L’Oréal Colorsonic evaluate: shades of grey

Once I was a child, my mother and auntie would retreat into the toilet, fingers wrapped in latex gloves, newspaper masking the counters and flooring as they blended collectively a darkish, foul-smelling paste in a plastic bowl. For hours, they’d alternately gossip and brush the paste into one another’s hair. When the month-to-month ritual was finished, their grey hairs had been utterly vanquished. I, a judgmental know-it-all, would scrunch my nostril and say this all appeared like an excessive amount of effort. 

They instructed me to attend till I began graying.

Twenty years later, I preserve that I used to be right. Because of an ill-fated pandemic experiment with purple hair, I do know at-home hair dyeing is a righteous ache within the butt. I vowed to by no means do it once more. Then, at my final haircut, my stylist tried to upsell me on a dye job as a result of, “You’re too younger to be this grey.” At that second, I noticed my mother and auntie in that outdated rest room, pointing their fingers at me, cackling. 

Thus started my two-month experiment with L’Oréal’s Colorsonic.

I first got here throughout the $124.99 L’Oréal Colorsonic at CES 2022. It’s a high-tech hair wand with bristles that spit out goo so you’ll be able to rapidly dye your hair. The underside half has an empty chamber the place you insert a refillable hair dye cartridge. The highest half has a nozzle with bristles that oscillate greater than 300 occasions a minute to evenly apply shade. You press a button, brush this factor by your hair, and voila! You’re finished. There are some further techy options thrown in — for example, the cartridges have chips so the machine can inform you how a lot dye is left. The pitch is to make dyeing your entire head, root touch-ups, and masking grays simpler, faster, and extra reasonably priced than a visit to the salon. And on the planet of magnificence tech devices, there isn’t actually the rest like this.

Me, and my multiplying grays, wished to imagine. Let’s be frank: dyeing your hair isn’t one thing many individuals do on a whim. The Colorsonic’s viewers is primarily girls, a lot of whom, on a minimum of a unconscious degree, view a ravishing head of hair as a supply of cultural energy. Altering your hair shade is a approach to utterly alter your picture. But it surely’s not simple. It’s a deep dedication when it comes to time, effort, upkeep, and cash. One thing just like the Colorsonic is alluring exactly as a result of it’s saying that energy may be yours for much less work, cash, and time. And hair dyeing can be a dicey proposition. Not like at-home straightening or curling, you’re making use of harsh chemical compounds to your head. If finished flawed, it could actually destroy your hair. There’s a cause so many individuals select to spend a number of hundred {dollars} to see an expert, even when field dye prices $10 at CVS. 

So it’s an excellent factor L’Oreal’s put some guardrails on the Colorsonic. It’s not a one-stop dye machine. This machine is barely designed to deal with the coloring a part of the method. The cartridges are everlasting hair shade formulation, which suggests they do have a lightening agent. Nevertheless, they’re not as highly effective as straight-up bleach. If you wish to bleach your hair, you’ll have to purchase a package or see a professional. L’Oréal’s additionally sticking to pure colours for this primary shade vary. For a darkish brunette like me, meaning except I bleach my hair first, I’ve to stay with colours which are near my pure shade. This isn’t a software for advanced dye jobs. That, in flip, minimizes the harm the typical particular person can do.

With all this in thoughts, I used to be equal components nervous and excited to unbox the Colorsonic. To my shock, every little thing is thoughtfully packaged and designed. You’re meant to retailer the machine within the unique field insert, and it comes with reusable gloves and an enormous waterproof, tearproof instruction sheet full with QR codes to video tutorials. The directions are easy, and the precise means of dyeing your hair is shockingly simple. Anybody can insert a cartridge right into a chamber, press a button, and brush their hair. The primary time I attempted it, your entire software course of took 10–quarter-hour.

That’s wild. I’ve a full head of hair. In my misguided purple hair period, dyeing half my head typically took 45 minutes. Brushing the Colorsonic by your hair can be a neater course of than sectioning your hair, clipping it, after which painstakingly making use of dye in skinny layers. The latter not solely takes time but additionally left me and my all-white rest room trying like I’d simply murdered Barney the Dinosaur. I wouldn’t name the Colorsonic utterly mess-free. You inevitably get some dye on your self and the sink. However cleanup — together with rinsing the Colorsonic with its cleansing cartridge — took 5 minutes.

Whereas ready for the dye to set, I assumed it needed to be too good to be true. A half hour later, after rinsing and drying my hair, I used to be proper. My hair was a richer brownish-black, however my grays hadn’t gone wherever.

Apparently, grays may be dye-resistant. To overcome the cussed buggers, a number of Reddit boards recommended leaving within the dye longer. Nice. I figured I’d experiment and see if doing that round my temples would make a distinction. After my first software, I nonetheless had a couple of third of the cartridge left. However by the point I completed the entire warm-up course of, my first cartridge was empty. I needed to order one other one on-line for $30.

My third try has up to now been essentially the most profitable. To the purpose the place I’m pretty sure my first cartridge was a little bit of a dud. Not solely did the dye come out thicker however the software was even smoother. I let the dye set for 45 minutes. I felt assured going into the rinsing course of that my grays could be vanquished.

About 70 p.c of them had been.

I regarded possibly a yr or two youthful! Coworkers and mates complimented me! A very good chunk of the grays at my temples — those that hassle me essentially the most — had been both gone or blended in higher. However my aim had been to utterly nuke my grays. After one other, barely much less profitable fourth try, I can nonetheless discover fairly a couple of every time I put my hair up. I’ve been instructed by my partner, colleagues, household, and mates that this can be a downside between me and my vainness.

That’s the factor about hair tech. Whether or not it’s L’Oréal’s Colorsonic or considered one of Dyson’s curlers, it nonetheless requires a level of ability, luck, and know-how to get one of the best outcomes. I might simply have biblically cussed grays. I’m satisfied my first cartridge was a bit wonky. It’s attainable my software expertise aren’t fairly as much as snuff but. It may very well be that this explicit hair dye system for the Colorsonic isn’t optimized for full grey protection. Possibly, my mother and auntie tag-teamed their grays the best way they did as a result of it was a fastidiously refined course of found by a number of trial and error. Maybe I used to be naive hoping the primary iteration of a gadget would make every little thing simple and ideal.

My time with the Colorsonic has been a lesson in what tradeoffs I’m prepared to simply accept. I’ve used $60 value of cartridges and a $125 gadget to get middling outcomes. At $185, that’s far more costly than if I’d simply purchased two bins of dye however extra reasonably priced than the charges at my salon in New York Metropolis. (I used to be as soon as quoted $600. Respectfully, no.) It’s additionally a lot much less time-consuming than field dye or the salon. Thus far, my hair stays undamaged. Positive, I want that the cartridges gave me extra bang for my buck, however I’m a lot happier not spending an hour scrubbing stains out of my rest room counters and tub. 

Whether or not the Colorsonic is value it boils all the way down to what you worth: one of the best outcomes, price, or comfort. Decide two. My mother and auntie picked outcomes and price, therefore their laborious dedication to field dye. For outcomes and comfort, a salon goes to get you essentially the most foolproof expertise. Personally, I’ve realized I’m a cost-and-convenience gal. I’m pleased with a middle-of-the-road worth and good-enough outcomes. Particularly if it means getting loads of time again. That makes the Colorsonic an excellent match for my wants. It’s simply not an ideal one.