has an quiet enclosure wherever you insert a refillable hairsbreadth dye cartridge. The apical half has a nozzle pinch bristles that oscillate overmuch than 300 times a infinitesimal to evenly usage color. You spot a button, brushwood this constituent done your hair, and voila! You’re done. There are immoderate different techy features thrown successful — for instance, nan cartridges personification chips truthful nan instrumentality tin show you really overmuch dye is left. The proscription is to make dyeing your afloat head, guidelines touch-ups, and covering grays easier, quicker, and overmuch affordable than a recreation to nan salon. And successful nan world of beauty tech gadgets, location isn’t really point different for illustration this.

Me, and my multiplying grays, wanted to believe. Let’s beryllium frank: dyeing your hairsbreadth isn’t point galore group do connected a whim. The Colorsonic’s assemblage is chiefly women, galore of whom, connected astatine slightest a subconscious level, position a beautiful caput of hairsbreadth arsenic a guidelines of sensation power. Changing your hairsbreadth colour is simply a measurement to wholly alteration your image. But it’s not easy. It’s a dense committedness successful position of time, effort, maintenance, and money. Something for illustration nan Colorsonic is alluring precisely because it’s saying that powerfulness tin beryllium yours for small work, money, and time. And hairsbreadth dyeing is too a dicey proposition. Unlike at-home straightening aliases curling, you’re applying harsh chemicals to your head. If done wrong, it tin destruct your hair. There’s a logic truthful galore group return to locomotion respective 100 dollars to spot a professional, moreover erstwhile instrumentality dye costs $10 astatine CVS. 

So it’s a very bully constituent L’Oreal’s put immoderate guardrails connected nan Colorsonic. It’s not a one-stop dye machine. This instrumentality is only designed to grip nan coloring information of nan process. The cartridges are imperishable hairsbreadth colour formulas, which intends they do personification a lightening agent. However, they’re not arsenic powerful arsenic straight-up bleach. If you want to bleach your hair, you’ll personification to bargain a kit aliases spot a pro. L’Oréal’s too sticking to earthy colors for this first shadiness range. For a acheronian brunette for illustration me, that intends unless I bleach my hairsbreadth first, I personification to instrumentality pinch colors that are adjacent to my earthy shade. This isn’t a instrumentality for analyzable dye jobs. That, successful turn, minimizes nan harm nan mean personification tin do.

With each this successful mind, I was adjacent parts tense and excited to unbox nan Colorsonic. To my surprise, everything is thoughtfully packaged and designed. You’re meant to shop nan instrumentality successful nan original instrumentality insert, and it comes pinch reusable gloves and a elephantine waterproof, tearproof instruction expanse complete pinch QR codes to video tutorials. The instructions are straightforward, and nan existent process of dyeing your hairsbreadth is shockingly easy. Anyone tin insert a cartridge into a chamber, spot a button, and brushwood their hair. The first clip I tried it, nan afloat exertion process took 10–15 minutes.

That’s wild. I personification a afloat caput of hair. In my misguided purple hairsbreadth era, dyeing half my caput often took 45 minutes. Brushing nan Colorsonic done your hairsbreadth is too a neater process than sectioning your hair, clipping it, and past painstakingly applying dye successful bladed layers. The 2nd not only takes clip but too adjacent maine and my all-white bath looking for illustration I’d conscionable murdered Barney nan Dinosaur. I wouldn’t telephone nan Colorsonic wholly mess-free. You inevitably get immoderate dye connected yourself and nan sink. But cleanup — including rinsing nan Colorsonic pinch its cleaning cartridge — took 5 minutes.

While waiting for nan dye to set, I thought it had to beryllium excessively bully to beryllium true. A half hr later, aft rinsing and drying my hair, I was right. My hairsbreadth was a richer brownish-black, but my grays hadn’t gone anywhere.

Apparently, grays tin beryllium dye-resistant. To conquer nan stubborn buggers, aggregate Reddit forums suggested leaving successful nan dye longer. Fine. I figured I’d investigation and spot if doing that astir my temples would make a difference. After my first application, I still had astir a 3rd of nan cartridge left. But by nan clip I vanished nan afloat warm-up process, my first cartridge was empty. I had to bid different 1 online for $30.

My 3rd effort has truthful acold been nan astir successful. To nan constituent wherever I’m reasonably definite my first cartridge was a spot of a dud. Not only did nan dye recreation retired thicker but nan exertion was moreover smoother. I fto nan dye group for 45 minutes. I felt assured going into nan rinsing process that my grays would beryllium vanquished.

About 70 percent of them were.

I looked perchance a twelvemonth aliases 2 younger! Coworkers and friends complimented me! A bully chunk of nan grays astatine my temples — nan ones that fuss maine nan astir — were either gone aliases blended successful better. But my extremity had been to wholly nuke my grays. After another, somewhat small successful 4th attempt, I tin still find alternatively a less whenever I put my hairsbreadth up. I’ve been told by my spouse, colleagues, family, and friends that this is simply a problem betwixt maine and my vanity.

That’s nan constituent astir hairsbreadth tech. Whether it’s L’Oréal’s Colorsonic aliases 1 of Dyson’s curlers, it still requires a people of skill, luck, and know-how to get nan champion results. I could conscionable personification biblically stubborn grays. I’m convinced my first cartridge was a spot wonky. It’s imaginable my exertion skills aren’t alternatively up to snuff yet. It could beryllium that this peculiar hairsbreadth dye look for nan Colorsonic isn’t optimized for afloat grey coverage. Maybe, my mom and auntie tag-teamed their grays nan measurement they did because it was a cautiously refined process discovered done tons of proceedings and error. Perhaps I was naive hoping nan first loop of a gadget would make everything easy and perfect.

My clip pinch nan Colorsonic has been a instruction successful what tradeoffs I’m consenting to accept. I’ve utilized $60 worthy of cartridges and a $125 gadget to get middling results. At $185, that’s overmuch much costly than if I’d conscionable bought 2 boxes of dye but overmuch affordable than nan rates astatine my salon successful New York City. (I was erstwhile quoted $600. Respectfully, no.) It’s too overmuch small time-consuming than instrumentality dye aliases nan salon. So far, my hairsbreadth remains undamaged. Sure, I wish that nan cartridges gave maine overmuch bang for my buck, but I’m overmuch happier not spending an hr scrubbing stains retired of my bath counters and tub. 

Whether nan Colorsonic is worthy it boils down to what you value: nan champion results, cost, aliases convenience. Pick two. My mom and auntie picked results and cost, hence their laborious dedication to instrumentality dye. For results and convenience, a salon is going to get you nan astir foolproof experience. Personally, I’ve realized I’m a cost-and-convenience gal. I’m happy pinch a middle-of-the-road worth and good-enough results. Especially if it intends getting a batch of clip back. That makes nan Colorsonic a awesome caller for my needs. It’s conscionable not a cleanable one.